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We have a set of reflexive attitudes about food that are largely uncorrelated with health, nutrition or the environment, but are strongly correlated with the so
by cageface 8y ago
We have a set of reflexive attitudes about food that are largely uncorrelated with health, nutrition or the environment, but are strongly correlated with the social class of who eats what.
I wish this point was brought up more in nutrition discussions. Most of these recent fad diets like keto, paleo, and carnivore are beyond the means of most people in the world. So even if we accept, for the sake of argument (which I don't), that they have nutritional advantages there should be a giant asterisk at the end of the argument.
- nightski 8y agoketo a fad diet? It's been around since the 1920s...
- cageface 8y agoFor treating epileptics yes, not as a diet recommended for general use. https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/treating-seizures-and-epilepsy/dietary-therapies/ketogenic-diet https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/treating-seizures-and-epileps...
- sjwright 8y ago“Not a diet recommended for general use” can be legitimately said of many defined diets and can DEFINITELY be said of the actual eating habits of most western people. Keto (i.e. any diet that triggers ketones) is a compelling option for numerous reasons, not just epileptics. It’s definitely not a good default for the wider population. And it is of course environmentally and economically inefficient. But ketogenisis is a reality of our biochemistry and shouldn’t be dismissed in the same way as other diets.
- ubercow13 8y ago'Protein is more filling' is also a part of our biochemistry but I'd still be ok with carnivore diet being called a fad diet
- cageface 8y agoReplace the word fad with popular if that works better for you. There has definitely been a lot of buzz around it lately.
- sjwright 8y agoI agree. It’s true of many (all?) diets that its proponents tend to overestimate the applicability of any one diet to all people. Dietary science is at its infancy. Contrary to what most people would assume, we have mountains of anecdotes, mountains of opinions, and very few hard facts. Navigating diet from a fact-first, science-first perspective is deeply frustrating.
- keymone 8y agoyeah, it wasn't recommended because for treating epilepsy they were using a powdered meal replacement (like soylent) and were missing some essential ingredients like phosphorus. it's absolutely a diet that can work for anybody, it does require a fair amount of reading though.
- cageface 8y agoI know. I'm not debating the merits of it, I'm just saying it wasn't a popular diet for the average Joe until recently.
- keymone 8y agowell maybe the reason it's growing in popularity is the fact that generally accepted medical and regulatory advice has been idiotic, focused on reducing fats and replacing them with sugars and carbs which resulted in obesity and diabetic epidemic? that fad lasted for 50 years, taking that into account it's probably too early to call keto a fad - i barely meet people who even know about it, let alone practice rigorously for any prolonged amount of time.
- coldtea 8y agoFad not as in "something that will go out of fashion quickly", but as "of questionable value, that people pick out of peer suggestions/fashion". Whether the latter is recurring and long term doesn't mean much. All kinds of non-diet fads come and go too, even bellbottoms made a couple of comebacks in the decades since the late 60s.