A Brief Low Carb Food List

Every day, more and more studies are revealing that a high protein low carb diet is a healthy and safe way to lose weight.

Even for those who are already at their ideal weight, low carb meals help to keep the metabolism burning hot and promote alertness. Some individuals are sensitive to carbohydrates, and become tired and lethargic right after eating them, and choose low carb food for this reason.

Unlike most diets, high protein low carb diets don't require you to count calories or limit your portions to some tiny amount in most cases.

Whatever your reason is, if you're reading this low carb food list then you've probably either already decided that a low carb diet is for you or at least are seriously considering it.

With low carb meals, “diet” doesn't have to mean “deprivation” though--check out our low carb food list below to see just some of the varied menu low carb diets offer!

Some of the easy and staple foods for the Low Carb diet include:

• Vegetables: Good with any meal, good for you and provide a nice crunch when you have an attack of the munchies! Low carb veggies include celery, lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus, cabbage, cucumbers, broccoli, caulflower, radishes, spinach, mushrooms, eggplant, squash, turnips and peppers. Avoid potatoes, corn and peas, which are all packed with carbs.
• Meat: A staple of pretty much every meal in a high protein low carb diet, meat is pure protein, which means that most kinds of meat have zero carbs. Pork, beef, chicken, turkey, duck, fish and canned tuna are all virtually carb free, and make for versatile meals. Organ meats such as liver do have some carbs in them, however, and remember to check the package of any processed meat for sugar content—deli meats are often injected with sugar and other ingredients to improve flavor. Remember that breading on meat adds carbs.
• Fruit: Most fruits have too many sugar carbs to be good for a low carb diet. There are a few exceptions, though: grapefruit, lemons, limes, honeydew melon, coconuts, watermelon, cranberries, apricots, cantaloupe, grapes and pineapple are all fairly low carb fruits. Berries tend to be lower in carbs than other fruits—strawberries and raspberries are so low in carbs that even eating a whole cup of them won't throw your diet off.
• Dairy and Eggs: At 0.6 grams of carbs each, eggs are a great addition to any low carb breakfast, and with the many ways you can prepare them, you'll likely find yourself eating them more than one meal a day. Most dairy products are made of fat, and so are perfectly acceptable to eat in any quantity while on a low carb diet. The exception is milk; the less fat it has in it (e.g. skim milk), the higher the carb content per serving, and even full-fat milk has around 11 grams of carbs per cup, so it's best to cut down on milk and get your calcium by eating cheese, butter, sour cream and heavy cream, which are all very low on carbs. Mayonnaise and cream cheese are also low in carbs, and make essential ingredients in many low carb meals.
• Nuts: If eaten in small servings, nuts are a wonderful and tasty source of protein. Coconut, macadamia nuts, pecans, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds are among the lowest carb nuts. Avoid chestnuts, which have roughly 20 times as many carbs as the nuts listed above!
• Bread and Grains: Since they are made from grains and other high carb ingredients, bread, pasta, crackers, cereal, cookies, crusts and most other baked goods should be avoided on a low carb diet. You'll find that there are many low carb substitutes available to keep you from missing them.

These are just some examples of the vast low carb food list you have to choose from, and mixing and matching the ingredients listed here gives you nearly endless variety in preparing low carb recipes. When on a low carb diet, it is best to clear all high carb foods out of your kitchen and keep a good amount of these low carb foods in your cabinets and fridge. If you do, it's easy to whip up something delicious and low carb whenever you want it.

We hope that our low carb food list has helped you come up with some fresh new ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner!