Trying Out a Low-Carb Diet

[Gumby]

I just need to convince myself that the decades-old medical theory that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease is complete bunk...

This ought to help...

http://chriskresser.com/5-reasons-not-t ... ol-numbers

[Storm]

It's not hard to see why we have an obesity epidemic in the U.S. Just walk into almost any grocery store or restaurant, and 90% of what you'll see on the shelves or the menus is loaded with refined carbs and sugar. It's funny how we often don't notice things like this until we actually start looking for them.

It really is shocking when you consider that in our grocery stores, 90% of the products are produced in a factory and are clearly unhealthy for you.  I think someone that knew a lot about grocery stores once explained this to me - the large food corporations basically rent shelf space as a form of advertising.  This is why you have an entire aisle dedicated to sugared cereals, and another entire aisle dedicated to high-fructose corn syrup soft drinks.

I've found that the only way to eat healthy food from the grocery store is to stay on the outer edges.  Most of the grocery stores have the fresh produce, butcher, and dairy sections all located on the outside edge.  In the middle is 20 aisles worth of junk food.

It's crazy when you think of how much shelf space is dedicated to products that will slowly kill you.

[MachineGhost]

Now, since a low-carb diet replaces carbs largely with fat since it's difficult to increase protein intake significantly, I just need to convince myself that the decades-old medical theory that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease is complete bunk...

It's mostly the media's fault for endlessly hyperboling and scaring us with the saturated-fat-cholesterol and heart disease connection.  Perhaps part of the problem is this occured when we were young, naive and suspectible to "authoritative pronouncements" and so now we are fighting an ingrained emotional terror with wisdom and logic.  It's not easy and it sure doesn't help that there is lack of conclusive evidence.  And the secondary evidence of saturated fats causing inflammation (cancerific) or hormonal bioaccumulation (prostate cancer) certainly ought to give anyone pause.

Yet, you don't have to eat a high saturated fat die to eat low-carb.  Just use unadultered extra virgin olive oil in place of butter or condiments, eat lean meat and supplement with fish oils/flax seed, etc..  It's not like meat was as fatty and unbalanced as today's back in Paleo times.  I've posted elsewhere that the saturated fat content of Paleo meat was 10% which is the same as today's lean meat.  There's now 29 cuts of meat that are lean: http://www.wabeef.org/CMDocs/washington ... andout.pdf

As far as finding an unadultered olive oil, use this resource: http://static.oliveoiltimes.com/library ... report.pdf and http://www.cooc.com/EVOO_Gold_Comp_2012.pdf  Personally, I've tried lots of olive oils over the years and since I'm sensitive to hazelnut oil or whatever used to adulter the olive oil, I've found only the Trader Joe's CA Estate to be 100% genuine.  I've only tried the Costco Organic that passed muster from the COOC back in 2010 and it gave me issues.

[Tortoise]

It's not like meat was as fatty and unbalanced like today's back in Paleo times.  I've posted elsewhere that the saturated fat content of Paleo meat was 10% which is the same as today's lean meat.

Good point, but Taubes had an interesting response to it in his book:

The practice of fattening animals on corn, common today, leads to a different fat composition and, per its purpose, far more fat, than does the kind of grazing that herbivorous animals do in the wild and Paleo animals would have done. The question is how relevant is this to human health. In the United States, farmers have been fattening animals on corn since the nineteenth century at least, and yet the explosive increases in diabetes and obesity occurred during the last decades of the twentieth century. It would be relatively simple to test the hypothesis that we're better off eating grass-fed animals than grain- or corn-fed, but so far no such studies have been done.

Source: Gary Taubes, Why We Get Fat, p. 277.

What Taubes doesn't mention, admittedly, is what fraction of the total U.S. meat supply was comprised of corn- and grain-fed vs. grass-fed before and after the obesity epidemic exploded.

As far as finding an unadultered olive oil, use this resource: http://static.oliveoiltimes.com/library ... report.pdf and http://www.cooc.com/producers_certified.html  Personally, I've tried lots of olive oils over the years and since I'm sensitive to hazelnut oil or whatever used to adulter the olive oil, I've found only the Trader Joe's CA Estate to be 100% genuine.  I've only tried the Costco Organic that passed muster from the COOC and it gave me issues.

