50 of the best low-carb foods, plus ideas recipes and tips

While low-carb diets have many benefits, especially if you can afford to get rid of a habit of sugar or losing weight to improve health, many are not ready to try to eat this way, afraid that have to give up a lot of goodies. They are interested, Can low-carb foods be fun?

Be sure to follow a healthy, low-fat diet carbohydrates, you can still continue to enjoy a variety of great food. Low-carb recipes include everything from chicken cooked in a slow cooker to vegetables buns with filling. What about low-carb breakfasts or light snacks? It can be green smoothies or protein necks, low-carb desserts from foods like coconut or almond flour, 1-2 hard-boiled homemade eggs or, for example, newer varieties of dried beef from cows fed grass.

And although, perhaps, a low-carb diet will not be for everyone a magic pill that can provide long-term reduction weight, it can help most people reduce their sugar intake and carbohydrates from a variety of sources. Even if you are planning reduce sugar and carbohydrate intake only for a short time, perhaps to ease the addiction to sweets or to start eat healthier foods without strong processing, you are sure to pretty quickly able to notice improvements.

Refusal of such products as bread, cereals, sweetened drinks, processed dairy products and even whole grains or starchy vegetables from your diet will be an important change in your diet, which will cause your body to produce less insulin. This will help tidy up the balance. blood sugar, reduce dependence and fatigue, speeds up weight loss, which means that the head will become clearer (at least when you get used to the changes) and even reduce the risk of heart diseases and diabetes.

Replacing carbohydrate-rich foods with low-carb foods such as like non-starchy vegetables, healthy fats and high-quality proteins, will take these benefits to a new level: reduce hunger, so you’ll feel better and maybe even evens out the deficiency of certain nutrients.

• How to understand the term “low-carb”?
• Useful and harmful low-carb foods
• 50 best low-carb foods
  • Low carb vegetables
  • Eggs and Dairy Products
  • Meat and Seafood
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Oils and fats (all do not contain carbohydrates)
  • Seasonings, herbs and spices
  • Carbohydrate-free drinks
• What about starchy vegetables, beans and fruits: is it possible use in diet foods?
• Low-carb diet: an overview of the benefits and how it works
• Examples of Low Carbohydrate Dishes
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner
  • Dinner
• Key Findings About Low-Carb Nutrition

How to understand the term “low-carb”?

It is worth understanding what carbohydrates are and how to avoid them. A “low-carb” diet for different people will look like differently. In the most general case, however, a low-carb diet implies that from carbohydrates – such as added sugar, cereals, fruits or starchy vegetables – you get only about 20-30 percent of daily calories. Usually it is about 50-100 grams or less. In some cases, for example, if a person adheres to LCHF (low carbohydrate, high fat) or ketogenic diets that also low carb, it can consume even less carbohydrates, about 20-50 grams per day, in order to go to a state of ketosis (a condition in which instead of glucose / carbohydrates fat is burned to generate energy).

If you wanted to consume about 100 grams of pure carbohydrates per day, divide them between the three main meals, 30-35 grams of pure carbohydrates in each. What is clean carbohydrates? This is the amount of carbohydrates obtained after subtraction. fiber weight from the total amount of carbohydrates.

In other words, fiber is not counted in the total, since it does not actually digest and does not affect blood sugar like glucose. For this reason, most people, even with a very low-carb diet, still try consume fiber-rich foods such as non-starchy vegetables and sometimes nuts / seeds.

Even those who are very low in carbohydrate / ketogenic (with the daily amount of carbohydrates is about 20-30 grams or less) diet, they can still eat any non-starchy vegetables, as they are rich fiber, contain a lot of water and nutrients, good saturate and contain very few calories.

What would a low-carb meal look like with 30-35 grams of pure carbohydrates?

One meal with a low-carb diet may include following:

85 g serving of protein (e.g. chicken breast), 2 cups non-starchy vegetables such as broccoli and peppers, salad from various greens, watered with 1-2 tablespoons of oil or sauce. In this, everything will be less than 35 grams of pure carbohydrates. If replace vegetables with starchy, say, beets or turnips, carbohydrates It would have turned out more, but very slightly. To have a meal considered moderate to high carb, one would have to add there cereals, fruits, sweeteners like honey or potatoes – and this 20-25 (or more) grams per serving.

