Low-fat foods are foods that have three grams (g) of fat or less per serving, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The federal government does not have a definition of low-carb foods.
Most fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, rice and pasta have little fat and lots of carbs, and high-fat meats and cheeses have few carbohydrates. However, there are a lot of low-fat foods with fewer than three g of carbs per serving.
Meats
The late Dr. Robert Atkins persuaded millions of Americans that they would lose weight by replacing high-carb, low-fat foods with meat.
People who disagree with Atkins still have a few low-carb, low-fat meats to choose from. They include lean pork, which has 2.8g of fat and zero carbs per serving, according to "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease." Other low-fat meats are lamb (2g of fat, zero carbs), lean veal (1.7, zero), liver (1.1, 1.5), lean round beef (1.8, zero), and filet mignon and New York strip steak (2.7, zero).
Poultry
Many nutritionists advocate substituting poultry for meat because it is much less fatty. In fact, most poultry is low-carb and low-fat.
Chicken with no skin has no carbohydrates and 1.4g (light meat) or 1.8g of fat (dark meat) per serving. Turkey is no-carb and low-fat with or without skin. Other low-carb, low-fat poultry includes duck (2.3g of fat per serving, zero carbs), goose (two, zero), pheasant (1.9, zero) and quail (two, zero). Turkey ham and turkey pastrami have fewer than two g of fat and one g of carbs per serving.
Fish
Many kinds of fish include a large amount of omega-3 fatty acids that reduce triglycerides, but even some fish with the highest amount of omega-3 still qualify as low-carb, low-fat. They include salmon (1.6g of fat per serving, zero carbs), halibut (0.3, zero) and tuna in water (1.5, zero). Other low-carb, low-fat fish include catfish (one, zero), clams (1.3, 0.6), crab (1.3, 0.6), fish sticks (2.5, zero), flounder (0.2, zero), haddock (0.1, zero), lobster (1.5, 0.4), sardines (1.3, zero), scallops (0.3, zero) and shrimp (0.7, 0.4).
Vegetables
There are few low-carb, low-fat vegetables, fruits, cereals, breads and pastas, according to "Reversing Heart Disease." The vegetables on the list are asparagus (0.3g of fat, 2.7g of carbohydrates per serving), celery (zero, 1.6), jalapeno peppers (zero, 1.6) and lettuce (0.1, 1.6). Avocado (2.4, 0.9) is the only fruit, and wheat germ (0.7, 3) is the only cereal. No breads or pastas are listed.
Condiments
There are numerous low-carb, low-fat salad dressings, including low-calorie Roquefort, French, Italian and Thousand Island. Other low-carb, low-fat condiments include cocoa, Cool Whip, half-and-half cream, horseradish, lemons, lemon juice, mustard, nondairy creamer, sandwich spread, sour cream and soy sauce.
Low-carb, low-fat snacks are rare. They include ice cream cones, Triscuit crackers and vanilla wafers.
References
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease;" Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
- "Essentials for Health and Wellness;" Gordon Edlin, Eric Golanty, Kelli McCormack Brown; 2000
- "The New Pritikin Program;" Robert Pritikin; 1990
- "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution;" Dr. Robert Atkins; 2002
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