What are Low Carbohydrate Foods?

Eating more low carbohydrate foods as a proportion of your daily food intake, so as to reduce your overall carb intake is important for successful weight loss.

We won't repeat the reasons why limiting your carb intake is important as we've covered that in some detail on our page on low carb and weight loss.

So what foods should you be eating more of?

Some Low Carbohydrate Foods...

Carbohydrates are one of the three macronutrients along with protein and fat that form the bulk of your daily food requirements. The primary purpose of each is as follows:

  • Carbohydrate - primary energy supplier
  • Fat - main energy store
  • Protein - builds muscle and other tissue

    • Whilst all three can be burned for energy, carbs will always be burned in preference to fat and protein.

    To encourage your body to tap into and utilise its fat reserves, you need to eat not only fewer calories than your body requires, but fewer carbs as well.

    As you'll have gathered throughout this site, a key principle to successful weight loss is to eat a diet with fewer carbs, less fat and the right amount of protein combined with regular exercise to increase your metabolism.

    So what are low carbohydrate foods?

    It's important to recognise that most foods contain carbs to varying degrees. Cheese for example, whilst being a good source of protein (and fat!) is made from milk, which contains lactose, a sugar.

    Again, we emphasise that you do need to eat some carbs in your diet. 'Good' carbs such as fruit, veg and wholegrains in preference to 'bad' carbs like sugary foods and refined starches. Again, refer to our list of carb foods for more info.

    Low carb (not no carb) foods that you should try and eat more of include:

  • Poultry - chicken and turkey are good choices, but avoid eating the skin as it's high in fat
  • Lean red meat - beef and pork are generally leaner than lamb, but it depends on the cut
  • Fish - white fish are lower in fat than oily fish, but eat both as oily fish are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which are great for cardiovascular health and your joints
  • Shellfish - prawns, shrimp, mussels, etc are all great high protein, low fat, low carb foods
  • Low fat dairy products - clearly, they contain some carbs and products like yoghurt that have been sweetened with sugar should be avoided
  • Eggs - highly nutritious, high quality protein that is an essential part of any diet. The yolk is high in fat so try eating whites separated from the yolks and fewer whole eggs
  • Soya products - soya is the only complete vegetable protein and products like tofu are a great alternative to meat. Again, some products like yoghurts and soya milk are sweetened with sugar
  • Vegetables - whilst all veg contains some carbs, it's a relatively small amount in most cases. Potatoes, beans and pulses tend to be higher in carbs and are exceptions
  • Fruit - whilst not strictly low carbohydrate foods as fruit contains the sugar fructose. However, fructose is a slow release carb so is a good choice

    • So, choose low carbohydrate foods as part of your healthy weight loss plan but don't cut out carbs altogether. Low carb as opposed to no carb is a sound, healthy approach for successful weight loss.

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