Are you interested in the low-carb diet but unsure what you can still eat? We'll tell you what to watch out for.
Table of contents
1. What does low carb mean?
Low carb primarily means " low in carbohydrates ." The term originates from the USA and was originally coined by cardiologist Robert Atkins . The severe restriction of carbohydrates is a fundamental component of the " Atkins Diet ."
Since carbohydrates are important macronutrients alongside fats and proteins, it's not a question of completely depriving the body of them. They provide us with energy, support our muscle function , and also the cardiovascular system .
A low-carb diet doesn't aim to completely eliminate carbohydrates . Rather, it's about avoiding carbohydrates from refined sugar , processed foods , and snacks as much as possible , and consuming less than 150g of carbohydrates per day .
High-quality complex carbohydrates are still permitted . They are converted into glucose more slowly by the body and thus enter the bloodstream more slowly. While they also cause an insulin spike , they do so much more gently and sustainably than simple carbohydrates.
This makes the low-carb diet equally popular among professional and athletic high performers , as well as among people with blood sugar problems [1]. The low-carb diet has also achieved some success in weight loss [2]. However, a calorie deficit must also be maintained .
2. When does something count as a low-carb food?
Low-carb foods are foods that naturally contain few or no carbohydrates . As a rule of thumb , a food is not low-carb if it contains more than 100g of carbohydrates or a lot of sugar .
It's important to note that sugar is also a carbohydrate . So, if you buy a food in the supermarket and find no carbs in the nutrition information but a lot of sugar, that food is high in carbohydrates. Food without carbohydrates is always food without added sugar !
But what about healthy foods like whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, potatoes, or oatmeal, which are rich in carbohydrates? These aren't strictly speaking low-carb either. However, since they consist largely of complex carbohydrates , they count as carbohydrate sources that you can still eat [3].
3. Low-carb foods
If you're starting a low-carb diet for the first time, it might be helpful to create a low-carb food list . This will help you keep track of your shopping and make it easier to put together recipes.
Low-carb foods that shouldn't be missing from your list are all types of meat and fish . Especially for omnivores or flexitarians, eating meat and fish is a good strategy for avoiding carbohydrates while consuming plenty of fat and protein .
Shellfish such as crabs , crustaceans , and mussels are also considered low-carb animal foods . Unlike fish, however, they often contain small amounts of carbohydrates , which can vary between 1 g and 2.4 g depending on the quantity.
The same applies to most types of cheese : hard cheese, soft cheese, processed cheese, and grated cheese are all carbohydrate-free. Only blue cheese contains a small amount of carbs at 0.2 g.
In addition, there are now a variety of foods specifically developed for a low-carbohydrate diet . These include low-carb pasta and low-carbohydrate rice .
When it comes to beverages , you still have a wide selection to choose from. Water , mineral water , teas , soy drinks , and coffee are all low-carb and vary between 0 g and 0.8 g of carbohydrates.
There are now even low-carb sweets and soft drinks made entirely without refined sugar. Instead, they use other alternative sweeteners that, while carbohydrate-free, are still harmful to your health.
You can buy such alternative low-carb products in many supermarkets or drugstores and can usually identify them by the corresponding label.
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4. Low-carb fruit
Many people believe that fruits are naturally free of carbohydrates. In fact, they contain a high amount of natural fructose . While this is biologically much more valuable than refined sugar, it still quickly converts to glucose and causes a rapid rise in insulin levels in the blood .
Caution is advised with all fruits that taste naturally sweet . Bananas, kiwis, pineapples, pears, and even sweet red apples contain a lot of fructose and should therefore only be consumed in very small amounts on a low-carb diet.
Sour fruits, on the other hand, are considered relatively low in sugar . These include most small wild apple varieties, quinces, cherries, grapefruits, and many berries , such as blackberries, strawberries, gooseberries, currants, and blueberries.
Since fruits and vegetables can retain their nutritional value for a long time when they are quick-frozen immediately after harvest, you can also easily get your daily dose of berries for smoothie bowls or shakes from the refrigerated section .
