When eating a low carb diet, choose healthy whole grains rather than over-processed white flour. Simple carbohydrates turn to sugar quickly in your body, which can lead to weight gain. Whole grains offer fiber and nutrients, while easily digested refined carbs can lead to diabetes and heart disease.
Oats
A nice hot bowl of oatmeal can be a good breakfast choice on a low carb diet. Use steel cut oats, and stay away from instant oatmeal with added sugar, honey or maple syrup. One cup of plain oatmeal has under 20 net carbs. A net carb is the total carb count minus the amount of fiber.
Corn
Corn can be classified as a grain or a vegetable, depending on when it is harvested. Harvested early, an ear of corn is a vegetable. Left to mature, cornmeal, popcorn and dried corn are considered to be grains. Technically, corn is a monocot, which means it's a grass, like barley and wheat. Popcorn has 6 grams of net carbs per cup, so a 3-cup serving would have a reasonable 18 grams of carbs.
Wild Rice
Wild rice is an ancient grain dating back 12,000 years in North America. It has a sweet, nutty taste and about 30 net carbs per cup. By comparison, white rice has 45 grams of net carbs per cup, so wild rice is a much better choice on a low carb diet.
Avoid These Grains
Although quinoa is a high protein grain, it's also packed with more than 40 net carbs per cup. Rye has 45 net carbs per cup and processed white flour items such as spaghetti can have 50 grams of net carbs or more per cup.
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