Current Events > I feel like the popularity of keto diets has some implicit misogyny tied to it

(+) Yeah! (+)

Now I'm not talking about keto diets for medical nutrition therapy - because that's wholly unrelated to normal nutrition. It's weird that always gets brought up. It's not like we're advocating people to do low P/Na/K diets for normal nutrition just because people with renal disease follow them.

It seems like the majority of the time whenever there's an influencer/celebrity/salesperson supporting keto diets for long-term, normal nutrition it's usually a handsome white male cardiologist/fitness coach/personal trainer. It's usually never women and it's usually never dietitians. A quick Google search took me to the CDR website, and it says that currently 93% of RDNs are women ( https://www.cdrnet.org/registry-statistics-new?id=1779&actionxm=ByDemographics ). So people are going to follow the advice of professionals in areas that aren't their specialty, and disregard the opinions of the most applicable specialty that also happens to be predominantly female?

I've met probably dozens of dietitians, or people who went to school to be dietitians, in my lifetime. I'm talking my professors, my preceptors at different internships, the other dietitians employed at said locations, the dietitians at my current employer, the dozens or so coworkers of mine I've had over the years that went to school for dietetics, etc.
I know I haven't asked all of them personally, but it's usually something that riles anybody up who went to school for dietetics whenever it's mentioned. The only exceptions I've met were one or two people who also admittedly had a history of eating disorders.

I'm not here to argue the efficacy of keto diets. They're clearly effective for rapid, short-term weight loss. I'm just pointing out how striking it is that people will knowingly take the advice of some shirtless white model looking-type talking about carnivore diets while on trip in Ibiza than, you know, people whose specialty is actually food and nutrition.

People generally don't give a shit about expert opinion, in my experience

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Balrog0 posted...

People generally don't give a shit about expert opinion, in my experience

True. It's sad because dietitians are so overlooked compared to other medical professionals it seems. Eating food is something so intimate that every person does - so it seems like everybody has some opinion on the matter, qualified or not.

the number of people who take diet advice from random white guys on youtube instead of actual registered dieticians is truly staggering

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No, the Keto diet is not sexist or racist

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AngelsNAirwav3s posted...

No, the Keto diet is not sexist or racist

I'm saying a lot of its proponents/advocates seem to have some stronger degree of confidence in male opinions over womens' opinions.
I wouldn't say it's racist - but I would say that it blatantly disregards the importance of cereal grains and fruits to the history of nearly any major food culture worldwide, short of native Alaskans. So it definitely comes from some place of privilege to divorce yourself from foods that define your cultural heritage - especially in cultures where food is tied to lots of feelings of otherness/judgement/classism.

bobbaaay posted...

True. It's sad because dietitians are so overlooked compared to other medical professionals it seems. Eating food is something so intimate that every person does - so it seems like everybody has some opinion on the matter, qualified or not.

Oh yeah, that's a great point. You'll never convince people who have been doing something their whole life that they don't know what they're doing


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Balrog0 posted...

Oh yeah, that's a great point. You'll never convince people who have been doing something their whole life that they don't know what they're doing

I think people have this false assumption that dietitians are all going to tell them to eat grilled chicken and broccoli, and follow a DASH diet or something. I think there are lots of bad dietitians out there who give them this idea, especially with how high the rates of eating disorders/disordered eating are with people who go into dietetics. They don't realize that dietitians still do study food cultures, and that good nutrition counseling usually has to do with working with how a person already eats and making small changes. Nobody is going to force anybody to eat a certain way unless it's medically necessary. Nobody who's doing their job well is going to tell you that you need to become pescatarian or give up your curry or sabzi or whatever.

So I'm confused about your stance here. I get your point about people tending to favor the opinions of people they like such as celebrities over professionals but how is there misogyny if there is no female competition? Wouldn't there be implicit misogyny if there were both male and female advocates for keto and people only took the advice of the males? Even then I don't think that's misogynistic I think its people following people they like.

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OffTempo posted...

So I'm confused about your stance here. I get your point about people tending to favor the opinions of people they like such as celebrities over professionals but how is there misogyny if there is no female competition? Wouldn't there be implicit misogyny if there were both male and female advocates for keto and people only took the advice of the males? Even then I don't think that's misogynistic I think its people following people they like.

I think that the most well known and vocal proponents of keto diets and carnivore diets are handsome, white males who aren't dietitians - and the majority of dietitians, who they should be seeking advice from, are women.

bobbaaay posted...

I think that the most well known and vocal proponents of keto diets and carnivore diets are handsome, white males who aren't dietitians - and the majority of dietitians, who they should be seeking advice from, are women.

How do you know it's because they're men and not just because they're influencers

Plus I guess eating a lot of meat and dairy appeals to people in the United States where meat is the centerpiece of a lot of meals, and most food guides up until MyPyramid had "meat" in the name of the food group rather than just protein.
I can't speak for the popularity of keto diets for normal nutrition outside of the United States, though. I can't imagine they fare well in countries like India.

bobbaaay posted...

I think that the most well known and vocal proponents of keto diets and carnivore diets are handsome, white males who aren't dietitians - and the majority of dietitians, who they should be seeking advice from, are women.

Ah okay gotcha. But again how is that misogyny? If a handsome white male has a huge following on social media or something of the like then obviously there are going to be a lot of people taking his word for it. Dietitians get the word out via published articles and people who set up appointments and go to them.

