Low Carb Foods List

Here is a low carb foods list for anybody following a low carbohydrate diet. The carbohydrate count that we are using is net carbs per 100g (3.5 oz) weight, not per serving, because serving sizes vary. Carb counts come from the USDA database and we cannot be held responsible for any errors.

For your convenience, we have grouped the foods according to how they are usually used in cooking, not by their botanical classification (so for example tomatoes and olives are with vegetables, and quinoa is with grains). The list is in three parts. Here in part 1, we cover protein foods and fats.

Meat, Fish, Eggs

Meat and fish are the stars of the low carb foods list. Most meat and fish is zero carb provided it is not processed.

Processed meats like bacon, ham and sausages may contain added sugar or other ingredients, so check the labels. Oysters, mussels and organ meats (liver, kidneys etc) have some carbohydrate and are best eaten only occasionally.

Eggs are low carb. A large egg has 0.4g carbohydrate per egg.

Meatloaf, fish cakes, etc contain bread or flour and other high carb ingredients. Avoid them, along with anything coated with breadcrumbs or batter, and meat that has been prepared with barbecue sauce or other sauces that usually include sugar.

Dairy Products

Milk contains lactose or milk sugar which is high in carbohydrate. Milk has around 5g carbohydrate per 100 ml (12g per cup), so it is usually restricted on low carb diets.  However, the lactose is mainly contained in the skim part of the milk, so cream and products made from cream can be low carb.

Heavy (double) cream is a good addition to your low carb foods list with 0.4g carbohydrate per tablespoon (2.8g per 100 ml, 6.6g per cup). However, what is sold as cream in Canada is not pure dairy cream but more like American half and half. It may have a much higher carb count.

Butter is almost zero carb (0.1g per 100g).

Cheese varies according to the type and the method that is used to make it. Hard cheese (cheddar style) is often almost zero. Other cheeses can be considerably higher. Check labels.

Unflavored yogurt with no added ingredients has around the same carbohydrate content as milk. Whole milk yogurt is a little lower in carbs than skim milk (low fat) yogurt. This is because the skim milk contains more lactose. However, a lot of yogurt contains added fruit, sugar or other high carbohydrate ingredients, so check labels.

Oils

Liquid oils such as olive oil, canola oil and sunflower oil are zero carb. Coconut oil, which is solid at room temperature in cooler climates, is also zero carb.

Spray oils may contain added ingredients that gives them a carb count, so check the label. But anyway, spray oils were designed for low fat diets and are not necessary when you are eating according to the low carb plan.

Nuts And Seeds

Flax seeds (linseeds), which are very high in fiber, are extremely low carb. Some low carb diets recommend taking one tablespoon of ground flax seed per day to add fiber to the diet.

Pecans are the lowest carb nut with 4.3g net carb per 100g.

Walnuts, peanuts, almonds, pine nuts, brazils, macadamias, filberts (hazelnuts), sesame seeds and sunflower seeds are in the medium carb range (5g to 12g net carbs per 100g).

Pumpkin seeds and cashews are higher (14g and 27g respectively).

How you use this low carb vegetables list will depend on which of the many low carb diets you are following. If you just count carbs and aim to stay under a certain daily total, then you will need to weigh your foods to have an accurate count at first.

Cup measures are not so accurate for vegetables because it makes such a difference how you chop the food. You can get a lot more broccoli in a cup if you cut it up small!

However, if you prefer to use cup measures, you can do it accurately by weighing one cup of a food, cut in the way that you normally cut it, and making a note of the weight and carb count per cup. Then in future you will know how many carbs you have in one cup of the food the way that you prepare it.

If you are following the Atkins diet, you have the list of low carb vegetables for induction in the book. You can add other veggies after induction. The lists vary a little in the different editions of the books so we will not reproduce them here. Just keep in mind that you should have a minimum of two cups of vegetables on induction and more later. Also, vegetables should account for more than half of your daily carb count. This means at least 11g net carbs from veggies if your daily carb level is 20g.

Low Carb Vegetables List

Green vegetables are mostly low carb (under 5g net carbohydrate per 100g), with the exception of kale, peas and beans. There are also some non-green veggies that are low carb. Here are some examples. Carb count is net carbs (not including fiber) per 100g of raw item.

Under 2g: lettuce, spinach, bok choy (pak choi), asparagus, endive, watercress.

