Paleo, keto, fasting: Why food tribes are on the rise
Percentage of adults following a specific diet protocol more than doubled
Does it seem like suddenly everyone you know is identifying as Paleo, giving keto a whirl, or suffering through Whole30?
Well, it’s not your imagination. Compared with this time last year, the percentage of American adults following a specific diet protocol more than doubled, from 14 to 36 per cent. In other words: food tribes are on the rise. That’s one of the most surprising findings of the annual Food & Health Survey released this week by the International Food Information Council Foundation.
The most popular dozen diets were, in descending order: intermittent fasting, Paleo, gluten-free, low-carb, Mediterranean, Whole30, high-protein, vegetarian/ vegan, weight-loss plan, cleanse, DASH and ketogenic/high-fat. Taken alone, each of these diet dogmas snatches up only 3 to 10 per cent of the population. (Respondents — of which there were more than 1,000, in a weighted national sample polled online in March — could choose more than one.) But altogether, about 16 per cent were eating low-carb in some way. And the reason seems to stem from evolving perceptions of what causes weight gain.
Of those following a certain creed over the past year, weight-related motivators were at the top of the list. Those surveyed considered sugar the top calorie-related culprit of weight gain, followed by carbohydrates, cited by 25 per cent of respondents — up 5 percentage points compared with 2017, and a record for the 13-year survey.
Admittedly, a methodological asterisk is at play: last year, participants were given an open text box rather than specific diets to choose from. But according to the foundation, the spike was probably caused by more substantive undercurrents. In the quest for optimal health and weight, what is driving people to follow specific diet regimens? TV news, which was tied with registered dietitian nutritionists and health-focused websites as the second most-relied-upon sources, yet news sources ranked secondto-last for trust. (Which means you probably don’t believe a word I write, and yet, you may very well decide what to have for lunch because of it.)
Friends and family are both more convenient and more emotionally appealing because we have an interpersonal connection with them, said Jason Riis, marketing lecturer at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Most of us don’t take the time to read scientific papers or bother booking an appointment with a dietitian; instead, news and commentary from friends and family come to us automatically, especially through social media feeds.
“In fact, exposure to these passive sources is increasing,” he said. “And we have evidence that falseness tends to travel faster and further through those passive networks.”
Certainly not all information about all food formulas is false, but many of the claims (for Paleo, gluten-free and Whole30 diets, to name a few) are unsubstantiated. The survey also found that consumers are eating more protein and fewer fruits and vegetables than the recommended amounts — possible byproducts of the focus on low-carb.
“Things that are false are more likely to be interesting because they’re counterintuitive,” Riis said. “So, we tend to want to share things that are counterintuitive and not obvious ... That may be one of the things that is creeping up and advantaging fad diets, because many claims about fad diets that get shared get shared quickly and influence people.”
It has become significantly easier to follow a specific diet because of more diet-specific options in the marketplace, from Paleo protein bars to restaurants catering to Whole30. The “free-from” packaged foods industry is booming, and there are more choices now for diet-compliant meal delivery kits.
Diet programs themselves have also been adapted to an enlightened public.
“The backlash against ridiculous crazy fad diets is on the move, but the diet industry has realized that people are wise to it,” Foxcroft said.
Programs offering recipes and products are now more focused on long-term mindful eating and fresh, whole foods. In her words, “the diet industry has found a way to make money out of common sense.”
Part of the expanding marketplace of these products, said Riis, is to whom they get marketed: moms, who still make most of the family food decisions. In fact, the survey found that those with children under 18 in the house were more likely to adhere to a specific eating pattern (44 per cent vs. 32 per cent) than those who have never had kids or with older kids who might be out of the house.
What is it about housing children that makes you a prime target for, say, vegan cupcakes? Fear. Food companies and activist groups spend marketing dollars to make moms “afraid of GMOs, meat, processed foods — anything in traditional diets,” Riis said.
As Lewin-Zwerdling put it, “Your own mortality comes front and centre once you have kids.”
Widespread confusion may also help explain why intermittent fasting was the most popular code of consumption, at 10 per cent. It offers the ultimate simplicity. People appear to be drawn to the control and structure it provides, in addition to its straightforward tenets: eat. Then don’t eat. Like a faucet, you just turn it on and off. Everything else gets to stay the same.
So while an array of newish dietary doctrines may draw some of us into distinct food tribes, what’s capturing the greatest attention is old-fashioned abstinence. You know what else the survey revealed about our food choices? Almost nothing beats the familiar.