• Salad leaves or something green and decorative, for example, cabbage, on which vegetables with chopped chicken, sprinkled with sesame seeds.
• Fajitas with any protein of your choice and plenty of vegetables
• Chicken or Salmon Burgers
• Empanades or quesadillas of almond and coconut flour with farm cow meat and cheese
• Cabbage based pizza
• And many other options, like smoothies, casseroles and dishes, cooked in a slow cooker

Useful and harmful low-carb foods

You may be wondering what carbohydrates are and what no. Let’s make it clear: even if there is little in the product or dish carbohydrates, this does not mean that it is a healthy food! In many In some cases, the quality of your carbohydrates is more important than quantity. I AM I recommend refraining from packaged low-carb foods, such as most convenience store protein bars or fast snacks, in order to avoid processed or synthetic ingredients in the diet. Yes, they will provide you with fats and protein, yes, they’re low in carbohydrates, but globally they’re all equally harmful because they contain processed protein proteins, refined oils and artificial sweeteners.

If you think that would bring with you as a quick snack on the run, better do something yourself. You can cook low-carb snacks at home using ingredients like nuts, seeds, humus, braid flour and coconut mass, protein powder (whey or broth on bones), energy bytes based on oatmeal and cocoa powder, cabbage ovaries and even such low-carb “sweets” as cookies, muffins or donuts. And the fastest thing to do is low-carb protein shake.

Intending to tidy up the diet and move on to new ones low-carb recipes, you will also find it worthwhile to get rid of “diet” or “light” foods that contain low fat artificial ingredients. To achieve reduced content the fat in these foods is usually used more flour or carbohydrates, thickeners, emulsifiers or artificial sweeteners. And although carbohydrates or cane sugar in them maybe not so much, I would still avoid eating trans fats or hydrogenated oils, because essentially the same fast food or long shelf food.

50 best low-carb foods

Listed below are dozens of low-carb foods that fit perfectly into your diet:

Low carb vegetables

1. Broccoli
2. Cauliflower
3. Mushrooms
4. Pepper
5. Chard or collard greens
6. Asparagus
7. Kale
8. Spinach
9. Green beans
10. Arugula
11. Onion or leek
12. Tomatoes
13. Brussels sprouts
14. Avocado
15. Turnip
16. Cabbage
17. Carrots (moderate amount of carbohydrates)

Eggs and Dairy Products

18. Homemade eggs
19. Fatty unsweetened yogurt or kefir
20. Raw whole milk
21. Hard cheese, sour cream and fat cream (all this is not enough carbohydrates, however, I highly recommend that you ensure that all this possibilities natural and organic, ideally from raw milk). Low carb cheeses include blue, cheddar, goat cheese, feta, swiss, parmesan and asiago.

Meat and Seafood

All of the following are low-content foods. carbohydrates. I recommend looking for fish caught in natural environment and also refrain from most mollusks like shrimp, as they often contain heavy metals, such as for example, like mercury. Organic beef and other greasy red meat can also be included in the diet, as well as poultry and eggs. AT while some low-carb ketogenic diets include myself pork and processed meat, such as bacon, I do not recommend eating such unhealthy foods.

22. Salmon
23. Haddock
24. Trout
25. Halibut
26. Sardines
27. Anchovies
28. Mackerel
29. Tuna or cod (in moderation)

Nuts and seeds

30. Chia seeds
31. Flaxseed
32. Almond
33. Walnuts
34. Pumpkin, Sesame, or Cannabis Seeds
35. Cashews and Brazil nuts (and almost all other nuts or seeds also)

Oils and fats (all do not contain carbohydrates)

