The Best Snacks on a Low Carb Diet

Ice cream, cookies, chips, microwave popcorn, and candy bars are some of the popular snack foods. Unfortunately, they have little nutritional value and are packed with carbohydrates and empty calories. What are your options for low carb foods and snacks then?

You can choose foods that feature carbs with low glycemic indexes, contain heart-healthy fats, are balanced with protein, and are high in important nutrients and fiber. There are plenty of healthy snacks for people on a low carb diet. You can make peanut butter and celery sticks, Caesar salad with grilled chicken, avocado and shrimp cocktail, or carrot sticks and hummus. You can cut a large carrot into coins or sticks and serve with hummus. One serving contains 133 calories, 0.9 g saturated fat, 5.8 g fiber, and 15.8 g carbohydrates. Cold or hold soy latte is a low-carb beverage you can prepare at home. Blend a shot of espresso with a cup of light soymilk and serve with crushed ice.

Other healthy low-carb options include deviled eggs, celery with tuna salad, cheese sticks, and cheese with a few apple slices. You can make lettuce roll-ups by rolling tuna, egg salad, vegetables and luncheon meat in lettuce leaves. Alternatively, you can prepare lunch meat roll-ups. Roll vegetables, cheese, and other fillings in lunch meat. Making a low-carb dip is a good idea. You can spread spinach dip or bean dip on lettuce or lunch meat and roll it up. Another option is to have spinach dip and raw veggies or mushrooms with cheese spread. Other healthy options include ricotta cheese with nuts and fruit, pepperoni chips, low-carb snack bars, and parmesan crisps. You can have pork grinds as well and if you are a vegetarian, you can prepare fried tofu chips. Toasted squash seeds or pumpkin seeds are yet another option for low-carb dieters.

You can find low-carb snacks in the store as well, but make sure you look at the label. Sugar alcohols in low carb snacks include sorbitol, xylitol, and maltitol. Sugar alcohols are not fully absorbed by your body, and they provide fewer calories. Sugar alcohols aid your weight management efforts and don’t promote tooth decay. Some low-carb sweeteners also inhibit bacterial growth in the mouth. At the same time, sugar alcohols ferment in the intestines, and this can cause diarrhoea, gas, and bloating. Low-carb dieters have different reactions to artificial sweeteners, and experts recommend careful experimentation. 

To read more about low carb food snacks go to: http://www.lowcarbfoods.org/

How To Stick To A Low Carb Diet FAQ

Sticking to a low carb diet is not as difficult if you can deal with cravings and are familiar with the basics of the plan.

Foods that are high in carbohydrates should be avoided as well as products which break down to sugars. This group contains white rice, noodles, and pasta. It will not be difficult to stick to your diet of choice if your menu includes products such as poultry, meat, fish, and eggs. Some foods contain carbohydrates but the amount is low enough, and you can safely include them in your diet. Nuts, seeds, tofu, and cheeses are in this group. You can also consume low-carb vegetables such as broccoli, celery, eggplant, green beans, eggplant, and others.

Despite the wide variety of foods to consume, some dieters still find it hard to stick to a low carb diet. To do that, you may want to remove all carbohydrate-rich foods from your kitchen cabinets. Throw or give away all snacks, pretzels, sugar, potato chips, and pasta. Substitute them with low carb vegetables from the above list. Keep fresh greens and lettuce in your fridge and consume them any time you feel hungry. Buy cheeses and prepare cheese platters and cheeseburgers. Try new recipes and cook meals in different ways so that you have a balanced diet. When you are on a low carb diet, you can use grilling and broiling techniques. Prepare some snacks to have on hand. You can boil a couple of eggs or fry some bacon.

If you are worried that a low carb diet means having no carbohydrates, this is not the case. Your dietary plan should be individual. Some argue that dieters on a low carbohydrate diet are at risk of heart disease. Many studies suggest that cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides, and other markers of increased risk of heart disease improve with low carb diets. If you have kidney problems, you may also be concerned about sticking to a low carb diet. It has not been shown that high protein diets damage the kidneys, but you can consult your doctor to be on the safe side.

