Almost every blog I follow, most of which have nothing to do with food or healthy lifestyles or diets, has had new posts recently about the Keto diet. Honestly, I felt like I was being berated by this diet that I couldn't seem to escape.
It was weird.
Then my good friend Trish released a new Keto pack with all new recipes and I was like, okay so everyone else knows something I don’t know.
But the more I thought about it, the more it kind of made sense. I have been around long enough to see how diet trends come and go. Most of them don’t stick around very long – so when they do, you have to ask yourself why. What makes it so special.
As someone who did Keto for about 6 months (a story for another time) and has written about it a lot, I have come up with 5 reasons I personally think it is still so popular, and is probably not leaving any time soon:
1. There are legitimate health benefits. Keto was originally created as a way to help control seizures in people with epilepsy. We all know this. But for everyone else, there are still tons of health benefits aside from weight loss. It gives you more energy, reduces cravings, gets rid of brain fog, reduces inflammation that might lead to chronic pain, helps women with PCOS, and so on.
When you have a diet that actually delivers on these types of benefits instead of being JUST for weight loss, it is bound to be more popular than something that is just meant to help shed the fat. It is also a lot easier to build an audience around the diet.
2. Companies have jumped on board. Like all of them. The amount of companies I have seen create products specifically for people on the Keto diet is.. impressive. Yes, there are some who are just taking advantage of the “keto” name and the products are probably crap, but most of the ones I have seen are kind of amazing if this is your lifestyle choice.
Not only does this keep people interested in the diet, but it is great news if you like talking about keto on your blog, since there are a LOT of affiliate opportunities out there.
3. It is insanely effective if you are consistent. If you can get past the miserable keto flu phase, you will probably be able to stick to keto for a while. You have to love the food of course (which I wasn’t a fan of, personal preference).
But I can say this was the most consistent I ever was on a diet. You notice pretty quickly how it gets rid of almost all your cravings, you have a much smaller appetite, tons of energy, and really want to stay involved in the keto community.
I found that even if I was thinking of getting off it, when I saw other people talking about it, I got interested again. The more you talk about it on your blog, the more people feel inspired to stay engaged.
4. Keto can be simple if you let it be simple. People love to complicate things, and keto is actually very simple. Eat less than 20 net carbs a day, and you’re golden. I found it to be pretty easy as far as the “rules” of the diet, if you’re into the type of food you’re allowed.
5. There is a HUGE following on social media. Like a cult following. People who love Keto REALLY love Keto. As cliché as it sounds, it becomes your entire lifestyle. You live and die by Keto. You want all your friends to do Keto. You tell everyone how amazing Keto is.
People want to belong to a community, and they get that with Keto, which is why I think this is probably at the top of the list for reasons people keep coming back to it.
How You Can Leverage the Popularity – Give Your Audience New Recipes
From what I have seen on other blogs, social media accounts, and my personal experience, what people want more of is recipes. Really good ones that keep you in ketosis and aren’t just “bacon and eggs”, which by the way gets old really fast.
Trish at KitchenBloggers is known for creating and testing her own recipes and doing all the photography, so if you want to add more recipes about Keto to your blog, she’s your girl.
