‘Boy kibble’: Healthy and convenient or a bowl full of nothing?

EDITOR’S NOTE: Have you seen health advice on social media and wondered, “Is that actually good for me?” CNN’s Wellness team explains and evaluates viral trends in this regular series: Fad Check.

Ever fill your dog’s dish, look down at the kibble, and feel a little envious?

No? Well, for some people the idea of one bowl full of all your nutrients that takes very little thought and effort is an appealing idea — and they are already eating it for many of their meals.

It is called “boy kibble,” a way of eating that has made the rounds on social media and basically strips meals back to their basics to deliver high protein as conveniently as possible.

“I just look at it as a bowl. What I make it with is ground beef, avocado and rice. That’s it. Super simple,” said content creator and boy kibble connoisseur Nick Finke.

Sure, it’s easy, and there can be debate about whether it is appetizing for all people, but is it a healthy dietary plan?

Boy kibble is the other side of another trend –– “girl dinner.” Both emphasize convenience and reduce thought, but where girl dinner grabs various snacks already available to cobble together a meal (think some cheese, crackers, cherry tomatoes and a yogurt), boy kibble is batch cooking and eating the same thing every night.

A few years after the viral "girl dinner" trend swept the internet, the boys entered the chat with something a little higher in protein, "boy kibble."

Usually that means a rice base with ground meat –– turkey, chicken or beef. Some people add a variety of spices or seasonings, but some don’t. Finke also adds avocado to get healthy fat in the meal as well.

This isn’t an occasional menu item or a convenient back up plan if he doesn’t want to cook. Finke said he eats boy kibble every night.

“It’s super easy to meal prep,” Finke said. “I just batch my ground beef at the beginning of the week and my rice, and then I have it for lunch or dinner every single day of the week.”

Boy kibble can be for anyone, Finke said, but it has been particular popular with men. And men who are looking to increase their fitness really resonate with this simplified way of eating.

One of the biggest benefits of eating this is way, according to those who adopt it, is a reliable way to meet protein goals. Those can be high for people trying to put on muscle, said Dr. Zachary Mulvihill, integrative medicine expert at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

And protein is an important nutrient, but recently people have been taking it to the extreme, said Natalie Mokari, a dietitian based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

One problem with boy kibble is that the ratios are off from what experts typically recommend. Generally, people should aim for half of their plate to be vegetables, one quarter to be carbohydrates and one quarter protein, Mulvihill said. But this plan is half protein and half carbohydrates with vegetables often optional.

Finke said that while he eats boy kibble for most dinners, he focuses on vegetables in other meals.

The Mediterranean diet has been hailed as one of the healthiest styles of eating for longevity and lower disease risk , and boy kibble does stray from the method in its heavy reliance on animal proteins and low diversity of plants, Mulvihill said.

Experts like this trend but aren’t subscribing outright. Boy kibble might be helpful … with some caveats, both Mokari and Mulvihill said.

It’s good to move more toward home-prepared, whole ingredient meals instead of relying on restaurants or pre-prepared meals, and it’s great if boy kibble helps you do that, Mulvihill said.

However, Mokari does recommend making some additions for a more balanced diet. Adding in some vegetables, even if they are precut or frozen to increase convenience, is a great way to round the meal out, she said.

Long term, eating the same meal every day limits the variety of nutrients a person gets, so Mulvihill recommends that people who benefit from a repetitive diet to eat more whole, homecooked meals build in times where they switch it up.

“This can be a good starting point for some people,” Mokari said.

编者按：你是否在社交媒体上看到过一些健康建议，然后疑惑“这些建议真的对我有益吗？” CNN 健康团队将在本系列文章“潮流检测”中解释和评估这些热门趋势。

你是否曾经给狗狗的食盆添满狗粮，低头看着里面的狗粮，然后感到一丝羡慕？

不？嗯，对某些人来说，只需一碗就能摄取所有营养，而且无需费心思考和努力，这确实是一个很有吸引力的想法——他们已经在很多餐食中食用这种食物了。

这种饮食方式被称为“男孩干粮”，在社交媒体上广为流传，它基本上将食物简化到最基本的成分，以尽可能方便地提供高蛋白。

“我就把它当成一个碗。里面放的是碎牛肉、牛油果和米饭。就这些。超级简单，”内容创作者兼狗粮鉴赏家尼克·芬克说道。

当然，这很容易做到，而且对于它是否适合所有人可能存在争议，但这算是一种健康的饮食计划吗？

男孩狗粮是另一种趋势——“女孩晚餐”——的另一面。两者都强调方便快捷，减少思考，但女孩晚餐是把手边现有的各种零食拼凑成一顿饭（比如奶酪、饼干、小番茄和酸奶），而男孩狗粮则是批量烹饪，每天晚上吃同样的食物。

在“女孩晚餐”风靡网络几年后，男孩们也加入了这场讨论，他们带来了蛋白质含量更高的食物——“男孩狗粮”。

通常这意味着以米饭为底，加入碎肉——火鸡肉、鸡肉或牛肉。有些人会添加各种香料或调味料，有些人则不会。芬克还会加入牛油果，以增加膳食中的健康脂肪。

这并非偶尔的菜肴，也不是他不想做饭时的权宜之计。芬克说他每天晚上都吃公狗粮。

“准备饭菜非常简单，”芬克说。“我会在一周开始的时候把牛肉末和米饭一次性做好，然后一周的每一天午餐或晚餐都可以吃。”

芬克说，男孩粮其实适合所有人，但尤其受到男性欢迎。而那些希望增强体质的男性也对这种简化的饮食方式深有共鸣。

据采用这种饮食方式的人说，其最大的好处之一是能够可靠地满足蛋白质摄入需求。威尔康奈尔医学院和纽约长老会医院的整合医学专家扎卡里·穆尔维希尔博士表示，对于想要增肌的人来说，蛋白质摄入量可能很高。

北卡罗来纳州夏洛特市的营养师娜塔莉·莫卡里表示，蛋白质是一种重要的营养素，但最近人们却走极端了。

男童狗粮的一个问题是，其营养比例与专家通常建议的比例不符。穆尔维希尔表示，一般来说，人们的餐盘中应该一半是蔬菜，四分之一是碳水化合物，四分之一是蛋白质。但这种狗粮的配方却是蛋白质和碳水化合物各占一半，蔬菜通常是可选项。

芬克说，虽然他大多数晚餐都吃狗粮，但在其他餐点中，他会注重吃蔬菜。

地中海饮食被誉为最健康的饮食方式之一，有助于延年益寿，降低患病风险。穆尔维希尔说，而狗粮却严重依赖动物蛋白，植物种类少，这与地中海饮食的理念背道而驰。

专家们喜欢这种趋势，但并未完全赞同。莫卡里和穆尔维希尔都表示，男孩专用狗粮或许会有帮助……但需要注意一些事项。

穆尔维希尔说，与其依赖餐馆或预制食品，不如更多地使用家庭自制的全食材烹饪，这是件好事，如果狗粮能帮助你做到这一点就更好了。

不过，莫卡里建议添加一些其他食物，以使饮食更加均衡。她说，添加一些蔬菜，即使是为了方便起见而预先切好或冷冻的蔬菜，也是使膳食更加全面的好方法。

从长远来看，每天吃同样的饭菜会限制一个人摄入的营养种类，因此 Mulvihill 建议那些从重复饮食中受益的人多吃完整的家常菜，并安排一些时间来变换饮食。

“这对于某些人来说可能是一个不错的起点，”莫卡里说。