2g - 2.9g: arugula (rocket), zucchini (courgette), summer squash (marrow), green bell pepper, celery, radish, eggplant (aubergine), tomato, mushroom, cauliflower, kohlrabi.

3g - 3.9g: cucumber, green cabbage, white cabbage, red bell pepper, jicama, okra, parsley, string beans, green onion tops (spring onion tops).

4g - 4.9g: broccoli, turnip, yellow bell pepper, fennel, snow peas (mange-tout).

Medium And High Carb Vegetables List

So that there is no confusion, we are including here some of the vegetables that do not make it onto the low carb vegetables list. Some of the medium carb vegetables, such as onion, can be included in a low carb diet in small quantities.

Medium carb vegetables (between 5g and 12g net carb per 100g) include onion, leek, green peas, kale, red cabbage, pumpkin, carrot, rutabaga (swede), winter squashes, celeriac.

High carb vegetables (over 12g net carb per 100g) include potato, corn, beans, lentils, parsnip.

Avocados And Olives

Olives and avocados are technically fruits, not vegetables. However, unlike other fruits they are low carb foods and make great salad ingredients. We are including them here so that they are not forgotten.

California (hass) avocados have just 1.8g net carbohydrate per 100g. Florida (smooth skinned) avocados have 2.2g. So both types are low carb.

Olives have around 3g net carb per 100g. However, be careful to check packaging when buying olives to make sure that there are no added sugars. Olives in salt water or oil with no added ingredients can be added to salads along with low carb vegetables.

In part 3 of our low carb list we will look at the carb count of other foods. Here we have the higher carb foods plus miscellaneous items that may or may not be low in carbohydrates.

Fruit

There are no sweet fruits with a net carb count under 5g per 100g. Raspberries, strawberries and blackberries are lowest (around 5.5g net carbs per 100g). Melons, including watermelon, have around 8g.

Most other fresh fruits are in the 10g - 20g net carb range, with bananas the highest. Dried fruits are much higher.

Grains

Unfortunately, there are no grains that make it onto the low carb list. Wheat, corn, rice, millet, barley, oats, rye, buckwheat (kasha) and quinoa are all high carb. They have around 60g - 80g net carb per 100g dry uncooked weight, or 20g - 30g net carb per 100g cooked. That is around 50g carbohydrate for a cup of cooked rice.

Anything made from grains will also be high in carbohydrates. This includes bread, pasta, couscous, popcorn, rice cakes, etc.

Alcohol

Whiskey, vodka, rum and gin are distilled spirits, which are virtually zero carbohydrate (until you add mixers).

Wine has around 3.7g carbohydrate per 5 fl oz serving (2.5g per 100 ml).

Regular beer has about 10g carbohydrate per 10 fl oz serving (3.6g per 100 ml). Light beer has around half of that.

Herbs And Spices

Most herbs are made from green vegetables so they can be included on your low carb list. Spices are often made from ground seeds and can be higher. Usually you would not use them in large enough quantities to cause a problem but check labels and count the carbs in your daily total.

Packaged And Processed Foods

When buying packaged and processed foods, always check the label for the nutritional information. In the USA and Canada, carbohydrates shown on labeling include fiber. Fiber is not digestible, so this can be subtracted from the carbohydrates to arrive at the net carbs of the food.

In most other countries including the UK, other EU nations and Australia, carbohydrates shown on labeling are already net of fiber so you should not subtract anything.

If you are not sure how this is done in your country, look on a food label to see whether the fiber is right under the carbohydrates and indented (you should subtract it) or somewhere else on the label, not associated with the carbohydrates (you should not subtract it).

There's another thing about American food labeling. In the USA, food labels are allowed to show 0g carbohydrate for anything under 0.5g, so for example eggs can be labeled 0g carbohydrate although they are not zero carb. These small amounts can add up. Online nutrition sites such as Fitday will have a more accurate count. However, this is not an issue in most other countries, including Canada, where food labels are accurate to the nearest 0.1g.

All of this information may seem complicated if you are new to low carb dieting. Most of us are so used to thinking about calories, it is hard to just forget about calories and start thinking carbs instead. However, you will probably be surprised how fast you come to have a feeling for which foods are likely to be low carb. To speed up this process, it is important to count your carbs accurately at first and make your own low carb list of your favorite foods.