I tried really hard to find a profit motive as Keto was catching on a couple years ago, and I couldn't. Nobody was selling much. I'd lean toward anti-keto.
Of course there's a profit motive for Keto: selling books, movies, and magazines. Haven't you seen all the magazines at Whole Foods pushing keto and paleo diets? Or the "experts" selling books pushing them?
This was before all that. I couldn't even find a book. I found Keto by going through every diet subreddit and looking for which ones had the most before and after photos that were significant, and not sponsored by for-profit programs (like weight watchers).
Intermittent fasting seems similar at the moment. Promising results, and I can't find a sponsor. Sure, given any trend, people will find a way to make a profit. But the kernel of these seems fairly organic, unlike say, the "South Beach Diet."
There's also a profit motive to sell water, so maybe hydration is a scam too?
To ericb's point—there's a massive difference between a profit motive of selling optional advice versus selling the "product". Like many real diets, keto is little more than a subset of foods already available at the supermarket. It's not like someone was trying to flog a special powder or vitamin pills.
A book can easily cost as much as a special powder or vitamin pills. And yes, someone writing some pseudo-scientific book pushing "hydration" (in reality, over-hydration) is a scam artist too. I'd be very surprised if there aren't any such books out there.
I case you're wondering, this "hydration" thing basically is a scam too, just like keto. Fun fact: it's generally impossible to die of dehydration, unless you genuinely don't have access to freshwater. People will drink when they're thirsty. No athletes have ever died of it. However, a significant number of athletes have died of over-hydration (water poisoning). Just like keto, it's dangerous and unhealthy.
"Books aren't free" isn't a coherent criticism of an idea. Nobody is claiming exclusivity or special authority over the concept of diets which trigger human ketogenesis.
Your level of unqualified certainty about keto diets is amusing. I personally know a number of people who are sticking to that diet and they've all had their health objectively improve as a result. (Weight, body tone, lipoprotein subfractions.)
In one case, he had chronic fatigue that his GP (family doctor) couldn't resolve, nor two expert referrals who tried medications and special diets. The keto diet led to an effective cure (the key factor was narrowed to the consumption of sugar, even relatively small amounts) and when combined with other health marker improvements, now considers his keto diet as necessary for a tolerable existence.
So yeah, dangerous and unhealthy.
(And for the record I've no idea what "this hydration thing" is. When I cited hydration I wasn't talking about some special diet, only to the basic concept of not being dehydrated.)
