[toomuchtodo]

One could, but the health benefits of low carb diets are observable to both layman (https://reddit.com/r/keto | https://www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience/) and in controlled studies (https://www.google.com/search?q=pubmed+keto), and the underlying macros are hard to gatekeep (I can get butter for my coffee anywhere).

Who are the stakeholders in "low carb"? Influencers? Sure, there are always going to be folks selling shovels, but the information on how to adhere to a low carb diet is freely available, and fat/protein macro foods readily available and fungible (I agree you'll have a slightly more difficult time to adhere to low carb if you're vegetarian or vegan, but it can be done, my partner and I tried it for fun to see if we could). You can spend an inordinate amount for your keto lifestyle, but you can also spend modestly and still arrive at the same results (whether that be weight loss, maintenance of a healthy weight, or management of a condition that is exacerbated by high blood sugar levels).

Eat properly ("abs are made in the kitchen", you can't work off excessive carbs consumption). Get enough sleep. Find time to exercise (high impact short duration cardio, weight lifting are best IMHO). These basics will contribute to a long, healthy life.

I hope this is helpful to someone, anyone! I was obese from my early teens (pizza and Mountain Dew, sigh), and only in my 30s after much research and experimentation am now in the best shape of my life (healthy BMI, low mile time, targeting a powerlifting competition this year). Everything I learned was from free online resources (r/fitness, r/keto, r/intermittentfasting wikis and discussions), and most of our food purchased at Aldi and Costco.

Sidenote: Keep in mind pricing is a signal. All of this information is free, and yet people still spend enormous amounts of money in aggregate on similar self-help materials with lesser results. Food for thought.

[carlmr]

>Who are the stakeholders in "low carb"?

Arguably the meat industry, since most low carb people eat more meat. Yes, vegetarian is possible, but I don't know any vegetarian low carbers, while I know a lot of vegetarians and a lot of low carbers eating bacon for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The meat industry probably has a similarly big lobby as the sugar industry.

I've dropped 8Kg in the last half year by going mostly vegetarian and lowering my dairy intake. I eat more carbs than before. I don't think keto is the whole truth.

[toomuchtodo]

As always, the "truth" is a moving target and is going to be highly variable depending on circumstance. You should do what works best for you. If that's practicing vegetarianism, awesome. If that's being mostly a carnivore and eating chicken and bacon every meal, go for it. Somewhere in the middle works too (mostly vegetarian, occasional meat, majority of protein sourced from eggs and whey protein). But refined sugars are not your friend. Put that soda down!

Industry lobbying is deplorable, but inevitable. Consumer education (see my comment above) is paramount (with a helping hand of government regulation) in mitigating its impact on consumer behaviors.

[basch]

>majority of protein sourced from eggs and whey protein).

Why eggs and not fungus and seeds (including nuts, legume pulses (beans, lentils, peas)? Hell what about gluten.

[toomuchtodo]

Because I like cheesy eggs and protein shakes. Again, I don't fault anyone who decides to adhere to a vegan diet.

[basch]

Nothing against eggs, I just like birdseed at my desk for grazing. Eggs are basically animal seeds anyway.

[basch]

>while I know a lot of vegetarians and a lot of low carbers eating bacon for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

is that because everyone has fallen for an extreme of a fad diet?

It's like everyone comes up with the right observation, and the wrong conclusion. "Low carbs are good, so ill eat fat protein. Meat is fat and protein" instead of "seeds and mushrooms." Or "meat is bad" so "ill eat lots of cereals" instead of "leaves and shoots."

Seeds, shoots, and leaves with some bottom feeding ocean animals is a perfectly doable diet.