Thanks for the olive oil recommendations. I'm a big fan of Trader Joe's, so I'll pick up a bottle of their CA Estate.

[Gumby]

As far as finding an unadultered olive oil, use this resource: http://static.oliveoiltimes.com/library ... report.pdf and http://www.cooc.com/producers_certified.html  Personally, I've tried lots of olive oils over the years and since I'm sensitive to hazelnut oil or whatever used to adulter the olive oil, I've found only the Trader Joe's CA Estate to be 100% genuine.  I've only tried the Costco Organic that passed muster from the COOC and it gave me issues.

Thanks for the olive oil recommendations. I'm a big fan of Trader Joe's, so I'll pick up a bottle of their CA Estate.

Great resource, MG! Though, Colavita has pointed out some flaws with the report (every study seems to have flaws)...

Olive Oil Times: Leonardo Colavita and the UC Davis Olive Oil Report

Personally, I try to look for small batch olive oils that have good taste and smell — and I hope for the best. Many small gourmet food stores will let you taste and smell olive oils before you buy them. Here are some good tips to discerning quality olive oil:

Olive Oil Times: An Introduction to Olive Oil Tasting

Tortoise, just make sure you keep your olive oil below 374º F (190º C) otherwise it will break down and release free radicals into your food. It's relatively easy to stay below 374º for most low heat cooking/frying. You can pick up an infrared thermometer (for roughly $40) to give you a good idea of pan temperatures. (The thermometer is also great for finding insulation leaks in the walls of your home). But, using olive oil on cold food is best. Additionally, keep your olive oil in a cool and dark place and use it within a month — otherwise it becomes rancid and breaks down.

You'll notice that good olive oil comes in a dark bottle — which gives you an idea of just how fragile it is to the elements. (Same reason why beer and wine are stored in dark bottles, to protect them from light). Certified extra virgin olive oil must be produced at temperatures lower than 86°F (30°C) in order to prevent the degradation of the oil.

As I explained earlier, saturated fats are more stable and can withstand heat, light and oxidation much better than olive oil. There are other good oils out there to withstand heat, but it can be very difficult to find good quality versions of those oils.

Extra virgin coconut oil (a pure saturated fat) is usually stored in a clear bottle, is solid at room temperature, and has an extended shelf life — which is indicative of its stability. Refined canola oils are often stored in clear bottles because they are already rancid, broken down (and artificially deodorized) by the time they are bottled.

Finally, for those who want to be able to recognize the signs of olive oil rancidity, see the following...

Olive Oil Times: Good Oils Gone Bad — Recognizing Rancidity and Other Defects

[Tortoise]

Keep your olive oil in a cool and dark place and use it within a month — otherwise it becomes rancid and breaks down.
[...]
Refined canola oils are often stored in clear bottles because they are already rancid and broken down by the time they are bottled.

That's kind of shocking if it's true. Doesn't rancid oil normally taste terrible--almost vomit-inducing? I've eaten some by accident once or twice, and it took hours to get the rancid taste out of my mouth. But the canola oil I use is virtually tasteless so it's hard to believe it could be rancid. Maybe that means oils don't have to be either completely rancid or completely non-rancid, but can be intermediate between the two as the rancidity progresses? Then maybe oils that are only slightly rancid might not (yet) have a greatly altered taste?

And when you say an oil "breaks down," what is it breaking down into?

[Gumby]

Doesn't rancid oil normally taste terrible--almost vomit-inducing? I've eaten some by accident once or twice, and it took hours to get the rancid taste out of my mouth. But the canola oil I use is virtually tasteless so it's hard to believe it could be rancid.

You're right. Rancid oil is awful tasting and smelling. If any of you have ever walked into a NYC subway elevator, and thought it smelled like a hobo died inside the elevator, that's really just the small of the rancid canola oil that has broken down on on the rails of the elevator shaft. It's not a pleasant smell. The modern oil you buy at the supermarket is the same thing, except that it has been further processed to remove the odor and foul taste.

Here is a diagram of the production process for modern refined vegetable oils...

[align=center][/align]

Notice the large deodorization phase?

Most of the processing for modern vegetable oils involves heat. Heat destroys the oil and breaks the molecules apart. The broken pieces of the molecules become free radicals (unpaired electrons) in your body. By the end of the manufacturing process, the oil must be deodorized and processed to remove the rancidity.

