What Really Qualifies As Low Carb Diet Food? Articles | Low Carb Lifestyle Pages

By: Wade Robins

One of the unfortunate truths of the Western diet is that most of the foods we have learned to love are also the ones which are long on simple carbohydrates, unhealthy fats, and calories, and short on nutrition. Pre-processed foods, while they may save time in preparation, are also high in preservatives and sodium. A healthy eating plan simply does not look very much the average American diet, as the rising obesity rates in the US can attest.

There is no way to avoid carbohydrates, and carbohydrates, in fact, are essential to our survival. They are what our bodies burn as fuel, and even couch potatoes need carbohydrates to keep their resting metabolisms functioning. But eating too many carbohydrates, and especially eating those which have been stripped of their fiber and nutrients, puts a tremendous strain on the systems which regular blood sugar levels. Switching to low carb diet food, instead of eliminating carbs entirely, is one way to keep the good thing about carbs without suffering from the bad.

Learning to distinguish simple carbohydrates from complex carbohydrates is one way to find low carb diet food which will not be such a shock to the blood sugar level. Simple carbohydrates are those which contain refined sugar, or sucrose; fruit sugar, or fructose; and milk sugar, or lactose. Of the three, refined sugar or sucrose is far and away the most harmful to your health, simply because it has been stripped of all its fiber and nutrients.

Milk products contain essential calcium and Vitamin D, and many fruits are powerhouses of fiber and nutrients. So any truly low carb diet food would have only trace amounts of sucrose or none at all. Fructose and lactose are acceptable in small amounts.

Complex carbohydrates are those which have not had any of their nutrients removed through processing, like whole grain breads and cereals or raw or lightly steamed vegetables. Processing removes not only nutrients, but fiber, from foods, and fiber is what lets low carb diet foods a feeling of fullness so that we eat less. Fiber also means that low carb diet food will digest more slowly, helping the body to regulate its blood sugar levels much more efficiently.

Complex carbohydrates should be limited as low carb diet food; but even a small serving of a complex carbohydrate has many more health benefits than a large serving of processed, simple carbohydrate.

The foundation low carb diet food, of course, is high-protein meat, fish, cheese, eggs, nuts, and fats. But their low carb content does not mean that they can be eaten in unlimited quantities; and they must be accompanied by daily servings of low carb diet food like fresh vegetables and fruits to provide essential minerals and vitamins.

The best low carb diet foods, therefore, are lean meats or fish, monosaturated fats like olive oil, low fat cheeses, eggs, and low carb fruits like berries and vegetables like spinach, broccoli, onions, peppers, cucumbers, and celery. Any carbs you decide to add should be complex carbs, consumed in small amounts.