Food Options

Below is a list of some common foods and drinks, their net carbohydrates, and generally how much one serving of these foods could raise your blood glucose (BG).

Always read nutrient labels to find the Net Carbohydrates (Total Carbohydrates – Fiber)
As a rule of thumb, 1g of net carbohydrates raises BG about 4 points.
In gray at the end of each category below are comparison foods or drinks which are not low carb.
For foods of interest to you that are not listed below, use the USDA database to find nutritional values https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/

Food	Serving size	Net carbohydrates (g)	Possible BG rise
Vegetables
Asparagus: grilled, baked	½ c (~5 spears)	1.93	7.72
Beets: canned	1c (slices)	9.24	36.96
Bell pepper	1 pepper	6	24
Broccoli	1c (chopped)	3.67	14.68
Brussels sprouts	1c	4.54	18.16
Cabbage	1c (chopped)	2.94	11.76
Cauliflower: mashed, flowered, steaks, riced	1c	2.98	11.92
Cucumber	1c (chopped)	2.08	8.32
Green beans	1c	4.04	16.16
Kale	1c	3.03	12.12
Lettuce: salads, wraps	1c (salad)	1.24	4.96
Mushrooms	1 medium	0.6	2
Pumpkin	1c	6.96	27.84
Rutabaga	1c	8.88	35.52
Spinach	1c	0.43	1.72
Squash: butternut, summer, spaghetti, acorn	1c	15 (butternut) 2.54 (summer) 5.46 (spaghetti) 12.5 (acorn)	60 (butternut) 10.16 (summer) 21.84 (spaghetti) 50.00 (acorn)
Tomatoes	1c (sliced)	4.84	19.36
Turnips: mashed, raw, baked	1c	6.02 (raw) 2.85 (cooked)	24.08 (raw) 11.40 (cooked)
Zucchini: baked, raw sliced, stir-fried, spiralized	1c	3.00 (baked, sliced) 2.40 (raw, sliced) 6.40 (stir-fried) 4.00 (spiralized)	12.00 (baked, sliced) 9.60 (raw, sliced) 25.60 (stir-fried) 16.00 (spiralized)
Corn on the cob	1 ear	35.07	140.28
Potato (white/sweet): baked, fried	1c (diced)	25.95 (white, baked) 41.35 (sweet, baked) 12.82 (white, fried, frozen) 10.14 (white, fried, fresh) 17.1 (sweet, fried, frozen) 9.06 (sweet, fried, fresh)	103.8 (white, baked) 165.4 (sweet, baked) 51.28 (white, fried, frozen) 40.56 (white, fried, fresh) 68.4 (sweet, fried, frozen) 36.24 (sweet, fried, fresh)

Beans

Tofu	½ c	2.3	9
Baked beans: cooked	½ c	21.69	86.76
Mung beans	½ c	48.15 (raw)	192.60
Black beans: cooked	½ c	8	24
Black-eyed peas: canned	½ c	15.45	61.80
Green/snap/string beans	1c	3.96 (green) 4.27 (snap) 4.27 (string)	15.84 (green) 17.08 (snap) 17.08 (string)
Kidney beans	½ c	32.10 (raw) 14.02 (cooked)	128.40 (raw) 56.08 (cooked)
Split peas	½ c	38.75 (raw) 12.50 (cooked)	155.00 (raw) 50.00 (cooked)
Sugar snap peas	1c	6.23	24.92

Drinks

Beers: most types	12oz bottle	12.70	50.80
Coffee: black	12oz	<1.00
Soft drinks: 0 calories	12oz can	1.04	4.16
Tea: no sugar	12oz	<1.00
Tomato juice: no sugar	per oz	~1.00/oz	~4.00/oz
Water: tap, flavored seltzer, fruit infused	1c	0.00 (tap) 2.74 (Propel) 13.2 (Vitamin Water)	0.00 (tap) 10.96 (Propel) 52.80 (Vitamin Water)
Wine: dry	1 glass, standard	4.70 (red/white) 14.40 (dessert)	18.80 (red/white) 57.60 (dessert)
CocaCola	12oz can	39.00	156.00

Energy/meal bars

Atkins bars	1	3	12
Quest bars: Mint Chocolate Chip	1	1	4
SlimFast	1	1-2 (snacks) 4 (meal)	4-8 (snacks) 16 (meal)
Cliff Bar	1	39.5	158.0

Fruits

Apricots: fresh	1	3.2	12.8
Avocado	1	3.6	14.4
Blackberries	1c	6.2	24.8
Blueberries	½ c	7	28
Cantaloupe: fresh	1c	11.3	45.2
Cherries: fresh	1c	19.2	76.8
Grapefruit: fresh	½	10	40
Orange	1	13.3	53.2
Clementine	1	9	36
Peach: fresh	1	13.9	55.6
Plum: fresh	1	6.6	26.4
Pear: fresh	1	21.6	86.4
Star Fruit	1c	4	16
Strawberries: fresh	1c	8.2	32.8
Tomatoes	1c	5	20
Watermelon: fresh	½ c	5.5	81.6
Banana	1	23.9	95.6