In order to stick to your no carb diet, think of making some small changes at first. Choose 1 or 2 products to exclude from your diet at a time. It is unwise to make rapid changes. This gradual approach can bring good results. You can choose from a number of low carb diets as well. Choose a diet you are comfortable with. If you don't want to search around, you can try the 'no white diet', which many report to work. Basically, you need to avoid products containing sugar, potatoes, white rice, and flour, including cakes, bread, pasta, and donuts. Remember that foods like tofu, cauliflower, and onions are white-colored, but they are a good addition to a low carb diet.

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The Sweet Alternative

Sugar alcohol is an artificial sweetener commonly used in frozen foods and replacement meal supplements as a replacement for table sugar. Sugar alcohols are made up of carbohydrates and part of their ingredients also resembles sugar, and in part also has a resemblance to alcohol. You may recognize some of these names on some sugar free items that you purchase; sorbitol, isomalt and xylitol. Sugar alcohols have fewer calories than sugar and when used in combination with foods and sweets with artificial sweeteners it can change the unpleasant taste of some high intensity sweeteners. When heated Sugar alcohols will not caramelize due to the fact they are not metabolized by oral bacteria.

Sugar free chewing gum is a popular choice for people that are low carb dieters or they are calorie conscious. It does not have any calories and although sweet it will not cause tooth decay. For diabetics, Sugar Alcohols are a safer option in comparison to regular sugar. It is misleading to believe that these alcohol sugars are carb free because they are not. However, they are considerably lower in carbs compared to regular table sugar. Sugar alcohol does not completely absorb into the blood stream through the small intestines which means that it has a result of a lower change in the effect of blood glucose levels. Because the sugar alcohol does not completely absorb while still in the bowel it will hold water creating a diarrhea effect, or lose bowels. Many low carb foods have began using sugar alcohol as alternative sweeteners to accommodate the low carb diets that are so popular. When you eating sugar free gum or candy you may experience a cooling sensation. This is the dissolving of the sugar alcohol taking place when it meets a heating solution. The alcohol sugar in combination with the saliva creates a cooling sensation.

You will be able to locate sugar alcohols on the ingredient label if the item has been prepared with it. Although, most sugar alcohols are not as sweet as regular sugar, therefore more is needed to give the desired sweetness that you may be trying to reach. There are different variations of sweetness among artificial alcohol sweeteners and they each have a different impact on the way they affect blood sugar levels. Most people that have adapted to a healthy eating plan but lowering their carb intake have found sugar alcohol as an alternative to having sweets or eating food that requires sugar as an ingredient. Low carb food along with eating healthy food and maintaining a weight loss program can easily be structured with the use of sugar alcohol. It is important to keep in mind that alcohol sugars alone cannot create a weight loss on any level. It is important to adjust to healthy eating and exercise. Doing that in combination with choosing to eat foods with lower carbs can prove to be beneficial in weight loss.

How to lose weight fast and eat healthy

For about four decades, the Atkins low carb diet has stood for an effective program to reduce their weight rapidly and healthily. It is based on the principle that the consumption of too many carbohydrates results in getting overweight. The simple reason behind that is that the human body uses carbs and fats to secure the supply of energy but carbs come first. If the body cannot burn all the carbohydrates, it stores them in the form of fat that results in weight gain. Excessive weight usually causes sleepiness, fatigue, poor memory, inability to concentrate, etc. So, in order to avoid or prevent such problems, you should limit the carb intake to less than 40 grams of carbohydrates per day.

Low Carb Foods

* The list of the most popular low carb vegetables includes: asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cabbage, celery, cucumber, kale, lettuce, onions, pepper, parsley, pumpkin, spinach, tomatoes, and turnip.