The food processing empire is built on industrial fats and oils, extracted from corn, soybeans and other seeds. Crude vegetable oil--which is dark, sticky and smelly--is subjected to horrendous processing to produce clean-looking cooking oils, margarine, shortening and spreads. The steps involved in processing usually include degumming, bleaching, deodorizing, filtering and removing saturates to make the oils more liquid.[17] In the process, the nutrients and antioxidants disappear--but not the pesticides. Most processors also add a hexane solvent in order to squeeze the very last drop of oil out of the seeds. Caustic refining, the most widely used process for oil refining, involves adding very alkaline, chemicals to the oil.

In order to make a solid fat out of liquid oil, manufacturers subject the oils to a process called partial hydrogenation. The oil is extracted under high temperature and pressure, and the remaining fraction of oil is removed with hexane solvents. Manufacturers then steam clean the oils, a process that removes all the vitamins and all the antioxidants—but, of course, the solvents and the pesticides remain. These oils are mixed with a nickel catalyst and then, under high temperature and pressure, they are flooded with hydrogen gas. What goes into the reactor is a liquid oil; what comes out of that reactor is a smelly mass resembling grey cottage cheese. Emulsifiers are mixed in to smooth out the lumps, and the oil is then steam cleaned once more, to get rid of the horrible smell. The next step is bleaching, to get rid of the grey color. At this point, the product can be called "pure vegetable shortening." To make margarines and spreads, artificial flavors and synthetic vitamins are added. But the government does not allow the industry to add synthetic color to margarine--they must add a natural color, such as annatto--a comforting thought. The margarine or spread is then packaged in blocks and tubs and advertised as a health food.

[17] Fats and Oils: Formulating and Processing for Applications, Richard D. O’Brien 1998.

Source: http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-food ... g-industry

Maybe that means oils don't have to be either completely rancid or completely non-rancid, but can be intermediate between the two as the rancidity progresses?

Then maybe oils that are only slightly rancid might not (yet) have a greatly altered taste?

Either way, it would be bad. Rancidity is a sign that the molecules have degraded and started to release free radicals. If you heat that unstable oil even more — or expose it to more air or light — it just causes even more degradation. "Taste" is the least of your worries when using a rancid oil.

And when you say an oil "breaks down," what is it breaking down into?

When an oil breaks down, bits and pieces of its molecules break off and become unpaired electrons (i.e. free radicals) in your body (and your bloodstream). Saturated fat molecules are very straight chains of carbon — allowing the molecules to pack up against each other at room temperature — which is why they appear solid at room temperature. They are very strong and can withstand breakdown better than monounsaturated fats, which have a large bend in the middle of their molecules. Polyunsaturated molecules are so complex that the molecules can barely get close together, so they are liquid at room temperature. These complex molecules are much more fragile and the unpaired electrons are easily released — particularly during the high-heat, highly-oxidized manufacturing process outlined above.

Note that trans-fatty acids are non-saturated fats where a hydrogen atom has been flipped to the other side of the molecule to make them appear straighter. While strong in appearance, these molecules are very unstable and promote free radicals in your body. Not to mention that your body doesn't know what to do with unnatural trans-fat molecules...

Saturated fat is the type of fat found in such foods as lard, butter and coconut oil. Saturated fat molecules are straight, so they pack together easily. That is why saturated fats are solid at room temperature. Unsaturated fats have a little bend at each double bond, with two hydrogen atoms sticking out on the same side. And when that molecule gets incorporated into your cells, the body wants those two hydrogen atoms to be on the same side of the carbon chain, forming an electron cloud; that is where controlled chemical interactions take place.

During the process of partial hydrogenation, one of those hydrogen atoms is moved to the other side, causing the molecule to straighten out so that it behaves chemically like a saturate—although biochemically it behaves very differently. The original, unsaturated molecule is called a “cis”? fatty acid, because the two hydrogens are together, and then it becomes a trans fatty acid, because the two hydrogens are across from each other ("trans" means "across"). Your body doesn’t know that this new molecule is something that has never existed in nature before, and when you eat one of these trans fatty acids, it gets built into your cell membranes. Because of the chemical rearrangement, the reactions that should happen can’t take place. Enzymes and receptors don't work anymore. The more trans fatty acids that you eat, the more partially hydrogenated your cells become and the more chaos that you are going to have on the cellular level.

