Getty Images/Illustration Andrea D'Aquino for NPR
Leafy greens like kale and spinach are full of fiber, vitamins and minerals, and nutritionists want to see us eating more of them to stave off chronic disease.
But turning this rabbit's food into a delicious dish takes patience and skill that some people lack. If you aren't up for dealing with food prep and cleanup, you can go for days without eating anything green.
Just 1 in 10 of Americans meet the daily recommendations for veggies, which is 2-4 cups a day.
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Now a silly food hack has emerged on TikTok to make eating them easier: People have taken to shoving fistfuls of greens into their mouths, sometimes , so they can get all of the nutrients — fiber, vitamins C and K, calcium, iron — with minimal effort.
The trend has been dubbed "Dinosaur Time," and it may have been started by a former middle school science teacher in California named Amy Garrett, who uses the TikTok handle @sahmthingsup and has nearly 50,000 followers.
During her toddler's naptime, Garret films videos of herself chomping down on romaine lettuce or spinach while she stands over her kitchen sink and the Jurassic Park theme plays in the background. These TikToks have been shared over 200,000 times and inspired others to incorporate Dinosaur Time into their diets.
@sahmthingsup Grab your greens, it’s Dino time. Here are some FAQs.
Leafy greens are among the most nutritious of foods, even when compared to other fruits and vegetables, says Julie Stefanski, a registered dietician in Pennsylvania.
Eating them regularly of heart disease and certain cancers. Studies have also found that they can slow age-related cognitive decline and help people maintain bone density.
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So the more you can get them in your diet the better, says Stefanski, even if your meal isn't exactly elegant. "We often strive for so much perfection with food or culinary techniques, and it's really not necessary."
Garrett told NPR she first started doing Dinosaur Time when she was doing CrossFit semi-competitively and was struggling to hit her daily nutrition goals. Another athlete shared they accomplished this by eating handfuls of plain greens before meals; Garrett gave it a try and found that gnashing the big, messy bites of raw spinach, bok choy or microgreens was both easy and made her feel like a monstrous herbivore.
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Now a stay-at-home mom with limited time, she's picked up Dino Time again.
"Instead of feeling guilty about not eating vegetables. I'm just gonna stuff them down my face and eat what I'd normally have eaten without any guilt," she says.
