When you’re going on a low carb diet, you need to make sure you always check the carbohydrate content of your meals even when you eat out. Stick to low carb foods by using the most important tool: a low carb food list which can help you navigate even the most complicated diets.
From vegetables to fruits, dairy and meat, discover the right way to choose your meals when you want low carb foods for one of the many diets that praise this approach to losing weight, like the spectrum diet for example.
Vegetables
In ascending order of carbs per serving: leafy and hearty green (lettuce, spinach, chard, collards, mustard greens, kale, endive etc), sprouts, alfalfa and other small seeds, herbs (parsley, basil, rosemary, thyme etc.), bamboo shoots, celery, radishes, sea vegetables, mushrooms, cabbage, avocado, asparagus, okra, cucumbers, green beans and wax beans, fennel, cauliflower, broccoli and peppers.
You can find more carbs, but still at acceptable levels for low carb foods in: summer squash, zuchinni, brussels sprouts, scallions or green onions, snow peas/snap peas/pea pods, tomatoes, eggplant, artichokes, turnips, pumpkin, rutabagas and celery root.
Avoid potatoes, carrots, beets, corn, plantains, peas and winter squashes when you want to avoid low carb foods for your particular diet.
Fruits
Sugar is the main source of carbohydrates in fruits, so you need to pick the ones with the lowest sugar level to stick to low carb foods.
Raspberries, cranberries and blackberries are excellent choices, along with rhubarb, lime and lemon. Fruits that have a low to medium carbs content include: strawberries, papaya, watermelon, apples, peaches, nectarines, blueberries, cantaloupes, guavas, grapefruit and apricots.
Dairy
Skim milk actually has more carbs than whole milk, so your best bet with low carb dairy is goat’s milk along with cream and yogurt. Check the label carefully and choose products with under 10 grams of carbs per cup (8 fluid ounces). Stick to the low carb food list by replacing daily with unsweetened soy and almond milk, along with canned coconut milk.
Meat Products
Unprocessed meat has a very low carb content, with the one exception being organ meats, especially liver. Stay away from processed meats that can have added sugars and don’t forget that seafood and egg yolks also pack carbs.
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