[align=center][/align]

All of the margarines, shortenings and even low-trans-fat spreads are made with these harmful ingredients. They're used in chips and crackers, and most restaurants use them for cooking fries. Until the early 1980s, fast food outlets and restaurants cooked the fries in tallow, which is a very safe fat, but now they use partially hydrogenated soybean oil.

In the past, when you made desserts for your kids, at least the sugar they contained came with butter, eggs, cream and nuts—all good wholesome foods. Now manufacturers can imitate the butter, eggs, cream and nuts, so all you have is sugar, industrial oils and artificial ingredients in these instant puddings, pastries and other artificial desserts.

Many diseases have been associated with the consumption of trans fatty acids—heart disease, cancer, and degeneration of joints and tendons. The only reason that we are eating this stuff is because we have been told that the competing saturated fats and oils—butter, lard, coconut oil, palm oil, tallow and suet—are bad for us and cause heart disease. Such assertions are nothing but industry propaganda.
Source: http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-food ... g-industry

[Reub]

I picked up the Trader Joe's Ca Estate olive oil today. Do you think it would keep longer if it's refrigerated?

[Gumby]

I picked up the Trader Joe's Ca Estate olive oil today. Do you think it would keep longer if it's refrigerated.

Yes, it will keep longer. But monounsaturated fat — such as olive oil — will become solid in the refrigerator. If it doesn't become solid, that usually means it's not a pure olive oil.

[dragoncar]

I picked up the Trader Joe's Ca Estate olive oil today. Do you think it would keep longer if it's refrigerated.

Yes, it will keep longer. But monounsaturated fat — such as olive oil — will become solid in the refrigerator. If it doesn't become solid, that usually means it's not a pure olive oil.

LOL, I just tried this yesterday with TJ's CA estate olive oil.  I keep my place pretty warm, and I have a history of not using olive oil fast enough.  Oh well...

The CA estate has a ton of flavor -- I'm going to use it mostly in salad dressing, but it's almost too powerful, overwhelming the flavor profile.  I guess that means I'll use less than normal.

[MachineGhost]

Great resource, MG! Though, Colavita has pointed out some flaws with the report (every study seems to have flaws)...

Olive Oil Times: Leonardo Colavita and the UC Davis Olive Oil Report

Reads like sour grapes to me.  I'm very cynical about EVOO.  Adultered olive oil is epidemic in Italy.  Colavita seems more concerned about taste and sensory perceptions than whether the oil is degraded or healthy.  Typical consumerism mindset.  Might be worth checking out that Fruttato, though.  At least the UC Davis study seems to have motivated them to stop using clear bottles.

Personally, I try to look for small batch olive oils that have good taste and smell — and I hope for the best. Many small gourmet food stores will let you taste and smell olive oils before you buy them. Here are some good tips to discerning quality olive oil:

I've also tried this EVOO: http://tinyurl.com/blnvjkc  Sounds really great, right?  But its on my shit list.  I've also tried Bariani several times and while I had no issues with it, I really didn't care for the nonfruity, grassy flavor.  I understand they bottle it really early and it should age while sitting though.

The best olive oil in the world comes from Greece.  Here's a living, raw one: http://www.elikioliveoil.com/ungreekoloil.html  I haven't tried that brand yet as its a little pricey for everyday use.

Frankly, I don't think economies of scale and a pure, unadultered EVOO belong in the same sentence.

[MachineGhost]

Here is a diagram of the production process for modern refined vegetable oils...

Fish oils going through a similar process.  There's only a few "cold process" fish oils on the market and the cost difference and lower amounts of EPA/DHA don't really make it worth it.

[MachineGhost]

And when you say an oil "breaks down," what is it breaking down into?

In a case of something like refined canola oil, which still has a significant Omega-6 component, the remaining Omega-6 will break down into essentially what is "pre-partially hydrogenated" rancid molecules just from the high temperature (500F) processing.  They are not usually detectable by taste or smell.  Canola oil also has acid residues of the kind used in mustard gas during WWI.

Realistically, the proper way to take any oil is as unrefined and that includes canola.  Otherwise, your body will not benefit from the minimum daily dietary requirements of healthy Linoleic Acid.  I think Spectrum Organics is the only company that sells unrefined canola oil.  I haven't tried it yet.  I have tried unrefined safflower (stupidly, I bought a whole gallon tin!) and unrefined sunflower and they were just as inflammatory as anything refined.  When the safflower tin went bad within a month, boy did it ever smell like paint thinner.