36. Coconut, Olive, Hemp, Flaxseed, Walnut Oil or avocado
37. Butter or ghee
38. Palm oil
39. Smalets

Seasonings, herbs and spices

40. Herbs such as turmeric, ginger, oregano, rosemary, basil, natural sea salt, pepper, etc.
41. Hot sauces
42. Apple cider vinegar and most other vinegars in small quantities (balsamic, white, red, etc.)
43. Cocoa powder (best raw and savory)
44. Mustard (just avoid high sugar mustard, e.g. honey)
45. Soy sauce, tamari or coconut
46. Bone broth (drink separately or use in dishes)

Carbohydrate-free drinks

47. Teas, including green, black, oolong, or white
48. Coffee
49. Herbal teas (ginger, chamomile, honey plant, mint, tea, etc.)
50. Freshly squeezed vegetable juices or green smoothies

What about starchy vegetables, beans and fruits: is it possible use in diet foods?

If it’s hard for you to remember which vegetables are starchy and, therefore rich in carbohydrates, here are some simple signs:

• Most vegetables growing above the ground are considered “non-starchy” and therefore contain less carbohydrates (e.g. cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, leaf greens, peppers, chard and cabbage). Some pumpkin also considered non-starchy, including pumpkin spaghetti and zucchini.
  • Underground vegetables, also called “root vegetables,” usually richer in starch and carbohydrates (for example, potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets).
  • This is not an iron rule. For example, ordinary pumpkins grow over rich in carbohydrates, but as a starting point use these signs.

While most root vegetables and fruits usually don’t considered “low carb”, many of them are still rich nutrients that are low in sugar and will become good addition to any diet. In fact, passed through a sieve, chopped or mashed vegetables and fruits into many cases can serve as substitutes for sweeteners or even croup. A good example is chopped cauliflower.

The same applies to legumes or legumes, e.g. chickpeas. you can make flour or hummus, and then it will be great a pasty side dish that goes well with many low carb dishes. Such foods are rich in antioxidants, provide you essential fiber and make food more sweet, which helps to overcome the dependence of sugar, which allows you not to add it to food separately. For this reason, I recommend including in your diet. The following fruits and starchy vegetables:

• Berries – such as strawberries, blackberries, blueberries or raspberries
• Cherry
• Cranberry
• Kiwi
• Citrus
• Melon
• Sweet or purple potatoes
• Swede
• Beet
• Celery
• Parsnip

Legumes and legumes – such as chickpeas, black beans, mung bean, azuki and etc. also do not apply to low-carb foods, but in moderate quantities are healthy food. If you decide to include beans or cereals in your diet, I recommend before cooking them pre-soak and germinate. It helps free up more protein, vitamins and minerals, and also make them more easily digestible.

Low-carb diet: an overview of the benefits and how it works

A lot of research shows that for those who apply consistent efforts, low-carb diet brings great favor. It’s not always necessary to abandon all unprocessed ones, whole sources of carbohydrates (such as fruits and starchy vegetables mentioned above), but rejection of processed foods, sweeteners and even cereals may be useful to you in following:

• Faster weight loss and usually easier process maintaining a healthy weight. Since glucose from carbohydrates is more unavailable as an energy source, the body will use body fat instead of fats and proteins, consumed with food.
• More satiety from food, less hunger and addiction (especially carbohydrate-rich foods and sweets).
• Normalize blood sugar. This is due to better control over jumps in insulin and glucose. For prediabetes or diabetes condition it can be crucial factor to prevent symptoms or avoid complications.
• Neuroprotective effects, improved cognitive abilities, including a decrease in the “head fog” effect or loss of strength, improved memory at a later age and the elimination of symptoms epilepsy.
• In some cases, an improvement in hormonal balance. it often provides improved sleep, less fatigue, removal pain or muscle weakness, as well as an improvement in overall tonus.
• Reduces bone loss and the risk of developing osteoporosis.
• For athletes, this gives possible favorable changes in mass and physique, as well as an increase in relative values maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) and oxygen uptake at the lactate threshold (VO2 LT).
• In some cases, the risk of cardiovascular disease is reduced. diseases or metabolic syndrome due to normalization blood sugar and bad cholesterol.

