Cutting out carbohydrates can be difficult because this particular macronutrient is the base of common dishes and meals.
And when it’s not the main course, it’s a popular add-on.
Soup and bread are typical companions. Croutons enhance a vegetable-heavy salad. And even in unsuspecting places like a meatball, breadcrumbs lurk alongside the meat and spices.
So, when you make the decision to eat low-carb, you have to take a hard look at what you are eating and find the nooks and crannies where carbohydrates may be hiding.
With the holidays fast approaching and the promise of gravy-laden mashed potatoes and shortbread cookies on the horizon, eating a lighter diet to accommodate these special meals may be on your mind. Adopting a low-carb diet is one way to do that.
In that spirit, here’s a guide to eating a low-carb diet with an emphasis on creating new habits that still include beloved foods such as pasta and toast.
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What is considered low-carb?
There’s not a universal definition of what is considered a low-carb diet. “Anything under 100-150 grams per day is generally considered low carb,” according to Healthline.
Low-carb is not the same as the keto diet. The keto diet is more restrictive and people who do this diet often eat fewer than 100 grams of carbohydrates per day. While the amount of carbohydrates a person eats on the keto diet differs from person to person (depending on overall caloric intake and other factors), a typical range for keto is 20 to 50 grams, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
So, while keto is a low-carb diet, not all low-carb diets are keto.
“The key component of a low-carb diet is the restriction or elimination of sugars; foods with added sugars; sugar-sweetened beverages; and highly refined, processed carbohydrate foods, such as processed flours, grains, bread, rice, pasta, pastries, ‘convenience’ foods, snacks, and starchy root vegetables,” Mary Jane Baladad wrote on the Obesity Medicine Association website.
A low-carb diet involves taking in notably fewer carbohydrates than the average American. Baladad said Americans’ average carbohydrate intake is around 250 grams per day, per the Obesity Medicine Association…