[Gumby]

Perhaps MG can weight in, but this looks like a pretty good chart showing the best/worse oils for different uses...

http://bit.ly/oilchart

Download>> http://www.eatingrules.com/Cooking-Oil- ... -22-12.pdf

[MachineGhost]

Perhaps MG can weight in, but this looks like a pretty good chart showing the best/worse oils for different uses...

http://bit.ly/oilchart

Download>> http://www.eatingrules.com/Cooking-Oil- ... -22-12.pdf

Looks good.  I'd quibble with the placement of the Palm Kernel Oil which has a slightly better profile than Coconut Oil and has a lot of antioxidants (giving it a cool red color).  An unrefined/rew version can be right up there with raw Avocado oil.

Human breast milk has a ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids of exactly 1.  9% is Omega-6, 1% is Omega-3, 35% is monounsaturated (Omega-9) and 25% is saturated palmitic acid plus 8% in saturated myristic acid, both of which increase total cholesterol at a rate of about 1788 total cholesterol units per almost 2T of fat at 10% of total calories (if you worry about that sort of thing).  Only beef tallow, pork lard and palm oil are virtually identical in all the fatty acids, with olive oil coming close only in the polyunsaturated.  Some combo of cow butter and olive oil would make it much closer to human breast milk.

[stone]

I get vegetable oil as various intact nuts, avocados, whole grains (they have oil) etc. To my mind that is the least processed way to get it and it also looks and tastes great. I'd rather have a sprinkling of cashew nuts in a curry than put liquid oil in. Pine nuts are nice with beef and swede or with tomato, spinach and kidney beans. I cook a lot with a wok not using oil. I guess that goes against tradition but people seem to like the taste of what comes out.
I'm not on a low carb diet though.

[Gumby]

I get vegetable oil as various intact nuts, avocados, whole grains (they have oil) etc. To my mind that is the least processed way to get it and it also looks and tastes great. I'd rather have a sprinkling of cashew nuts in a curry than put liquid oil in. Pine nuts are nice with beef and swede or with tomato, spinach and kidney beans. I cook a lot with a wok not using oil. I guess that goes against tradition but people seem to like the taste of what comes out.
I'm not on a low carb diet though.

As mentioned in a previous thread, nuts are pretty toxic — some more than others. They have a lot of phytic acid (and Omega 6) in them, so it's best not to go nuts on nuts...

http://chriskresser.com/another-reason- ... ts-on-nuts

Though some people believe that phytic acid can be well tolerated in certain situations...

http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/2011/10/p ... facts.html

[MachineGhost]

http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/2011/10/p ... facts.html

I've been using 1/4c each of raw almonds and raw old-fashioned oats in my smoothie for years.  I've never noticed an issue unlike a can legumes or a full bowel of oatmeal.  But just to be safe, I'm now soaking them for 24 hours before using.

I'm rather tired of yet another damn thing one must do or don't do when it comes to food and health.

[Gumby]

I'm rather tired of yet another damn thing one must do or don't do when it comes to food and health.

I just chalk it up as another low-level toxin. What pisses me off is the amount of phytic acid in soy-based infant formulas (most infant formulas are, unfortunately, soy-based). Unbelievable.

I recently switched to sprouted grain bread to avoid the anti-nutrients found in many grains, just for the heck of it. Berlin Bakery (found in the frozen section in Whole Foods) makes some excellent sprouted grain breads that taste as good, if not better, than normal wheat breads...

http://www.berlinnaturalbakery.com/acatalog/Bread.html

I'm sure there are even better breads out there — particularly from local purveyors — but Berlin Bakery seems to have a very good reputation.

[stone]

Margret Thatcher said that the way to good health was to always be a little bit cold and a little bit hungry

[MachineGhost]

I just chalk it up as another low-level toxin. What pisses me off is the amount of phytic acid in soy-based infant formulas (most infant formulas are, unfortunately, soy-based). Unbelievable.

