Low-Carb Healthy Foods

If you want to join the low-carb movement, you don't have to search the supermarket shelves for specially made foods. Just cut out the white foods like bread, pasta and rice and make healthy choices when it comes to fats, proteins, fruits and vegetables. Low-carb diets typically limit carbohydrate intake to 50 to 150 g per day.

Veggies

Nonstarchy vegetables are naturally low in carbohydrates and packed with nutrients and fiber. Get creative with them to cut out foods higher in carbohydrates such as bread and tortillas. Wrap your burger or sandwich in lettuce instead of having a bun or bread. Or use grilled eggplant slices to frame your food. Eggplant contains 20 calories per cup and about 4.5 g of carbs. There are about 3 g of fiber, making your net carbs more like 1.5 g. A large leaf of lettuce has 2 calories and one-half gram of carb. About 0.2 g of this is fiber, making your net carbs close to zero.

Fats

Don't forget the fat -- just choose wisely when it comes to this nutrient. Pick monounsaturated fatty acids, or AKA MUFAs, which you'll find in nuts, olives, seeds, avocados and vegetable oils. These fats are liquid at room temperature. Also, choose polyunsaturated fatty acids, or AKA PUFAs. You'll find these in fish and vegetable oil. This type of fat includes the essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. They are essential because your body cannot make them on its own so you must gain them through your diet. These fats are either soft or liquid at room temperature. Avoid saturated fats, which come from animal sources, and the chemically processed trans fatty acids that diminish your health, says the University of Michigan Health System.

Protein

Pick healthy proteins. Consume mainly fish, lean poultry and vegetable sources of protein such as nuts and beans. Limit your dairy intake and red meat consumption. This is on the top-five list for healthy eating strategies from Harvard Medical School's guide, "Eat, Drink, and be Healthy." Even though you are going low carb, don't overdo the protein. In general, you need 8 g of protein per 20 pounds of body weight. For the average woman, that's 50 g a day, and for the average man, it's 65 g.

Fruit

Choose fruits that are considered low carb. Tops on the list is berries, according to Fran McCullough, author of "Living Low Carb." Raspberries, for example, have 64 calories per serving and 15 g of total carbs. Some 8 g of this vitamin-C packed food is fiber, so the net carb value is 7 g. Consume 1 cup of strawberries and you'll take in 46 calories. About 11 g are from carbs, but this fruit packs a fiber punch of 3 g, bringing it down to 8 g of net carbs. If you are limiting yourself to 150 g of carbs daily, this is 5 percent of your daily allotment.