🥩Low-carb diet
A low-carb diet means eating fewer carbohydrates — mainly sugar and starchy foods — and more protein, vegetables and fats. It is less strict than keto and can be a long-term way of eating. What you eat instead of carbs matters as much as how many carbs you cut.
🔬What it means
There is no single official definition. Often a diet is called low-carb when carbohydrates are under about 130 g a day, or less than roughly a quarter of daily calories. Keto is the strictest form, usually 20–50 g a day, low enough to put the body into ketosis.
On this site a dish is marked low-carb when it has ≤ 10 g of carbohydrate per 100 g; every keto-friendly dish (≤ 5 g per 100 g) is low-carb too. The label is per 100 g, so a large portion still adds up.
The quality of carbs matters. Vegetables, beans, lentils, nuts and whole grains bring fibre, vitamins and minerals; sugar and white flour bring mostly energy. Adults are advised to eat about 30 g of fibre a day (UK guidance), and most people eat less.
✅What you can eat
- 🥩Meat, fish, seafood and eggs — preferably fresh rather than processed.
- 🥦Plenty of non-starchy vegetables: greens, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, courgette, mushrooms — the main source of fibre.
- 🫘Beans, lentils and chickpeas in moderate portions — carbs, but with a lot of fibre and protein.
- 🧀Cheese, plain yoghurt and milk.
- 🌰Nuts, seeds, avocado and olive oil.
- 🍓Berries and some fruit, such as apples or citrus, in sensible portions.
🚫What to avoid
- 🍰Sugar and sweets: soft drinks, juice, cakes, biscuits, sweets, sweetened yoghurts.
- 🍞Refined starches: white bread, white pasta, white rice, pastries, most breakfast cereals.
- 🥔Large portions of potatoes and other starchy sides.
- 🥫Hidden sugar: sweet sauces, glazes and marinades, ready meals, “low-fat” products with added sugar.
- 🌭Too much processed meat — low in carbs, but linked to bowel cancer and best kept occasional.
⚠️What happens if you eat more carbs
Unlike keto, a carb-rich meal does not “break” a low-carb diet — nothing dangerous happens. Weight may go up a little for a day or two because of water stored with glycogen. With diabetes, blood sugar will rise more after such a meal.
The main risks come from what replaces the carbs. Too few vegetables, beans and whole grains means too little fibre, which leads to constipation and is linked to poorer gut and heart health. Lots of red and processed meat and saturated fat may raise LDL cholesterol.
Low-carb diets can help with weight loss and blood sugar in the short term, but studies find similar long-term results to other diets — the best diet is one you can keep up.
🚑When to see a doctor
If you have diabetes, talk to your doctor before cutting carbs. Medicines such as insulin and sulfonylureas can cause low blood sugar when you eat fewer carbs, and SGLT2 inhibitors (“-gliflozin”) carry a risk of ketoacidosis — doses may need adjusting. Do not change them on your own.
Also ask first if you have kidney disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have had an eating disorder.
📱How Me Nutrition helps
Every dish in the app and on this site shows its diet labels, including low-carb and keto-friendly, and the major allergens of a typical recipe, with the ingredient that decides it. Recipes differ, so always check with whoever cooked the dish.
Dishes that fit: 838
Sources
Written from the sources below; not reviewed by a doctor. Not medical advice. How we count →