Soy is suppose to contain relatively large amounts of flouride, manganese and phytoestrogens too.  Flouride is a neurotoxin and manganese is necessary for MSG -- another neurotoxin -- to be formed in the brain from free glutamate.  I couldn't understand how I suddenly became so sensitive to nutritional yeast powder until I realized it probably was my manganese supplement amplifying the negative effects of the MSG in it!  When you want to literally kill yourself because of migraine pain, you know something is really toxic beyond a reasonable doubt.

[Gumby]

Yes, right... I meant to say anti-nutrients in soy (not just phytic acid).

It's funny you should mention the Nutritional Yeast powder. I recently got a package of the Frontier brand because supposedly it isn't produced with (much) heat, thus minimizing the amount of MSG. Supposedly Frontier is one of the few brands tries to avoid MSG. I thought it would be a good way to get all of the B vitamins. Not sure what was in it but I stopped taking it after a few days. It made everything taste terrible and my son was bouncing off the walls. My throat felt very tight. It's in the basement now. Oh well...

[MachineGhost]

Yes, right... I meant to say anti-nutrients in soy (not just phytic acid).

I've now had second thoughts about soaking my little bit of oats and almonds.  Because cancer appears to gobble up the phytic acid, I'll just go back to not soaking them.  Don't need the guilt on my conscience.  I'll leave soaking for bulk beans and meal-sized oatmeal.

It's funny you should mention the Nutritional Yeast powder. I recently got a package of the Frontier brand because supposedly it isn't produced with (much) heat, thus minimizing the amount of MSG. Supposedly Frontier is one of the few brands tries to avoid MSG. I thought it would be a good way to get all of the B vitamins. Not sure what was in it but I stopped taking it after a few days. It made everything taste terrible and my son was bouncing off the walls. My throat felt very tight. It's in the basement now. Oh well...

I don't think there is any real difference between MSG and nutritional yeast powder.  It's all in the semantics: http://www.daystarbotanicals.com/nutritionalyeast.html

Also, all nutritional yeast powder is fortified with synthetic B vitamins.  There's just no way you can get the RDA without doing that.  So its kind of bunk about nutritional yeast being a "good source of B vitamins" if you had in mind that it would be natural.

[Gumby]

I've now had second thoughts about soaking my little bit of oats and almonds.  Because cancer appears to gobble up the phytic acid, I'll just go back to not soaking them.  Don't need the guilt on my conscience.  I'll leave soaking for bulk beans and meal-sized oatmeal.

That's what I do. I don't eat enough nuts to make a difference one way or the other. It seems the key is to avoid "high" amounts of phytic acid, but moderate amounts are fine (and possibly beneficial). All I know is that pre-soaked oatmeal and legumes feel noticeably better in the stomach and digestive track.

I don't think there is any real difference between MSG and nutritional yeast powder.  It's all in the semantics: http://www.daystarbotanicals.com/nutritionalyeast.html

Also, all nutritional yeast powder is fortified with synthetic B vitamins.  There's just no way you can get the RDA without doing that.  So its kind of bunk about nutritional yeast being a "good source of B vitamins" if you had in mind that it would be natural.

Right. I was aware of that. I had just heard that the Frontier brand nutritional yeast was "low-heat" pasteurized, which supposedly minimized the formation of MSG. Still, it's pretty clear that there was still some MSG in it. Too bad they don't publish how much MSG they are dosing you with.

I don't take any B vitamins right now, but try to just eat a variety of foods, for what it's worth.

[Tortoise]

Update on my low-carb experiment:

I've been losing an average of about 1.5 pounds per week since I started at the beginning of August. I can now fit back into some older trousers that my waistline had previously "outgrown."

This is really fascinating to me, because I haven't even been that strict in avoiding carbs. For the most part I do, but typically in the morning I'll mix a handful of berries into in my whole (full-fat) Greek yogurt, and in the evenings after dinner I'll often eat a piece of fruit for "dessert." I'm not counting calories, I'm not exercising any more than I was before, and I don't deprive myself at all. I always eat until I'm full. Yet my excess fat continues to melt away, effortlessly, pound by pound.

I had to try this out on myself to experience the empirical evidence first-hand. I wouldn't have believed the conclusion otherwise. Calorie-counting and vigorous daily exercise are not required by my body to get rid of a beer belly and love handles. To lose this fat, I've simply replaced fast food, sugary desserts, and processed snacks with whole foods (the full-fat versions!) and continue to eat until I'm full. So simple and effective--just like the Permanent Portfolio!