Why Is The Health Community So Cult-like?

[Jennifer]

Similar to damngoodcoffee’s perspective, my guess is mainly fear and insecurity. Ethical vegans’ motivations are pretty obvious but for the others, they don’t realize that they’re not their mom who died of cancer, their dad who had a heart attack, their grandparent with diabetes etc. and/or that they’re inherently lovable. Those who have watched loved ones suffer, or have experienced suffering themselves, may desperately defend their diet/protocol because it represents safety to them. Others who feel insecure about themselves may desperately defend their diet/protocol because they believe it will make them more attractive so that they can feel wanted and loved by someone, and even the ones who achieve their goal may still feel insecure about themselves and so they project their pain onto others like any other bully. I think this song holds a lot of truth:

 

[mangoes]

I think sick people just want to get healthy and find some authority who has the answer to their problems. Especially in a non-optimal health state, it can be hard to muster the energy and resourcefulness to solve their own issues. So when a guru comes along with big promises, they fall hook, line and sinker, and end up defending the ideology even if it isn’t providing the results they believe it will, both out of a desperation to get better and because a (seemingly) more knowledgeable person said so, and even backed it up with science(!)

i also think people tend to like being in a community, and that’s where some of the animosity comes in. “Us” vs. “the other.” They end up forming their identity based on their habits, ie vegans/carnivores, and anything that goes against it is a direct attack on their sense of identity

 

[Lollipop2]

healthy people usually don't follow diets, so unhealthy people are the ones doing the fasting, vegan, carnivore, to heal some sort of issue.

This is one of the most important statements in this thread. I learned about Peat in early 2015 and joined this forum in May 2015. Over the years I have incorporated the main food ideas of Peat - low PUFA, sugar and fruit are not the demon, dairy is healthy. I have experimented and find these all to be true. Last year I went back to eating food and cooking all my own food incorporating these ideas and I feel fantastic, my thyroid and liver are good, my age related hormones are mitigated. I eat muscle meats, healthy fats, fruits, cheese, milk, homemade lemonade with organic lemons and oranges if available, some veggies, tortillas, my homemade cookies with Organic, All Purpose Einkorn flour, my homemade bone broth, eggs, etc. Everything local, organic, pastured, grassfed if possible. Besides my efforts for quality and toxic avoidance, I feel I eat more normal than I have my whole life. It feels great to be honest.

 

[Energizer]

You mean this isn’t the thread where I talk about putting camphor on my testicles?

Hah! I chuckled reading that. So true.

@Energizer, I think this forum has a large number of intelligent and knowledgeable people who do great research and post amazing articles. I have been around since May 2015 and still learn something or acquire a new resource. The endless arguments about the same topics is a fascinating phenomenon on this forum. Not sure why people don’t do a thorough search before posting; like the current Sat fat is bad thread. OH my how many of these threads have we seen? Other than this - I consider this forum highly informative.

 

[Hugh Johnson]

Most diets are really hard to follow, and thus you can not allow yourself to question them. RP community is not imo cultish, and I think this is because eating sugar and meat to satisfaction is easy and satisfying. No need for willpower. We also emphasize personal experience, so while there are all kinds of strange views here, including those that contradict Ray Peat himself, we can deal with it. Peat is not right about everything, and he would be the first to admit that. Though he is typically correct.

 

[gaze]

Most diets are really hard to follow, and thus you can not allow yourself to question them. RP community is not imo cultish, and I think this is because eating sugar and meat to satisfaction is easy and satisfying. No need for willpower. We also emphasize personal experience, so while there are all kinds of strange views here, including those that contradict Ray Peat himself, we can deal with it. Peat is not right about everything, and he would be the first to admit that. Though he is typically correct.

Sometimes it takes me months of contemplation and experimentation but I always seem to end up back at Rays original suggestion. It’s crazy how right he ends up being about almost everything (for my situations at least)

 

[Korven]

This is why I like watching vegetable police on youtube (now vegetable conspiracies).

Everyone is obsessed with looking like they got it all figured out within their nutrition paradigm, while he is just being honest with his experiences both good and bad. Love how he makes fun of "diet culture" and "diet wars" and his Sv3rige impression is hilarious. I think he looks best when eating more animal products.

 

[Sulcuscentralis]

You mean this isn’t the thread where I talk about putting camphor on my testicles?

 

[schultz]

Sometimes on the forums it feels like I'm in the movie Groundhog Day because the same exact threads get rehashed over and over, thousands of times over the years, like the countless "no fap" threads, until the end of this site this will be a recurring thread, just like a lot of topics on here

Haha, so true. I've been reading this forum since 2012 and the same threads pop up yearly, at least.

Humans feel good when they belong to a group and this culminates when they despise other groups.

The fact that other people are wrong accentuates the fact that you are right. Being right is the path to healing.

Good post!

Good question... I am beginning to wonder that myself.

Yeah me too. But I think @Lollipop2 summed it up nicely. Every so often there are some intriguing threads or posts. Plus I don't belong to any other forums...

@Energizer, I think this forum has a large number of intelligent and knowledgeable people who do great research and post amazing articles. I have been around since May 2015 and still learn something or acquire a new resource. The endless arguments about the same topics is a fascinating phenomenon on this forum. Not sure why people don’t do a thorough search before posting; like the current Sat fat is bad thread. OH my how many of these threads have we seen? Other than this - I consider this forum highly informative.

+1


People like groups and religion. Health groups are like a religion. If you question someones religion they may get hostile.

 

[ursidae]

Ray peat is a dangerous man

 

[pauljacob]

healthy people usually don't follow diets, so unhealthy people are the ones doing the fasting, vegan, carnivore, to heal some sort of issue. and unhealthy people in general are more authoritarian, rigid, angry, self-hating, etc. unless they have a strong spirituality and/or core values. Its only natural, the more ill health you get, the larger the ego gets because it feels as if its being cheated out of a good life, and all the negative emotions come along with it. It takes a very strong spirit to be unhealthy and remain happy, open, and understanding.

You nailed it Kammas!

 

[Lollipop2]

Ray peat is a dangerous man

This is silly. He is not dangerous. You might not agree with especially as you post on the Anti-Peat Vit A thread, but that doesn’t give you the right to call him dangerous. Surprised no one called out this post...

 

[shine]

The vitamin A posters seem culty to me. There isn't one singular cause to absolutely all disease, removing vitamin A from everybody's diet wouldn't benefit everyone. Grant did a questionnaire about people responses to the diet I'm not sure if you saw it, but the long term responses were poorer than he expected, yet people continue to do it.

What is this heresy, burn him at the stake!

 

[Maljam]

What is this heresy, burn him at the stake!

 

[Pistachio]

I’m sure everyone has experienced this.

Vegans make fun of meat eaters calling them “carnists”, “murderers”, and “rapists”. They spout bro science about meat and dairy causing disease.

carnivores call everyone carb addicts, call vegans soyboys, and think their IQ is 200 because they found out meat is healthy.

Fasting/IF (by far the angriest/most cult like community) make fun of people for being “food addicts”, always talk of autophagy, hgh, insulin, etc.

This forum has probably been on one or multiple of their diets, speaking in an all or nothing matter about all those diets, and carry that mindset here.

Also, how people always want to follow a guru. Fasting-> Jason Fung, Vegan-McDougal, Carnivore-> Shawn Baker, RPF-> Ray Peat, Haidut, Danny Roddy.

What do you think is the cause for this group think and people hating so much on other people for what they eat?

Stand for something or fall for everything. I think most people today fall for everything that is sold with a catchy jingle and modern appearance.