Viral Trend Sees Amateur Bodybuilders Eating Dog Food for Protein

Gym bros go to new heights to get protein in their diet.

Bodybuilders are utilizing a new way to get an ample amount of protein in their diet–dog food (and yes, you read that right!).

Gym rats will do anything to get "gains for days," and that includes eating dog food! TikTok users have taken notice of the large amount of protein that is in dog food and have decided to try it out for themselves. 

Some people on the social media platform say that the high amount of protein found in the meals intended for our canine friends is beneficial and worth trying to help fuel a good workout. 

Fitness influencer Henry Clarisey, 21, took to his TikTok to try Kibbles 'n Bits' Oven Roasted Beef With Spring Vegetable and Apple Flavors after discovering that the dog food has around 600 grams of protein in the food. 

"It's for the gains, it's for the gains," Clarisey said as he hyped himself up before eating a handful of the dog food. 

The video then cuts to him spitting the dog food out in the sink before stating, "It's not worth it, I promise you guys, it's not worth it."

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A follow-up video featured the influencer sharing a disclaimer that his first video of him eating dog food was a joke

"Alright, this is insane. This is getting a little out of hand," he said at the beginning of the video. 

"So, Buzzfeed made a full-on article about me eating dog food for protein. It doesn't stop there. Daily Mail also came out with a full article about me eating dog food," he added. 

He then went on to say that Buzzfeed reached out to Pedigree, the brand of dog food that Clarisey ate, where they stated, “Our foods are intended for dogs and cats, but would not be harmful if a human consumed them. The manufacturing processes and research that go into our products are equal to —and in some cases, even better than — those of human food manufacturers," to which Clarisey stated that he already knew. 

The outlet also revealed that the food-tracking app MyFitnessPal saw a lot of people starting to track dog food after the fitness influencer tried it out on his TikTok page.

“MyFitnessPal did see an uptick in people logging dog food due to the TikTok trend, which was driven by males 18-24 who want to gain or maintain weight. The spike in logging primarily took place between February 20-24,” a statement from MyFitnessPal, per Buzzfeed, read. 

"Don't do that, like please don't actually do it," Clarisey stated in his TikTok video. "It was kind of just for fun, like a joke, and now I guess people are like actually eating dog food. Don't do that," he said, adding, "I'm telling you now, as the person who ate it, don't do it."