Americans have been looking to diets for miracle health cures and weight loss magic bullets since before the 1830s, trying everything from subsisting on nothing but grapes in the 1920s to different variations on high-fat, low-carb diets that persist in popularity today.

The global weight management market was valued at a staggering $142.58 billion in 2022, according to Grand View Research. Still, another industry behemoth proves consumers don't just care about their own diets: They want to feed their pets only the best. At $103.3 billion in 2023, the pet food industry is growing year over year as pets become increasingly popular and more premium and bespoke options become available.

Dog diet and nutrition, in particular, have loomed increasingly large in the American consciousness in recent years. Some dog owners have moved away from the kibble-only diets of just a couple of decades ago and toward fresher, higher-quality, and more specific foods for their pups.

Dog wellness trends and fad diets, like raw meat and veganism, have likewise become more popular—and even correspond with human fad diets at times. Overlaps between human and dog diets are hardly surprising considering that, generationally speaking, Americans are trending toward adopting pets rather than having kids.

Much like human fad diets, these diets geared toward dogs are often based on inconclusive or shaky science and can be dangerous if not undertaken with all the available information. To help get the lowdown on the most popular dog fad diets, Ollie explored the nutritional value of four major ones using information from the Food and Drug Administration and the American Animal Hospital Association.

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