5. Low-carb vegetables
Fortunately, you can still eat plenty of vegetables. Only potatoes , pulses , and rice contain a lot of carbohydrates . Since many vegetables are rich in vitamins, you can easily cover your vitamin and fat needs with a broad mix of vegetables . This is especially good news for vegetarians interested in a low-carb diet.
Most salads, such as lettuce, arugula, endive, radicchio, chicory, sorrel, and lamb's lettuce, are particularly healthy and low in carbohydrates . Other vegetables include :
- Onions and shallots
- Snow peas
- Leek
- spinach
- pumpkin
- zucchini
- broccoli
- cucumbers
- radish
- fennel
- paprika
- celery
- lots of mushrooms
- many types of cabbage
- olives
- asparagus
- chard
- aubergine
- Kohlrabi
- Ginger
- Beetroot.
Fruits such as avocados and tomatoes , which are often mistakenly classified as vegetables, are also naturally very low in carbohydrates . Avocados are particularly valuable in this regard because they are rich in vegetable fat, which, as a macronutrient, represents an important substitute for the energy lacking from carbohydrates [4].
6. Which foods you should avoid now
Of course, you should especially avoid foods that are very high in sugar and whose nutritional table clearly indicates that their carbohydrate content is over 150g .
Ideally, you should simply create another list for this to keep track of everything and better plan your shopping and cooking sessions . You already have the low-carb list from point 3. From this, you can also see which foods are completely carbohydrate-free. This is your green list. List number two would be the no-go list : This lists all the foods you should avoid.
It's important to be well -informed , as the situation with some foods isn't entirely clear at first glance . One such case is cow's milk : the milk sugar lactose in cow's milk raises your insulin levels . Adding a splash of milk to your coffee is perfectly fine, but one glass a day can definitely be too much.
Lactose-free milk is a great alternative for low-carb milk . It's even better if you simply replace it with sugar-free almond milk or a similar product.
Although foods such as sweet fruits, potatoes, legumes, rice, or whole grain products are often high in carbohydrates, you should not avoid them completely.
Fruit is rich in essential vitamins , pulses contain valuable fiber and whole grain products provide you with important trace elements such as zinc, magnesium and iron .
Vegetarians and vegans in particular should be careful to ensure that they are getting all the relevant micronutrients despite the low-carb diet , as many low-carbohydrate fat and mineral sources such as meat or eggs are no longer available to them.
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7. Conclusion
There are many foods that don't contain carbohydrates . With a little research, self-discipline, and good preparation, switching to a low-carb diet is quite easy.
It can be helpful to create two lists where you collect and differentiate between low-carb, no-carb, and high-carb foods . You can hang these on your refrigerator, for example, and check them off each time you go shopping.
When it comes to high-carb foods, you should also differentiate between high-quality complex carbohydrates and simple carbohydrates . You can then simply mark the no-go carbs in red.
Special low-carb foods also offer good support during the transition . In drugstores or organic markets, you can even buy low-carb bread, carb-free pasta, carb-free rice, and many other low-carb foods.
By the way, if you take supplements, shakes, or nutritional supplements , you also need to make sure they are sugar-free and contain no carbohydrates. However, carbohydrate-free products are always clearly labeled, especially in the health and fitness sector, so you don't have to worry too much.
8. Sources
[1] Hernandez, AR; Hernandez, CM; [...]; Burke, SN (2018), A Ketogenic Diet Improves Cognition and Has Biochemical Effects in Prefrontal Cortex That Are Dissociable From Hippocampus, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, Volume 10, p. 391, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00391/full .
[2] Astrup, A.; Hjorth, MS (2017), Low-Fat or Low Carb for Weight Loss? It Depends on Your Glucose Metabolism, EBioMedicine, Volume 22, p. 20 - 21, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(17)30264-5/fulltext .
[3] Oh, R.; Uppaluri, KR (2020), Low Carbohydrate Diet, StatPearls Publishing, published online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537084/ .
[4] Noakes, T.D; Windt, J. (2017), Evidence That Supports the Prescription of Low-Carbohydrate High-Fat Diets: A Narrative Review, British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 51, Issue 2, p. 133 -139, https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/2/133 .