Also there's the issue of gratification and attention span. If you're a person who wants to get in shape and get a certain physique and you're following a guy who has a nice body and is advocating a lifestyle that got them to that point, you're first thought is that it would apply to you to. Yeah it'd be smart to get a second opinion from a professional but not everyone thinks that way and want that immediate gratification. I don't think that's misogyny I think that's just a lack of a thought process.

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coh posted...

How do you know it's because they're men and not just because they're influencers

Maybe you're right and it's partially the marketing? I guess it'd be helpful to ask some people on keto diets how they were led to their sources. Maybe it can be attributed to them being better at getting their books/videos out to the general population? Maybe it's partially due to the popularity of the diets online and how vocal its proponents/followers are, and then posting online/talking on the phone about keto diets causes their phones to give them targeted advertising?

OffTempo posted...

Ah okay gotcha. But again how is that misogyny? If a handsome white male has a huge following on social media or something of the like then obviously there are going to be a lot of people taking his word for it. Dietitians get the word out via published articles and people who set up appointments and go to them.

Also there's the issue of gratification and attention span. If you're a person who wants to get in shape and get a certain physique and you're following a guy who has a nice body and is advocating a lifestyle that got them to that point, you're first thought is that it would apply to you to. Yeah it'd be smart to get a second opinion from a professional but not everyone thinks that way and want that immediate gratification. I don't think that's misogyny I think that's just a lack of a thought process.

Makes sense. I'm sure people would rather listen to some "Chad" looking dude than her:

Well... there's a reason diet soda ads don't feature fat people.

Either way, it is kind of sad to think how underappreciated the role of a dietitian is outside of medical nutrition therapy. I have at least a couple coworkers who never pursued their internships and becoming registered, simply because they were sick of regular people being so combative and opinionated with them. They felt like it was a kind of hopeless endeavor.

Probably not so deeply rooted in misogyny as you're making it. People that subscribe to quick result diets like keto or fasting obviously want to see results quickly. And they're more likely to listen to the jacked man or woman who markets themselves on IG or YT and is easily accessible over the 75 year old man or woman that has a book hidden in a Barnes and Noble.
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Since TC posted no evidence what so ever, a quick Amazon search shows that the majority of books for Keto diet plans are written by women

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First Youtube result:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrRDnLJdjmQ

Big keto proponent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJICCFZLgHY

Very popular Youtuber. Doesn't flat out support it, but doesn't discourage it, either:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDBZ2u7JvIg
(edit: I do appreciate that he brought up the inconvenience and difficulties in social situations as a con. I'm in groups making fun of keto people that are, ironically, infiltrated by keto dieters. They always try and deny the difficulty of eating out/social situations. It's way tougher than vegetarianism at this point.)

Not exactly "handsome," but this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xkADO86jJU

https://carnivoreaurelius.com/carnivore-diet/

I've also seen people quote this one guy, Paul Salidino, who's kind of a total douchebag. He talks about how "phytonutrients" aren't real, we can get everything from just meat, etc.

Weird, this was my first YouTube result when searching Keto diet

https://youtu.be/Q89St6BTxIQ

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A keto diet should never be long term or normal. its good for speeding weight loss results and thats it

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I don't think misogyny is the word you're looking for here. It's more of a "dude who looks how I want to look says do this thing to look like me". It doesn't really have anything to do with valuing a male's opinion over a female's.

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Ermac posted...

A keto diet should never be long term or normal. its good for speeding weight loss results and thats it

True. But I'm sure you know how many people make it a lifestyle and are incredibly vocal about it.

Anyone promoting the keto diet as something everyone should be on is either a Rogan bro, listening to a Rogan bro and/or someone grifting off Rogan's popularity.

Rogan himself is just working backwards from the basis of: keto/carnivore is good because hunting is cool and so is feeling like what I believe cavemen were like. And I'll bring on any crazy food blogger that agrees with me. Also I want to stick it to vegans.

Considering all the bro energy above it's not surprising it receives a lot of endorsements from the types you describe.

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teehee diets. I just run/weight lift/and fast.
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Corrupt_Power posted...

I don't think misogyny is the word you're looking for here. It's more of a "dude who looks how I want to look says do this thing to look like me". It doesn't really have anything to do with valuing a male's opinion over a female's.

This
It's the backbone of bro science. Your qualifications are your results.

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AngelsNAirwav3s posted...

No, the Keto diet is not sexist or racist

It does have a problem with your religion, though.

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Krojen posted...

Anyone promoting the keto diet as something everyone should be on is either a Rogan bro, listening to a Rogan bro and/or someone grifting off Rogan's popularity.

Rogan himself is just working backwards from the basis of: keto/carnivore is good because hunting is cool and so is feeling like what I believe cavemen were like. And I'll bring on any crazy food blogger that agrees with me. Also I want to stick it to vegans.

Considering all the bro energy above it's not surprising it receives a lot of endorsements from the types you describe.

Even when he brings on legitimate experts who disagree with them he just argues over them

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Balrog0 posted...

Even when he brings on legitimate experts who disagree with them he just argues over them

yah. whenever it comes to diet he's particularly bad

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bobbaaay posted...

It seems

bobbaaay posted...

I think

bobbaaay posted...

I feel like

Source: Your ass.


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