Fruit Sales Are the Latest Thing to Be Downsized by Keto

The ketogenic way of eating (those of us who have adopted it loathe calling it a “diet”) has been catching on in America in the last few years, bringing smaller waistlines and more energy to people of all ages.

Keto has become so popular that diet charlatans who hawk supplements spend a lot of time angrily misrepresenting it.

The “fat-burner” peddlers aren’t the only ones with a reason to worry about keto affecting their business now:

Keto diet credited for a decline in fruit sales:https://t.co/MXUd9MddT9

— Diet Doctor (@DietDoctor) May 22, 2019

Blue Book Services is a marketing info site for the produce industry. It recently reported on keto’s role in affecting fruit sales:

Can you believe it’s only been about two years since people went crazy for the keto diet?

Virtually unheard-of outside of very specific medical conditions prior to 2017 (well, except a very similar sounding low carb, high fat diet we all knew as Atkins in the late 1990s and early 2000s), the ketogenic diet started its upward climb on Google Trends in late 2016.

The “diet” has actually been around since the 1920s, which is why some bristle when it is referred to as a “fad.”

More from Blue Book:

Six percent of households in the U.S. say they’re following the keto diet. One of the core philosophies of keto is avoiding high sugar fruits, which Lally said correlates with lower fruit sales.

“We really do see these diets play out in terms of product performance,” he said.

Total fruit dollars and units were down 0.8% in the first quarter of 2019, continuing a trend over the past couple of years of flat and declining fruit sales.

The good news for fruit growers is that berries — which are perfectly acceptable in the keto way of eating — are doing well:

Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries…there’s a pretty strong growth rate in fresh and frozen,” he said. “Overall there seems to be a connection between diet trends and consumer behavior, particularly the keto diet and fruit.

Jillian Michaels has repeatedly said that we keto folk cut out fruit from our diets. That’s one of her reasons for being so vehemently opposed to the diet. It’s also one of many that she is completely wrong about.

I’ve got a lot of strawberries in my fridge right now. Time to enjoy them.