Just like fat and sugars before them, cutting out carbs has become the latest way to lose weight. Just like with other nutrients, however, when eaten low carb contains food items sensibly they can actually aid in your weight loss efforts. So, in this article, we will discuss ten healthy low carb foods which will help you to lose weight.
Carbs food has been demonized by the fitness community lately. The main reason for the demonized to eat fewer carbs food is the belief that carbohydrates cause weight gain. However, it is not always true. Now, let’s look at the ten useful low carb foods that can help you lose weight instead of gaining it.
Healthy Low Carb Foods:
1. Barley
Barley was one of the first healthy low carb food ever to be cultivated, and for a good reason. It’s packed with fiber, mostly the soluble kind. Fiber may not get the same respect as vitamins and minerals do, but it can play an important role in your health.
Studies have shown that soluble fiber can reduce your cholesterol levels, stabilize your blood sugar, and even can reduce the risk of heart disease (1. 2, 3).
The best feature is actually its fat-burning one. The soluble fiber makes you feel full for long periods of time. So, this healthy low carb food actually will help you to lose weight.
2. Acorn Squash
Acorn squash is a wonderful healthy low carb food because it is low in calories, it packed with vitamin C, B, and other nutrients.
We already know that B vitamins, which are involved in red blood cell production and metabolism, as well as the electrolytes magnesium and potassium, which are critical for muscle function and blood pressure regulation (4).
This vegetable not only strengthens your blood vessels and helps you build muscle, but it can also boost the fat-burning effects of exercise.
Help yourself to some acorn squash, and then take a walk knowing you’ll be getting that much more out of your fitness routine.
3. Black Beans
Black beans are low carb food which is high in protein. If you love a great bowl of chili or a delicious black bean salsa, you can eat those tiny black beans without any guilt.
High in flavonoids, black beans inhibit your ability to store belly fat. That’s a great low carb food for those who are trying to lose weight, especially if that weight loss purpose is to have a flat stomach.
4. Oatmeal
No matter what diet you follow, the only way to weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume. This bitter fact is why it is so hard to lose weight no matter what we try.
Oatmeal, especially steel-cut or rolled oats, digest very slowly. This means you will feel full for a much longer period. A study found that it increased fullness and decreased the desire to eat for the next 4 hours (5).
With no hunger pains gnawing at you, you can trim down on your meals without feeling the pinch, thanks to a healthy helping of low carb food of oatmeal.
5. Quinoa
A 2015 study in the Journal of Food Science and Technology found that rats who ate quinoa are eaten less food overall as compared to rats who didn’t (6).
While humans are a long way away from rats, anything helps in the fight against body fat. Considering quinoa which is a low carb food high in protein, low in fat, and low on the glycemic index, it’s a sound bet that adding a little quinoa to your diet will help in the fight against fat.
6. Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are one of those healthy carb foods which are low in calories, and high in fiber, making them an easy way to trim calories off your diet without feeling cheated.
Baked sweet potato fries can replace more calorie-packed French fries, and mashed sweet potatoes can be made into low cal pancakes that taste great.
Sweet potatoes are also far more nutritious than plain white potatoes and make a sound dieting choice even when you’re not trying to lose weight.
7. Buckwheat
With fewer calories than wheat, this is another great low carb food, you can swap out your traditional grains to make losing weight easier.
Not only is buckwheat lower in calories, but it also has more nutrients, with amino acids like lysine and is gluten-free. This is great news for people on special diets that are still trying to watch their weight.
Buckwheat is also an excellent choice for vegans trying to lose weight. Because the protein is more complete in buckwheat than it is in other grains, it can give a real boost to your heart health, lower blood pressure, and at the same time as helping you lose those pounds (7, 8).
8. Sprouted bread
While many of us have come to think of bread as “bad” but sprouted bread is actually very healthy. They are made from wheat or other grains that have been allowed to grow before being made into flour partially.
This growth reduces the amount of phytic acid found in grains. Phytic acid can inhibit your iron absorption, as well as make the food harder to digest. Sprouting the grain also reduces calories by 25%, making it an extremely diet-friendly choice.
9. Amaranth
While Amaranth is still a low carb food, it is also extremely high in both protein and fiber. Both of these are great for weight loss.
If you use Amaranth as a replacement for some of your meat consumption, you can easily reduce your calories from fat, making this an excellent strategy for losing weight.
If you’ve never cooked with Amaranth, there are a lot of fun things you can do with it. You can even “pop” it similar to regular popcorn.
10. Air-popped popcorn
Sometimes we just need a snack, and carrots—well, they won’t do. If that’s the case, feel free to indulge in a big bag of air-popped popcorn.
Three full cups of popcorn that has been popped this way are just 90 calories. For those who tend to gain weight because they enjoy eating mindlessly in front of the tv, this healthy low carb snack can be a lifesaver for the waistline.
As an added benefit, popcorn is actually healthy for you when it isn’t covered in butter or sugar. It contains more antioxidants than most fruits and vegetables and is a whole grain with similar benefits in terms of fiber.
Low carb foods don’t have to be the enemy when you are trying to lose weight. Healthy eating isn’t about cutting out one specific thing; it’s about moderation and making sound choices.
Just like healthy fats found in avocados, salmon, and olive oil are great for our health and our waistline, choosing healthy low carb foods can go a long way to helping us lose weight. This is the reason a low carb diet plan became a very popular weight loss method nowadays.