Want to know what types of products really cost avoid if you are on a low-carb diet? In them more things like sweeteners, flour and thickeners, so refusing them will help maintain a low carbohydrate intake:

• If you want to eat really few carbohydrates, avoid cereals (including wheat, barley, oats, rice and other whole grain). This also applies to all products made from cereal flour, such as bread, pastries, cookies, chips, cereals, cupcakes, pasta, etc.
• Sugar and products containing artificial sweeteners or added sugar (honey, cane sugar, coconut sugar, etc.) d.)
• Most store fruits and fruit juices (in them, for except lime and lemon juice, a lot added Sahara)
• Most ready-made condiments, sauces or batch mixes, which usually contain sugar.
• Alcohol, soda and other sweetened drinks.
• If you want to radically abandon carbohydrates (if you, say, adhere to a ketogenic diet), avoid also most dairy products such as yogurt, ricotta or cottage cheese. High fat, low fat cheeses carbohydrates are often included in low-carb diets, as there are very few carbohydrates in them.

Remember that no matter how many carbohydrates you If you plan to consume per day, it is useful to purposefully strive for to consume more natural foods and less processed.

It’s best to experiment with an extremely low-carb diet. a certain period of time, but in the long run (focusing on how you are going to eat always) consider that you need to eat a variety of plant foods, containing at least some carbohydrates.

To maintain a long-term therapeutic diet, you need to a good understanding of how many carbohydrates per day, provided a balanced diet you can consume without risk typing weight or earn other health problems. This information about your personal individual biochemistry you should use to in order to adhere to a balanced diet – in which will include healthy proteins and fats, as well as fresh vegetables, fruits, and even starchy vegetables, siliculose or cereals, if they suit you.

Examples of Low Carbohydrate Dishes

Breakfast

Rustic eggs

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

• 151 calories
• 46.8 g protein
• 10.4 g fat
• 1.7 g sugar

Try making a hearty dish for breakfast: rustic eggs in mexican style. This dish includes minced meat, eggs, peppers and spices served on tortilla with fresh tomatoes, avocado and cilantro. This low-carb meal will set your day healthy protein start, which allows you to recharge your batteries and feel fed up until lunch.

Dinner

Chopped cauliflower

Nutrition value per serving (1 1/3 cup):

• 108 calories
• 9 g protein
• 3 g fat
• 1 g sugar

Shredded Cauliflower – It’s Fast and Healthy an alternative to rice, which will become your new favorite dish on dinner. Cut cauliflower, place in a blender or kitchen combine to create friable mass. Add eggs to the dish was protein, ghee as a healthier substitute for oil, onion and garlic, and here you have a simple, tasty and diet dish.

Dinner

Pecan Salmon and Pesto

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

• 140 calories
• 17 g protein
• 5 g fat
• 2 g sugar

This quick and easy meal requires only 25 minutes. Salmon with pecans and pesto is rich in omega-3 fats and healthy protein, this is an amazing dish that you want to return. To top it off, serve it with lettuce greens.

You can also see the menu of a carbohydrate-free diet, but it’s more suitable for professional athletes drying the body before competitions.

Key Findings About Low-Carb Nutrition

• Low-carb diets can help you lose weight faster and potentially help with certain diseases like sugar addiction, blurred consciousness, fatigue, and also at risk for metabolic syndrome or diabetes.
• Low-carb foods include non-starchy vegetables (such as leafy greens or cruciferous vegetables), healthy fats, such as coconut or olive oil, butter and hard cheeses, meat, seafood and eggs. To products with moderate carbohydrate content include nuts, seeds, legumes, legumes and some starchy vegetables.
• Depending on general health and goals, it’s not always it is necessary to completely abandon healthy sources carbohydrates such as fruits or starchy vegetables. In some cases soaked grain and leguminous (in which there are more carbohydrates) can be included in a balanced diet, consisting predominantly from low carb foods.
• What you can cook with low-fat foods carbohydrates? Recipes with them suggest a lack of added sugar, refined grains, or artificial sweeteners, this can be protein necks, smoothies, salads, dishes cooked in a slow cooker, fajitas, burgers or meatballs and much more.