Low Carb Snacks

Why Low Carb Snacks

You can barely look around these days without seeing new scientific studies that show the importance of cutting carbs out of your diet. Eating Low Carb Snacks sounds so boring and hard, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Dieticians are often asked for the truth about low carb foods and about switching to a low carb diet. People want to know is it an effective way to live, and if so, how they can do it without making their meals boring and plain.

A key to any health or eating program is balance. It can actually be harmful to think that we are doing good for our bodies by eliminating all carbs from our diets. The purpose of Low Carb Snacks, is to still enjoy the tastes and the health benefits of carbs while maintaining your health and weight at the same time.

In a low-carb diet, the carbohydrate intake is limited to about 5 to 10 percent. Consider the snacks we are eating as part of that limitation and then just enjoy them.

Studies have shown that the low-carb diet caused no undesirable effects on the levels of insulin, glucose, blood pressure or cholesterol.

 

Low Carb Snacks and Diabetics

Diabetes is a condition in which the body is unable to manage starch and sugar. For a diet to work in favor of a diabetic, it has to be low in fat, high in fiber and packed with minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. Keeping to the kinds of food with low glycemic index is also important. Foods that are permitted in low-carb diets are meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, fish and various vegetables.

So bearing this in mind the snacks that diabetics eat should be using these foods as much as possible in combination with the lower carbs.

For those of us who don't suffer with diabetes the effects of limiting the amount of carbohydrates in your diet manifest as loss of weight due to a lower calorie intake or the maintenance of your recommended weight.

 

Low Carb Foods

Carbohydrates are present in all foods except meat products. Many companies realised the interest people have in low carb foods and have have introduced low-carb varieties. Low Carb bread recipes are a fine example and could form a healthy base to a snack.

Limiting bad carbohydrates such as sugar from your diet is a positive step but going further and refusing to eat fruits and whole grains can potentially deprive you of cancer fighting foods.

Glycemic Index

A more useful approach to choosing your carbs may be to choose the carbs based on the glycemic index.(GI)

Foods with a high GI convert into sugar very quickly, with nasty physical effects. Foods with a low GI turn into sugar slowly, helping maintain your body's chemical balance. Broadly speaking foods with a low index are prefered.

 

High GI

• Corn
• Orange juice
• Bagel
• Bread (white)

Medium GI

• Apricot
• Oatmeal
• French Fries
• Grape
• Pineapple

Low GI

• Apple
• Asparagus
• Cauliflower
• Cherry
• Grapefruit