Woman Saves Money on the Paleo Diet By Eating…Dog Food

The paleo diet, fad or not, is expensive to keep up. Purchasing all that fresh protein — up to a third of the diet — can take a toll on your bank account, which is why one woman decided to try eating dog food.

Yes, that’s right — food made exclusively for dogs: dog food. Writing for OZY, and bravely at that, Anne Kadet details how her six-day diet of dry and wet dog food (and treats) not only fulfilled the paleo diet’s guidelines and goals, if not surpassing them, but also helped saved her time and money. Kadet writes:

“… all that fresh meat and produce costs a fortune. Plus, there’s a lot of cooking, and I have better things to do with my time — like reading dog food labels. And yes, I couldn’t help notice that my dog’s high-end kibble — like my paleo diet — is high in protein, grain-free and gluten-free. It’s made with ‘simple, holistic ingredients.’ It’s fortified with omega-3 and omega-6 and antioxidants. The best part? Canidae is an expensive dog food, but at 85 cents a meal, it’s a lot cheaper than eating paleo.”

Kadet describes the kibble she crunches for the first meal on her experimental paleo dog food diet as “dry and gritty” with a “nutty, slightly sour taste.” It’s only later on that Kadet notices her dry dog food is labeled “Not for human consumption,” and so she emails an NYU professor specializing in human and animal nutrition who tells her, “Canned food is sterile. The kibble is not, and there have been many instances of salmonella contamination.”

From there, not wanting to be both grody AND sick, Kadet moves on to various wet and refrigerated dog foods that range from “metallic and disturbingly bland” to “rich and flavorful.” The latter fare is such a hit to her palate that she goes to Petsmart to take advantage of their buy-10, get-two-cans-free deal, presumably saving herself money that the average paleo diet enthusiast … isn’t? (My feeling is that spending money on food meant for humans, in order for you or other humans to consume, is probably never a waste, but what do I know?)

After a full six days of eating canine meals, Kadet claims that she lost two pounds and had a blood sugar level that “dropped to the ultralow end of the ideal range.”

In conclusion to her adventure, Kadet writes:

“I’m excited to go back to eating people food. But if I were broke? I’d choose to live on kibble over Kraft dinner or ramen noodles. Surely, an all-in-one, high-end dog food is more nutritious than a diet of white flour and fat?”

While I don’t subscribe to paleo diet theories, I salute you, Anne Kadet — I like your moxie. Hopefully though, while saving money on the diet, and for the benefit of your loved ones, I hope you invested in some seriously heavy duty mouthwash.

Originally written by Alan Van for NextShark

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