Low Carb Diet: What Foods Can You Eat and What Can You Not Eat?

draw foods for a low carb diet

A low-carbohydrate, high-fiber, high-protein diet is recommended for diabetes diets and for weight loss. This diet works by maintaining a stable blood sugar level, which ultimately helps control appetite.

At the same time, unlike the no-carb ketogenic diet, the low-carb diet is suitable for fitness training for drying and can also be observed for a long period of time, which is definitely a plus. What foods can and cannot be eaten?

Low carb diet: what is it?

beets, squash, and carrots for a low-carb diet

A low carb diet is a diet that requires no more than 100-150 grams of carbohydrates per day. Also, most carbohydrate foods should be vegetables and whole grains, which contain a significant amount of fiber.

In fact, a low-carbohydrate diet is recommended for both diabetics (which acts as an effective way to keep blood glucose levels stable) and athletes when training for drying (minus the usual carbohydrate-free diet is that it's hard to exercise).

Among other things, following a low carb diet begins a gradual transition to a keto diet, which means the complete elimination of carbohydrates from the diet; this allows you to adapt the menu in advance to diets high in protein and fat.

BJU relationship:

  • 40-60% - proteins
  • 30-40% - fats
  • 20% complex carbohydrates

Diabetic diet

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a disorder of the ability to regulate glucose levels. The vast majority of cases of this type of diabetes are associated with a diet rich in easily digestible carbohydrates. Also, one of the risk factors is a sedentary lifestyle.

Several scientific studies show that a low carbohydrate diet is an easy way to control blood glucose levels that can reverse type 2 diabetes. On average, after 6 months of carbohydrate restriction, the effect was seen in 60% of the subjects.

At the same time, a low-carbohydrate diet shows better results in treating diabetes than taking anti-diabetic pills (for example, metformin). Also, unlike medications, low carbohydrates do not cause stomach problems or lower testosterone levels.

Low carb diet: what are the benefits?

foods for a low carbohydrate diet example 1

The main nutrients for the body are proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, in turn, are divided into simple and complex. In the process of digestion, simple carbohydrates quickly enter the bloodstream in the form of glucose, causing a sudden increase in energy and causing the release of the hormone insulin.

Later, when glucose levels drop, fatigue sets in, often mistaken for hunger, and leads to overeating. Additionally, chronically high levels of insulin block the body's ability to use fat stores for fuel.

If a person "feeds" their body with simple carbohydrates every 2-3 hours, the insulin production processes fail. Ultimately, this can lead to the development of diabetes mellitus and associated obesity. A low carbohydrate diet and high fiber foods will solve this problem.

Diet without carbohydrates

The main goal of a low carb diet is to eliminate simple carbohydrates. First of all, you need to completely abandon sweet and starchy foods (from sugary carbonated drinks, juices, fruit drinks, ending with cakes, sweet cakes and pastries) and also eliminate starchy foods (potatoes and white rice) from the diet.

You can eat meat, fish, mushrooms, dairy products (eggs, cottage cheese), green vegetables (broccoli, green beans, spinach, celery), lettuce, nuts, berries (in small quantities). At the same time, the significance of a low-carb diet is not just in the selection of foods from the list, but at least a rough understanding of what the total glycemic load of the foods you eat per day is.

What you can't eat:

  • refined carbohydrate foods
  • sugar, flour and sweet
  • White bread
  • high starch products

Product tables

A low-carbohydrate diet prohibits (or restricts as much as possible) any high-carbohydrate food. Medium carbohydrate foods are acceptable, but in moderation. Foods without carbohydrates can be consumed uncontrollably (but in adequate amounts). Note that to lose weight or when eating to normalize insulin levels, the total glycemic load should not exceed 60 units per day.

High carbohydrate foods:

  • potatoes, pasta, white rice
  • carbonated drinks, juices
  • sweet cakes
  • sugar, honey
  • dry fruits
  • sweet fruits (mango, banana, pineapple)

Medium carbohydrate foods:

  • whole grains (buckwheat, quinoa, bulgur)
  • coarse oats
  • unsweetened fruits (orange, melon, kiwi)
  • berry
  • green vegetables
  • sweet potato
  • brown rice (in moderation)

Non-carbohydrate foods:

  • meat, fish, eggs
  • cottage cheese and cheese
  • dried mushrooms
  • walnuts
  • avocado

Is it suitable for weight loss?

foods for a low carbohydrate diet example 2

A low carb diet is one of the key diets for weight loss and dehydration. At the same time, refusing carbohydrates can lead to weight loss even without playing sports; In most cases, weight gain is not associated at all with a lack of physical activity, but rather with overeating and an abundance of inappropriate foods.

However, since a low-carbohydrate diet does not limit the calorie content of the diet, it is more difficult to lose weight with it than with a completely carbohydrate-free diet. In particular, it may work for men (they have high energy costs), but not for women (they need fewer calories).

Low carb workouts

Since a low carbohydrate diet does not indicate clear recommendations and requirements for the CBFD diet, it cannot be a complete drying diet. In addition, it is not suitable for training with the aim of gaining muscles; in this case, men should consume at least 300 g of carbohydrate foods per day.

Basically, a low carb meal is suitable as an introductory step to a full-blown carb-free diet, as well as a daily diet after the keto phase. Although a low carbohydrate diet can help people with obesity and a high BMI to lose weight, the result is achieved more due to a general normalization of the diet, and not the diet itself.

A low carb diet is a diet that involves reducing carbohydrate foods to 100-150 grams per day. Despite the fact that on the Internet you can find detailed lists of foods that can and cannot be eaten with a low-carbohydrate diet, its logic is not at all in choosing a food from the list, but in observing the rate of carbohydrate intake above (or in the control of the total glycemic load). . .