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John Ardern's avatar

Thanks Stephen. Moreover the public dont want to hear and/or cannot accept the no or very low carb narrative because of their addiction. When I say the public unfortunately I mean friends and family even those who understand my reasoning and its effects on their health issues cannot completely go there. Very sad and frustrating

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Tom Welsh's avatar

There is one very important fact this good article doesn't even mention. It would be impossible for everyone to give up eating carbs, because then there would not be nearly enough food to go round.

Before the "Green Revolution" there were serious fears of global starvation. The "Green Revolution" is supposed to have put that off by providing... vast amounts of extra grains. Today there are several billion people alive who could not be fed with the animal foods currently available.

To my mind, that is the real reason why governments are so desperate to hide the truth. At least one third of humanity is compelled to eat carbs or starve. Alternatively, we could all fight desperately for the meat - and perhaps most of us would die.

Already, in an English supermarket, I find that even the cheapest cuts of beef are priced at over £10/kilo. Most of the steaks and cuts of lamb go for £40/kilo, ranging up to £100/kilo. A normal adult carnivore could easily eat 1 kilo of meat every day - how many people can afford to spend £36,500/year on food alone?

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the UK carnivore's avatar

This is a good point but I will say that I have a reply article lined up to address this. Watch this space

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Tom Welsh's avatar

Indeed I shall. Your stuff is always good value, but this specific issue is almost more important than any other.

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Tim Ebl 🇨🇦's avatar

On its face, this seems true and can be true for some. At the same time, the energy contained in meat and fats like olive oil is much higher than carbs. So we don't need to have as much bulk once we switch to ketogenic.

Where the problem lies is that while still eating plenty of carbs, it's so easy to eat WAY MORE than we need. We are used to eating piles and piles of food, instead of the amount we need. On my keto days, I consume around 1/4 pound of ground beef, three eggs, some hard or cottage cheese, etc. Maybe some lettuce with olive oil. That is much less expensive than one steak.

High-priced steak is overrated. It isn't required to go keto.

And back to spending money on food. Would you rather spend that money on healthcare and medication when the ultra-cheap high-carb diet gives a person diabetes and heart disease, or eat nutritious food?

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Tom Welsh's avatar

It's the difference between having to find prey, hunt it down, kill it, keep the scavengers off, get some of it back to camp, and cook it... and walking down a supermarket aisle tossing large packs of food into a trolley. Our species evolved under conditions of limited food, obtainable - if at all - only by hard and sustained effort, and considerable risk. Such a species is ill equipped to cope with the exact opposite - a world where there is far too much food for our health. Although rats kept in natural surroundings do not usually overeat, no matter how much food they are given. Perhaps modern humans behave more like rats kept in stressful, overcrowded conditions, who do overeat.

Percy Cerutty, the eccentric - but very effective - Australian coach who helped Herb Elliott become Olympic 1500 metre champion and world record holder, has a nice passage in his first book "Athletics: How to Become a Champion" (1960).

"We soon find that the visitor makes up his mind, positively, in these matters, when he decides to have chip potatoes and eggs, or toast, after his oats - and he finds he has to prepare the potatoes, find the eggs - or toast the bread.

"Nothing, we find, is more conducive to making clean and clear-cut decisionsbetween appetite and hunger, those two inseparables, than having to prepare the food for oneself. How often do we hear then, 'I do not think I shall bother, thank you!' - and thus both the pantry and the stomach are profited thereby".

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Tim Ebl 🇨🇦's avatar

Excellent point. All of the foods I bring home require cooking or, at the very least, cutting and prep. Large packages of ultra-processed fodder for the carb-induced masses are much less labour-intensive. So there is a lower barrier to entry, much more likely to shovel it in!

The easiest way to reduce consumption then would be to stock up on raw meat and uncut veggies, and not allow oneself to order in or get takeout.

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Tim Ebl 🇨🇦's avatar

Fantastic article. I'm saving this one in my ammo pile for later use.

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Leah Soltar's avatar

Another fantastic article. I'm going to go buy more printer paper soon! I feel compelled to print copies for myself and this one I want to share with family and friends. They won't read the great books I buy multiple copies of to give them, but a short article with references is fantastic! Thank you!

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