Are you considering a low-carb diet?
Well, here you will find the necessary information you need to know about low-carb diets.
We will tell you what a low-carb diet is, what to eat, what to avoid throughout your regime, and if adopting it is healthy or not. Then we will provide you with some easy, fun, and healthy ideas to help you start.
Let’s go!
Are Low-Carb Diets Healthy?
By adopting a low-carb diet, you are planning to limit carbohydrates’ input by avoiding certain foods such as bread, grains, cereals, starchy vegetables and fruits, pasta, and sweets. Instead, you’ll concentrate on consuming low in carb high in protein foods, so can your body work on burning the stored fat rather than the carbs. The common purpose of going with a low-carb diet is losing weight; however, embracing a low-carb diet can also have health benefits:
⦁ It prevents cardiovascular disease.
⦁ It reduces the risks of having diabetes.
⦁ It improves blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
⦁ It might ameliorate brain disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
The Risks of Low-Carb Diets
Going for a low-carb diet for the long term might not provide your body with all the nutrients it needs; therefore, a strict low-carb diet might lead to low blood sugar. It will later cause several problems such as nausea, headache, dizziness, weakness, and fatigue.
It would be best to consider implementing your low-carb meals with unsaturated fats and healthy proteins to maintain a well-balanced diet and avoid having any difficulties.
What Do You Eat on a Low-Carb Diet?
⦁ Lean meats. Beef, pork, lamb, game, and poultry.⦁ Fish and seafood. Fresh seafood is a great low-carb food rich in so many vitamins. You can add tuna, haddock, herring, cod, salmon, catfish, shrimp, lobster, or halibut to your daily healthy diet plan.
⦁ Eggs. Eggs are an excellent high protein low-carb food.
⦁ Non-starchy vegetables. Leafy greens and other cruciferous vegetables like kale, lettuce, cabbage, collard greens, spinach, bok choy, and broccoli. You can also eat zucchini, bell pepper, mushrooms, carrot, asparagus, celery, garlic, onion, and tomato.
⦁ Non-starchy fruits. Low carb fruits such as raspberries, apple, grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi, peach, cherries, coconut, lemon, orange, pear, and watermelon.
⦁ Some dairy products. Cheese (brie, camembert, mozzarella, swiss, and cheddar), heavy cream, plain greek yogurt, ghee, and butter.
⦁ Nuts. Primarily pecans and Brazil nuts as they contain the lowest amount of carbs, then macadamia nuts, walnut, hazelnut, pine nuts, peanuts, and almonds.
⦁ Natural oils. Coconut oil and olive oil for their high nutrients.
⦁ Tofu. Tofu is an excellent option for a vegetarian or a vegan low-carb diet because it’s a high protein and fat food containing very little carbs.
⦁ Some drinks. Like water, water with lemon, tea, coffee, diet soft drinks, coconut water, and vegetable juices. You can consider alcoholic beverages such as straight rum, tequila, vodka, brandy, and dry martini since they contain zero carbs. And wine (red, white, sparkled ) or champagne for having a tiny amount of carbs.
6 Healthy and Easy Low-Carb Snack Ideas:
- Hard-boiled egg sandwiches: Slice your hard-boiled egg in half lengthwise, place a baby lettuce leaf, a small layer of cheese, and a slice of cucumber in between. Secure it with a toothpick.
- Celery sticks and peanut butter: Clean your celery, then cut it into long sticks. Dip your stick into peanut butter and eat it. All-natural peanut butter is a yummy low-carb food, high in healthy fats.
- Plain yogurt and nuts: Place a bit of yogurt in a small bowl and top it with a handful of nuts such as walnuts and brazil nuts.
- Tuna lettuce wraps: Dice an avocado, a dash of bell pepper, and a little bit of cheese of your choice, then in a bowl, mix them with canned tuna and a teaspoon of lemon juice. Fill each of your lettuce leaves with a little bit of the tuna mixture and eat.
- Cucumber sticks and cream cheese: Easy as it seems, cut your cucumber into long sticks and then dip it in your cream cheese and enjoy it.
- Zucchini chips: This is a fantastic alternative to potato chips, all you need is to cut your zucchini into slices, season it as you like, then put the pieces on a baking sheet, then let them bake until they shrink and turn gold. Or else you can fry them using coconut or olive oil.
5 Healthy and Easy Low-Card Dessert Ideas:
- Berries and whipped cream: Whip your unsweetened heavy whipping cream, then add to it a cup of your favorite berries ( raspberry, blackberry, strawberries, or blueberries).
- Peanut butter chocolate cookies: You can make simple no-bake cookies using only one cup of peanut butter, two cups of oatmeal, and a cup of melted dark chocolate. In a blender, mix the peanut butter, the oatmeal with a pinch of salt. Scoop the mixture and form your cookies. Dip them in melted chocolate then refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
Dark chocolate has low sugar compared to milk and white chocolate. You can use Hu vegan chocolate bars because they are sugar-free chocolate, naturally sweetened with organic coconut sugar. - Caramel strawberries: Yes, the strawberry version of a caramel apple stick. You can make some homemade caramel strawberries using a sugar-free caramel sauce. This sauce uses four tablespoons of melted butter ( better salter) and heavy whipping cream, plus one teaspoon of erythritol sweetener and vanilla extract. Dip your strawberries in it and enjoy your yummy food. Strawberries are a better choice considering that there are more carbs in apples than strawberries.
- Berry popsicles: Mix a cup of berries with another cup of coconut water and a tablespoon of lemon and blend them very well. Pour your mixture in ice popsicle molds and freeze them for a couple of hours.
- Frozen blueberry yogurt bites: Dip each one of your blueberries in plan greek yogurt until it’s well covered. To give your blueberries and plain yogurt more taste, cover them with ground nuts ( you can grind some walnuts and pecans using a regular blender). Dip your yogurt-covered blueberries in the ground nut mixture, then place them on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer for an hour or two.