You may be trying to reduce your carbohydrate intake to lose weight or regulate your blood sugar levels, but it can be hard to find foods that are low in carbohydrates. Make sure you read package labels to find out the carbohydrate content of foods, and focus on vegetables, proteins and fats. If you need to lose weight or are concerned about your carbohydrate intake, consult your doctor before starting a low-carbohydrate diet to be sure that you design a healthy meal plan with all of the nutrients you need.
Non-Starchy Vegetables
Most non-starchy vegetables are low in carbohydrates and high in vitamins and dietary fiber. A cup of alfalfa sprouts has about 1 g carbohydrates, and 1 cup of cooked cauliflower, broccoli, onions or eggplant has less than 10 g carbohydrates. Greens such as spinach or iceberg or romaine lettuce have less than 1 g carbohydrates per cup. These vegetables are also high in dietary fiber, a healthy kind of carbohydrate that MayoClinic.com says may help you decrease hunger and lower your blood cholesterol. Starchy vegetables are not as low in carbohydrates. A 202-g baked potato provides 51 g carbohydrates, and a cup of whole kernel corn has 41 g carbohydrates.
High-Protein Foods
Your low-carbohydrate diet is likely to be high in protein because many protein foods are free from carbohydrates. Meats and poultry, such as beef, pork, chicken and turkey, and fish, do not have carbohydrates, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Analysis Laboratory states that they provide about 20 to 25 g protein per 3-oz. serving. Eggs are also carbohydrate-free. When you prepare your meat or other protein, be cautious about adding carbohydrates, such as from breadcrumbs, if you make fried chicken. Also, read the nutrition label when you purchase processed meat to check whether there are carbohydrates. For example, a 57-g serving of chopped ham has 2 g carbohydrates. If you are vegetarian, tofu is a good source of protein that is low in carbohydrates. A 120-g portion of soft tofu has 73 calories, 8 g protein and 2g carbohydrates.
Fats
Pure fats get all of their calories from fat and do not contain carbohydrates. Some fats are healthier than others, so choose carefully even though they do not add to your carbohydrate quota for the day. According to MayoClinic.com, saturated fats, such as those from butter, shortening, palm oil and coconut oil, may increase cholesterol levels in your blood and increase your risk of heart disease. You can still avoid carbohydrates but reduce your risk for heart disease by replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats. Good sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are vegetable oils and olive oil. Even if you drastically limit your carbohydrate intake, you can only lose weight if you eat fewer calories than you burn. Keep in mind that fats are high in calories, so monitor the amount that you eat. A tbsp. of vegetable oil or butter has about 120 calories.
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