This page is made especially for people who are completely new to the low carb way of life. If you're looking to lose weight and/or improve your health, the low carb lifestyle is the way to go. It's not a fad as the naysayers mistakenly and mindlessly repeat, it's the way nature intended us to eat, it's the way we evolved to eat over about 2.5 million years.
Unfortunately, because the low carb way of eating goes against the grain (good pun), it has recieved a lot of backlash and there are many myths/lies which have been spread around about it. I have done a report which clears up the myths surrounding the low carb diet, Diet Fact vs. Diet Fiction.
There are many different low carb diets. The earliest is our evolutionary diet, the one we evolved on. Back then grain was non-existant (grain didn't exist until the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago), so were the high-sugar, sweet fruits that you see in grocery stores today. Our paleo ancestors ate wild animals and wild, non-starchy vegetation. Fruit was not very common and it was bitter or sour, low in sugar and high in fiber. For more in-depth information on our evolutionary diet, you may want to check out BeyondVeg.com. Aside from prehistorical times, low carb diets have been around as early as the 1800's, so it's really not just some new trend. It would make more sense to call the low fat, high carb diet a trend or fad!
We didn't evolve to load our bodies with lots of carbohydrates, especially high glycemic ones. Any glucose we need is converted from protein, in other words, we really do not require dietary carbohydrate as we can synthesize them. There are essential fats and essential proteins but there are no essential carbohydrates! If you think about it, it wouldn't seem anything eats a lot of carbohydrates, whether they be carnivore, herbivore or omnivore, because unless they're domesticated or eating the standard American diet (s.a.d.), they eat wild vegetation, i.e., grass, leaves and other wild plant matter as opposed to grain, soy or corn (by the way, corn is a grain, not a vegetable!). Only in civilization are high carbohydrate foods eaten. When the high carb diet is introduced into another culture (eskimos for example), those people suffer the same problems that plague the high carb eating civilizations. It's not natural!
Ok, now it's time to get into the basics. Low carb diets typically avoid grain, sugar, milk, potatoes and legumes (beans). Carbohydrate content is important along with glyemic index.
We all know what grains are; wheat, oat, corn, millet, I dunno what else but I think we've got that part pretty much figured out.
Sugar in the form of added sugars such as table sugar, fructose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, dextrose, concentrated sugars such as maple syrup and honey, and last but not least, lactose like that found in milk (cream, butter and cheese have a minimal amount of lactose and so are ok on a low carb diet). Fruit sugar should be eaten in moderation and you should choose low glycemic fruits over high glycemic ones. Berries are an example of low glycemic fruits.
Fruits with their glycemic index and net carb count (Total carbs - fiber)
Low GI=55 or lessMedium GI=55-70High GI=higher than 70
Fruit----GI----Net Carbs/Serving
Vegetables with their glycemic index and net carb count (Total carbs - fiber)
Low GI=55 or lessMedium GI=55-70High GI=higher than 70
Fruit----GI----Net Carbs/Serving
I couldn't find the glycemic index for all fruits and vegetables but for carb count you can search this database or fitday.
*Non-hydrogenated fats (avoid too much polyunsaturated fat and choose olive oil, butter, non-hydrogenated lard & almond oil or other nut oils)
*Eggs
*Nuts
*Non-starchy Vegetables
*Fruit (in moderation!)
The following in moderation, too much dairy causes problems for some people (ex. candida is aggravated by it) and too much slows weight loss:
*Butter
*Cream
*Cheese
*Cream Cheese
*Sour Cream
*Cottage Cheese
*Plain, whole milk yogurt (I recommend Stoney Field Farm, no extra ingredients other than inulin and has the more of the good bacteria)
Avoid:
*Grain (that includes corn!)
*Sugar with the exception of fruit in moderation
*Starches (corn starch, potatoes, etc.)
*Milk (except for low carb, like Hood's Carb Countdown-tastes just like regular!)
*Beans/Legumes (peanuts are legumes but low carbers eat them anyway because they're low in carbs and have a low gi) (green beans are ok)
*Soy-it's a legume and although low carb, it's BAD.for.you. See my avoid page to learn more. Unfortunately many low carb products and some low carb recipes use it, just avoid products with it and use a substitute in recipes, like almond flour, or just find another recipe.
Medium GI=55-70