Why is the keto diet becoming popular among people in the tech industry? originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.

I’m not convinced the Keto diet is becoming so popular anywhere, much less in tech, but I do think it’s fair to say it may be the trendiest diet at the moment, so there’s that. Here are some reasons I think Keto, and other past diets like it, are attractive in general but might be particularly attractive for people in tech:

* The number one predictor of whether or not a diet can become a trend is whether someone can tell you this at a noisy dinner party between bits of reheated taquitos and sips of crappy Costco wine. Keto is: “Exactly like Atkins” . . . its got some new, sciencey sounding words. But everybody over 25 will go “Ohhhhhh, so just eat only meat?” Yep, that’s basically it.

* Keto is about stacking protein and vegetables, staying away from carbs and even fruit. As a tech worker who gets company-provided meals, this is great. This is an inherently more expensive, less accessible diet for most Americans but is easy for anybody who gets food comped as part of their job. Most work diets lean this way anyway, so it's not that hard to just double up on meat and salad and skip the bread/pasta.

* Coffee is Keto friendly. Really, I hope Keto marketers are leading with this in tech. If you tell tech people there’s something like a coffee-based diet they’re all in. If you could make it coffee + La Croix you’re going to be a billionaire.

* Describing the process of “forcing the body to manufacture ketones” is exactly how a Silicon Valley tech worker would say “eat less carbs”. Please ask a tech worker this and make sure they have pens and a whiteboard handy so they can draw out the diagram of “eat less carbs” and how it works and all the math behind “eat less carbs”.

So, why are we hearing about Keto and not just “eat less carbs”? Because what fun is that to say to someone at a dinner party?

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