If a diet can be compared to a political ideology, the LCHF diet would be near the libertarian end of the spectrum with veganism and raw foodism planted firmly on the fascist end, really firmly. The whole low carb movement reminds me of the homeschooling movement -- same kind of non-conformist slightly geeky people, same disregard for cultural norms, and the same self confidence that the individual is more than capable of steering their own lives. (This is where anti-Homeschoolers will sarcastically ask if we think we can DIY our own brain surgeries, too, implying that teaching children is as difficult as surgery, brain surgery, and that only teachers should be allowed to operate on children.)
I love information, but I hate dogma. As soon as I read anything anywhere in whatever area I'm interested in, and I come across preachy instructions on how to apply their general POV to every aspect of my life, I get highly skeptical and irritated. A completely lame example: In a macrobiotic diet book by Michio Kushi, which I read maybe 25 years ago, there were detailed instructions on how to take a proper shower. Scrubbing that caucasian off was the basic idea. You just want some dietary advice and guidelines and you end up in a Japanese cult.
While exploring my new perfect forever diet, I'm also learning a lot about the Paleo movement. There are similarities btwn the two diets, and their followers even take cruises together. But whereas the LCHF diet is about following science blindly to whatever absurd method of eating is shown to be the most efficacious, the Paleo movement encompasses your entire life. Food has to be pure. Eating has to be clean. Sleep has to be 7.5 hours in duration in a cool and lightless room. Shoes are buffers btwn you and life. And one should leap and frisk along wave swept shores like heathen cannibal island children. Admittedly, primal eaters do seem a happy group, always smiling and baring their perfectly toned bodies in a bonhomie kind of way. I think it's the excess of omega-3s in their diet.
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