Carbs, also known as carbohydrates, break down into sugar in your bloodstream. Carbs can cause dangerous fluctuations in your blood sugar levels if you have diabetes and you are not carefully monitoring your carb intake, according to MayoClinic.com. Your doctor or dietitian may recommend that you follow a diet that involves counting carbs to help you closely track how often you eat carbs and to monitor how many you include in each meal.
Typical Carb Allowance
If you're on a carb-counting diet, carbs should generally make up between 45 and 65 percent of your daily calories and fat and protein should make up the rest, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Since each carb gram is worth four calories, you would be able to have about 16 servings of carbs each day if you ate a 2,000-calorie diet and 50 percent of your daily calories came from carbs.
Creating a Menu
A single carb serving equals 15g of carbs, which is about equal to a slice of bread, ½ cup of pasta, 1 cup of milk or a small piece of fruit. Your individual meal plan in your diet will be influenced by how many servings of carbs you're allowed to have per day. Spreading out your carbs throughout the day will help you maintain a stable blood sugar level. For example, you could pour 1 cup of milk on oatmeal and eat a piece of fruit for three servings at breakfast, have ½ cup of cooked veggies with ½ cup of rice and a piece of chicken for two servings at lunch, eat six potato chips as a snack serving and have 1 cup of pasta with mixed veggies on top for another two or three servings at dinner.
Healthy Diet Foods
Although sugary treats also count as carbs, you should emphasize the healthiest carbs in your diet to maintain a stable blood sugar level, maintain a healthy weight and take in plenty of nutrients. Examples of healthy carbs include whole grains, legumes, low-fat dairy, fruits and veggies. Other foods you should include in your diet are healthy fats from foods such as almonds and avocados and heart-healthy fish such as cod, salmon and tuna, recommends MayoClinic.com.
Alternatives
Your doctor or dietitian may suggest that you use a more simplified nutrient-tracking diet system than counting every carb. The exchange system, for example, groups all foods into different categories -- such as fats and carbs -- and allows you to "exchange" servings with a similar balance of nutrients. Under this system you could exchange 1/3 cup of pasta for a small apple because they contain a similar number of carbs, according to MayoClinic.com.
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