“Girl dinner” is the latest food trend, with the hashtag #girldinner gaining a whopping 1.3 billion views on TikTok.
Women everywhere are showing off what they pulled together from their fridges and pantries to have as a low-effort dinner.
Maybe you put a plate together of some leftover slices of deli meat, fruits and cheese and crackers rather than making a full-out meal.
It takes just a few minutes and you use practically no energy: That is a girl dinner.
Self-proclaimed “girl dinner” creator Olivia Maher claimed in a May TikTok that “in medieval times peasants had to eat nothing but bread and cheese,” arguing that the scraps are actually what she would consider her “ideal meal.”
Many have branded the trend “disturbing” — but there might be more nutritional value to this snacklike dinner than one might think.
A sort of charcuterie board for one, the “girl dinner” can be a healthy option if there’s enough variety.
WebMD medical team member Dr. Neha Pathak told The Post that “a ‘girl dinner’ gives you the chance to take back the joy, focus on you and be mindful of what your body needs without having to worry about anyone else.
“Whenever I prescribe healthy-balanced meals made up mostly of fruits and veggies, I know that for a lot of people that’s overwhelming and too much work. “
Pathak — who is dual board-certified in internal medicine and lifestyle medicine — stressed the importance of making sure your plate has filling and healthy portion sizes, with enough protein, vegetables and carbohydrates.
“You just want to be sure you’re making the meal about a healthy, joyful you, and not making the meal all about disease-causing, unhealthy processed foods,” Pathak shared. “Pretty is the point … you want your plate to be colorful and beautiful.
“As a married, lifestyle medicine physician mom with three daughters, there’s actually nothing I look forward to more than a night that’s just a ‘girl dinner,'” Pathak said, adding that she’s all for taking the extra step of adding “girl lunches” and “girl breakfasts” to the mix.
Olivia Amitrano, the “OG wellness influencer,” told The Post that the “girl dinner” trend can actually be “one of the most balanced ways” to prepare a meal for the gut microbiome — which is integral to digestion and generating nutrients — and to enrich gut diversity.
Amitrano, founder of wellness brand Organic Olivia, shared that gut diversity is not about the number of good “bugs” within our gut microbiome, but rather the richness and diversity of the bacteria.