Pasta

Shirataki noodles	4oz	0.7	2.8
Simply Natural Spaghetti: Edamame or Black Bean	4oz	6 (edamame) 8 (black bean)	24 (edamame) 32 (black bean)
Spaghetti: whole grain	2oz	34	136

Breads

Tortillas: made from almond flour	1 shell or tortilla	3	12
Keto bread	1 slice	0	0
Keto hamburger buns	2 halves	2	8
Biscuits: made from coconut or almond flour	1 biscuit	2.5	10
White bread	1 slice	13	52

Snacks

Almonds	1oz	2.6	10.4
Beef jerky		0g	0
Cashews: salted	1oz	7.6	30.4
Cheese	1oz	0.4 (Swiss) 0.5 (cheddar) 0.6 (provolone) 0.7 (blue) 0.8 (mozzarella) 0.9 (parmesan)	1.6 (Swiss) 2.0 (cheddar) 2.4 (provolone) 2.8 (blue) 3.2 (mozzarella) 3.6 (parmesan)
Chia seeds	1oz	2.2	8.8
Edamame	½ c	3.7	14.8
Chips	Potato 1oz	13.7	55.4
Hummus	2tbsp	2.5	10.0
Olives	10 olives	1.5	6.0
Parsnip chips	12 chips	2.0	8.0
Pork rinds	1oz	0	0
Peanut M&Ms: small bag	1 fun-size bag	10.2	40.8
Pickles	1	1.5 (dill/sour) 20.0+ (sweet)	6.0 (dill/sour) 80.0+ (sweet)
Peppers	1c, chopped	5.15 (bell) 2.4 (banana) 3.1 (jalapeno)	20.60 (bell) 9.6 (banana) 12.4 (jalapeno)
Peanuts	1oz	1.8	7.2
Pumpkin seeds	1oz	1.8	7.2
Sunflower seeds	1oz	1.3	5.2
Chex Mix	½ c	19.4	77.6

Flour

Almond flour	1c	12.0	48.0
Coconut flour	1c	24.0	96.0
Sunflower seed flour	1c	19.6	78.4
CarbQuik	1c	6	24
Regular white flour:	1c	88.0	352.0

Dairy

Butter	0		0
Cream: vanilla	2tbsp	2.1	8.4
Cream cheese	2tbsp	3.5	14
Sour cream	0		0
Cottage cheese	1oz	1.1	4.4
Milk: whole, almond, soy	1c	11.7 (whole) 7.0 (almond) 13.5 (soy)	46.8 (whole) 28.0 (almond) 54.0 (soy)
Yogurt: Greek, plain full fat	3 oz	4.5	18
Ice cream, Rebel, Triple chocolate	½ c	5	20
Ice cream: Breyers CarbSmart	½ c	4	16
Yogurt: Dannon blueberry	1c	17	68

Sweeteners

Stevia	1 packet	<1
Sucralose (Splenda)	1 packet	1	4
Sugar	1 packet	4	16
Condiments
Hot sauce		0	0
Lemon, whole	1 cup	1	4
Mustard	1 tablespoon	0.3	1
Mayonnaise	1 tablespoon	0.1	1
Olive oil		0	0
Ketchup	1 tablespoon	4.5	18

Meal Ideas

Breakfast

Sautéed vegetables (e.g. spinach, onion, mushrooms), scrambled with egg or egg whites, topped with shredded cheese
Greek plain yogurt or cottage cheese, with fresh fruit (not very ripe), with mixed nuts
Egg (any style), lean protein, fresh fruit, keto toast with butter

Lunch

Salad with a variety of vegetables topped with chicken, shrimp, cheese or egg with olive oil & vinegar dressing
Meat and cheese roll-ups with lettuce and hummus or mustard
Meat and cheese sandwich on Keto bread with vegetables
Homemade low-carb soup & side salad
Dinner leftovers

Dinner

Rotisserie chicken, any seafood or meat, with 1-2 servings of non-starchy vegetables that are grilled, sautéed, baked, broiled
Zucchini Lasagna The Best Easy Zucchini Lasagna – A Simple Palate
Beef, turkey, or black bean burger with “lettuce bun”
Spaghetti squash with meatballs and tomato sauce
Pizza
- With almond flower crust, https://gimmedelicious.com/keto-pizza/
- With cauliflower crust, https://detoxinista.com/the-secret-to-perfect-cauliflower-pizza-crust/
- Cheesy crust https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/244636/cheesy-crust-skillet-pizza/
Try to include vegetables with every meal- they have fiber, will make you feel less hungry, and have lots of health benefits like helping to prevent cancers! Try roasting them in the oven after you spray them with olive oil!