Online ‘Gym Bros’ are alarming other social media users by posting videos of them eating dog food in an effort to boost their protein intake.
In one viral video with over 21 million views, TikTok user Henry Clarezi points to the nutrition page on MyFitnessPal for the original dog food, which incorrectly states there are 666 grams of protein.
“Which one of you would take one for the team,” Clarice, 21, asks before stating that he would be willing to do so if he was able to get 15,000 likes.
In a follow-up video with nearly three million views, the gym worker tries the dog food saying, “It’s for the winnings” before later throwing it away and concluding, “It’s not worth it.”
Although the food is high in protein, health officials say that some ingredients in dog food could be harmful to humans.
Online ‘Gym Bros’ are alarming other social media users by posting videos of them eating dog food in an effort to boost their protein intake.
However, Clarissy immediately said he would not do it again if pressured
In another video, Clarissy also tried cat food after a commenter told him it was higher in protein. This video has 3.3 million views.
In an interview with Buzzfeed News, the TikTok influencer said he knew he “needed to give it a try” after seeing the nutrition facts.
But he immediately said he wouldn’t do it again if pressured.
“I promise you guys, it just isn’t worth it,” he said in the video, which has garnered 300,000 likes.
Dog food tastes very dry. You need a lot of water after taking it.
It tasted like little bits of dirt and I don’t think it was definitely worth it. Although it contains a lot of protein, I would eat steak or protein powder.
Clarisey’s video of him trying dog food has received thousands of comments from users expressing everything from disgust to fascination to including jokes.
It’s worth it, he’s just trying to keep the gate. Trust Fr, one person wrote.
One user said, “You’re braver than me.”
“Dog food isn’t that bad. I used MUNCH as a kid,” wrote one user.
One person joked, “Mix it with one banana and it will cancel out any other flavour.”
In one viral video with over 21 million views, TikTok user Henry Clarezi points to the nutrition page on MyFitnessPal for purebred dog foods.
In an interview with Buzzfeed News, the TikTok influencer said he knew he ‘needed to give it a try’ after seeing the nutrition facts.
Dog food tastes very dry. “I needed a lot of water after taking it,” Clarissy said.
“I promise you guys, it just isn’t worth it,” Clarice says in the video, which has garnered 300,000 likes.
Clarissy is a fitness enthusiast who says he needs to try dog food to “make gains.”
However, Claracy is definitely not alone, as social media users have also posted now viral videos of them either trying dog food or joking about trying it.
On a TikTok post, a man is seen putting dog food in his cart at the store and jokingly saying he buys it when they get a dog.
Later in this video, he is seen eating dog food straight from the can with a spoon.
Another TikTok user called the dog food’s protein-to-gram ratio “bonkers” and said he’d eat dog food if it got 5,000 likes.
Arguably the funniest video among this trend comes from a TikTok creator who posed himself in front of a text saying “300g of protein in 100g of dog food” only to have it cut to a person in a dog costume, typing “me af”.
Hundreds of videos on the app have garnered millions of views and likes with users saying they are ‘seduced’ by the high-protein items.
Before you consider trying it yourself, US health officials warn that dog food may not be safe for human consumption.
According to Melissa Majumdar, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics who spoke with Buzzfeed, food — while safe for animals — doesn’t always follow the same rules that human food must adhere to.
“While most ingredients in dog food are similar to human food, they are intended to meet the needs of dogs, not humans, who have different nutritional priorities,” said Majumdar. “
In addition, they contain foods that we don’t want a lot of in our diet. If you read the ingredients of dog food, you will find chicken by-product meal and animal fat.
One vet said that while some dog foods actually state that they are “human grade,” that label means very little.
Edible human foods differ in a different way and are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. “Human score means nothing,” said Tracy Navarra, a veterinarian at Peachtree Hills Animal Hospital.
In one TikTok, a man is seen putting dog food in his cart at the store and jokingly saying he buys it when they get a dog
Later in this video, he is seen eating dog food straight from the can with a spoon.
In an email to Buzzfeed, Pedigree officials denied that their product could be harmful to the human body.
“Our foods are intended for dogs and cats, but they would not be harmful if ingested by a human,” the company said.
They continued: “The manufacturing and research processes that go into our products are equal to – and in some cases better than – those of human food manufacturers.”
Despite their statement, in general, health officials say that dog food in general does not meet the nutritional requirements of a human food.
However, this is not abnormal, since most human foods do not meet the nutritional requirements for dog food, according to officials.
Additionally, one cause for concern is that dogs’ digestive systems are differently able to handle bacteria, viruses, parasites, and pathogens.
We are not the same, so we should not eat the same. While the nutritional needs for protein, carbohydrates, and fat may not be different between a human and a dog, it should not be the deciding factor in choosing, by way of free will, to eat dog food, Navarra said.
According to your vet, a dog’s digestive system can break down protein faster.
The other major issue associated with the dog food predicament is that misinformation regarding the nutritional value of dog foods has spread like wildfire.
The information Clarisey referenced came from MyFitnessPal and showed a Pedigree dog food product that claimed to contain nearly 700g of protein in a 200g serving.
However, in a statement to Buzzfeed, Pedigree said the highest percentage of protein in any of their dog food products was 28.7%.
MyFitnessPal officials said they couldn’t comment on how the app came up with those numbers, but said they’ve encountered more users including dog food on their app.
“MyFitnessPal has seen an uptick in people logging dog food due to the TikTok trend, which was driven by males ages 18-24 who want to gain or maintain weight,” said Gene Whitman, a spokesperson for MyFitnessPal.
“The significant increase in logging occurred primarily between February 20-24,” Whitman said.
Clarissy’s video was posted on February 22.