Well, it’s not as if dietary fiber hasn’t been extensively studied, and there actually are many studies that “suggest,” that lack of fiber increases risk of some forms of cancer, most notably colon cancer. So the question about lack of any fiber in keto isn’t academic. No one has ever studied long-term keto in statistically significant populations, so it is certainly possible that 15 years down the road, keto adherents will see a spike in cancer diagnosis’s and cancer deaths among them. Please don’t say that is highly unlikely, or that I am probably wrong. This is not alarmism, but reasonable thinking, and prudent thinking. As you said yourself, we have no idea yet about many diet related issues, but we do have this library of data out there about the health benefit of fiber, that has drawn correlation between lack of fiber, colon cancer, colitis, diverticulitis, and other aliments. And keto fanatics can’t dismiss it away by saying Big Fiber is pushing it, because there is no Big Fiber, no bogeyman. Correlation isn’t necessarily causation, I get that, but the seriousness of the issue and just saying zero fiber is cool in this case, and then being wrong about that down the road is, well, significant.
And about the “keto community.” This wasn’t about me, even though I’ve been verbally manhandle by keto fans at times. It’s really about what I’ve observed here, and over at the Reddoit forums, on blogs, on YouTube videos, etc. Ketoism has an aggressive edge to it that is not at all helpful to finding true answers to the human diet riddle. The attitude does border on some ideology, like it’s a “movement,” a sort of we’re-mad-as-hell-and-not-going-to-take-it-anymore thing. It’s quite weird. I wish it would stop.
In the mean time, I’m enjoying my own experiment with keto, going on six weeks now, and seeing a lot of benefits I like. I’m working on finding a fiber solution I feel okay about. One thing I didn’t expect at all is that my mood has been consistently better starting about a month ago, which was when I entered into optimal ketosis (I do blood sampling). So that surprise has been quite remarkable. And welcome.
Thanks for your thoughtful response.