This is great news for us low carbers, as knowing what foods we can incorporate into our own customized plans allows us total freedom with our low carb food lists from day to day, week to week!
This freedom of course, will ensure that those of us who are committed to losing weight and staying healthy through a sensible low carb diet will find the variation enough to keep us “excited” about our next meal (and therefore able to actually stick to our low carb diet.
I have merely attempted to give an overview for easy understanding and reference.
Green vegetables are of course acceptable and can be very low in carbs, such as:
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Mustard greens
- Beet greens
- Turnip greens
- Parsley
- Kale
- Collard
- Bok choy
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage – Green, red, or Chinese
- Mushrooms
- Yellow summer squash
- Zucchini
- Beets
- Red or yellow onions
- Watercress
- Kohlrabi
- Avocados
- Pumpkin
- Radish
- Brussel sprouts
List of foods low in carbs – Fruits. Fresh fruits are thankfully plentiful in most low carb diets. Fruits such as:
- Melons
- Tomatoes
- Figs
- Lemons
- Limes
- Kiwis
- Plums
- Berries (all kinds)
- Oranges
- Grapefruit
- Pineapple
- Tangerines
- Fresh coconut and/or unsweetened coconut milk
List of foods low in carbs – Meat, Fish and Dairy
- Eggs (but not more than 1 yolk daily) and egg whites are acceptable
- Fresh fish such as: Alaskan halibut, Orange roughy, Trout, Mackerel
- Shellfish (such as shrimp, crab, clams, oysters, and lobster) is fine about once a week (although shellfish are common allergens and may also accumulate toxins).
- Most meats are acceptable in moderation (which should be easy to moderate when you incorporate everything else on this list).
Lean red meat
Wild game (rabbit, pheasant, duck, goose, deer) once or twice weekly. Try to keep the fat off with the richer game, such as duck which is very high in natural fat.
Grass-fed beef that hasn’t been treated with hormones or antibiotics.
Goat. Internal animal organs (such as liver, heart, pancreas, and bone marrow) are fine once or twice weekly.
Pickled herring, Fresh garlic, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon
Also, you are ok to use any other antioxidant, anti-inflammatory culinary spices with your low carb cooking.
dill, thyme, sage, omega-3 fatty acids, walnut oils
List of foods low in carbs – Others
Brown rice and rice protein powder (watch the carbs in this one)
Seeds or fresh olives.
There you have it, my overview of the official low carb foods that are perfectly acceptable to use in your low carb diet. Of course, it is still important to monitor your carb intake, but with the right guidance and this list as reference, you will have no problems sticking to your low carb diet and actually enjoying the huge amount of choice us low carbers have before us!
But a list of foods low in carbs is NOT enough to actually make your low carb diet a success on it’s own. You need to make sure you don’t make the common mistakes that 99.9% of low carb dieters make, and you will always need exciting new recipes at hand to keep your low carb diet varied and interesting, so that you don’t get bored and throw in the towel.
by Clarie Anderson
