1. Choosing Cheese
Cheese is surprisingly a low carb dairy product, unless it's a processed cheese or cheese with ingredients added. When choosing cheese for a low carb diet, compare cheese by the ounce. Most serving sizes are one ounce of hard cheese or sliced cheese. Cheese does not contain any fiber, so there are no "net carbs" to calculate when choosing cheese for a low carb diet. Cheese that contains less than 1 gram of carbohydrate per serving include American, blue cheese, brie, camembert, cheddar, cream cheese, edam, fontina, goat cheese, gouda, gruyere, mozzarella, muenster, parmesan and provolone. Cheese that is higher in carbohydrates include swiss cheese, ricotta, cottage cheese and marscapone, all of which contain less than 4 grams of carbohydrates per serving. The cheese with the highest carb count is Gjetost, a Scandinavian cheese with a carb count of 12 grams per one-ounce serving.
2. Crazy About Cream and Butter
Butter is a very low carb dairy product. In fact, whipped butter has zero carbs per tablespoon and regular butter has zero carbs in a 2 tablespoon serving. Butter that has been flavored or has additives, like honey butter, has carbs based on the type of additive. Half-and-half, used by many to lighten coffee or tea, has 1 gram of carbohydrate in a 2 tablespoon serving. An 8-ounce serving of milk, whether it's whole milk, 2 percent, 1 percent or non-fat milk or buttermilk contains just under 12 grams of carbohydrates. Sour cream has 1 gram of carbohydrate in a 2 tablespoon sized serving. Milk, cream and butter are naturally low in carbs and will help to keep you on a low carb diet.
3. Low Carb Dairy Treats
We all love whipped cream and ice cream. Heavy whipping cream contains 1 gram of carbohydrates in a 2 tablespoon measure, before it's whipped. You can also buy a carbohydrate free whipped cream substitute, but why bother if the real thing is so low carb? Yogurt, on the other hand is higher in carbohydrates, especially yogurt with fruit. One cup of plain yogurt contains 10.6 grams of carbs, while yogurt with fruit contains more than 38 grams of carbs. Frozen yogurt contains almost 18 grams of carbs in a half-cup serving. A half-cup of ice cream contains only 1 more gram of carbohydrates than yogurt, with just under 19 grams. Many dairy companies now offer reduced carb ice cream. Compare the yogurt and ice cream to sherbet and you'll be surprised to know that sherbet contains almost 30 grams of carbs in a half-cup serving. A slice of cheesecake has a carb count of 20.4 grams. If you avoid eating sweet treats that are higher than 20 grams of carbs per serving, you can have a sweet treat occasionally, yet still follow a low carb diet.
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