* Fruits that are best for the Atkins diet include: apples, bananas, berries, grapefruits, lemons, kiwis, melons, oranges, pears, pineapples, plums, and tangerines.

* Your diet may also include dairy products (butter, cheese and cream), meat (pork, beef, and lamb), poultry (chicken, turkey, etc.), fishes (salmon, sardines, trout, anchovies, etc.) and eggs.

Keep in mind that some of these foods are rich in fats, cholesterol and calories.

* Some herbs, spices, and oils have no carbohydrates. You may consume pepper, oregano, thyme, dill, sage and turmeric aw well as olive oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, corn oil and canola.

* Water, tea and coffee are totally free of carbohydrates.

Remember that you have to exclude all kinds of soft drinks, beer, wine, vodka, etc. when you are on a diet. Some of these drinks contain no carbohydrates but are high in calories. And one more fact: all alcoholic drinks provoke a healthy appetite.

How to Carry out the Atkins Diet Program

The program of the Atkins diet is based on four phases. During the first phase, your carb intake is limited to 20 grams per day, so consuming more salads and other non-starchy vegetables is recommended. During the next phase, you have to add some carbohydrates in the form of fibre-rich foods and increase the carb intake to 25 grams a day the first week. Increase to 30 grams per day during the second week and keep on in the same fashion until you stop losing weight. Then, reduce your daily carb intake with 5 grams so that you start loosing weight again.

The important transition from weight loss to maintaining healthy weight is made during the third phase. You should increase the carb intake in 10-gram increments each week until the moment when the daily weight loss becomes minimal. The final fourth phase builds the foundation for a lifetime of good health. Now, you can choose between various foods while at the same time, you control the carb intake to ensure that you keep your new weight and say healthy.

Pros And Cons Of Losing Weight With Low Carbs

The low carb (carbohydrate) diet has taken the lives of many weight-conscious people by storm. When you move through the super markets shelves you are now more likely to hit low carbohydrate items like: pasta, bread, peanut butter, cereal, and even beer. However, you may still be thinking that is low carb really better than the low-fat diet notion that had been considered the 'diet maestro' since ages?. Though we still need to wait and see to get a definite answer, for starters it's better to know that low-carb is based on 'good carb' and 'bad carb' distinction. The bad-carbs harm your body by causing arise in blood sugar with food such as white potatoes, rice, pasta and bread. Good carbs are body friendly with their low GI and include fruits veggies, whole grains and beans.

The typical explanation of weight loss is that dietary fat does not necessarily get converted into body fat following the low-carb regime. Surprisingly, Carbohydrates win the race to fat conversion because they are acted upon by insulin. Experts have seen that obese people do not become overweight because of fatty dietary intake but due to hyperinsulinemia (high levels of blood insulin).

A high carb intake produces blood sugar which directs the pancreas to produce insulin which stimulates the cells to use up this sugar. Not only does insulin directs the brain to produce hunger signals but also causes fat deposits in your body. With this cycle you get used to increase carbohydrate intake because of hunger-signals and consequently the cell need more insulin to break up. The high level of insulin leaves adverse effects on the body and you may even start ageing prematurely.

Now to break the vicious cycle described above you have to limit carbohydrate intake with strict control on your diet. When you try to reduce your daily ingestion of carbohydrates, your insulin degree starts lessening gradually and your glucagon level raises. Glucagon acts like a life-saving hormone at this time because it burns body fat and removes cholesterol deposits in the arteries which would have choked them eventually. When you start restricting carbohydrates in your diet like a regimen your body would soon go into 'ketosis' state. This process works with fat burning and subsequent ketone production in your bloodstream. Consequently, the blood sugar level in your body stabilizes and a decrease in insulin level is noticed along with reduced calorie count.

This last part of the South Beach diet is termed as a 'ketogenic diet (from ketosis). The routine for inducing ketosis is to reduce carbohydrate intake to 30 grams or less per day. Most people lose weight more quickly this way and get back in shape after throwing the haunting pounds away.