The Best & Worst Fruits & Vegetables for Low Carb Diets

Low Carb Basics

The Best (And Worst) Fruits and Veggies for Low Carb Dieters

When most people think ‘low carb’, the most common things that come to mind are always the same; bread, pasta, and sugar. While these are certainly a huge part of what the low carb diet is all about, they aren’t the whole story. Lots of people are surprised to learn just how high in carbs some of their favourite fruits and vegetables are. Without a little bit of research, it’s easy to make a mistake when choosing between what you think are healthy choices, and what actually might be working against your diet.

Here, we list some of the best fruit and vegetable choices for low carb diets, and some of the worst fruit and vegetable offenders when it comes to carb counting. Fear not, however. Even if your favourite happens to make the high carb list, rest assured there are always alternatives that you can substitute in its place to give you a similar flavour, but help keep the carb count low.

Fruits to Avoid

We all love fresh fruit, of course, but because of that delicious sweetness that they have, you can be sure that there are naturally occurring sugars in there that can crank up the carb count very quickly.

Some fruits that have naturally high carb counts include:

  • Bananas
  • Grapes
  • Mangos
  • Pears
  • Apples
  • Pineapple
  • Kiwi

While low carb diets come in several different variations, even a moderate low carb diet can be thrown off very quickly by consuming too much fruit. If you’re worried about missing out on the other nutrients found in these fruits, be assured that you can get everything your body needs from alternative sources, especially vegetables that are much less likely to have high levels of carbs or sugars.

Vegetables to Avoid

That said, however, there are also some vegetables that low carb dieters should steer clear of. While not nearly as high in carbs and sugars as the fruits we mentioned above, some veggies still contain enough carbs so that you’ll want to make sure that you moderate your intake. Here are the veggies on the top end of the carb count list:

  • Potatoes
  • Brussel Sprouts
  • Bell Peppers
  • Green Beans
  • Beets
  • Squash

A Note on Beans, Peas and Other Legumes

While often mistaken for vegetables, peas, corn, beans, lentils and other similar foods are actually classified as legumes or grains. These are all higher in carbs than vegetables and should be kept to a minimum, or avoided entirely, while on a low carb diet.

Best Fruits for Low Carb Diets

Now let’s get to the good stuff!

These are fruits that are much lower in carbs and are much easier to integrate in to your meal plans. While they still have the delicious, fresh sweetness that you want from fruit, they are lower in sugars and don’t hit your carb counts nearly as hard. Here are some of the best choices for low carb fruits:

  • Raspberries
  • Strawberries
  • Blackberries
  • Cantaloupe
  • Plums
  • Peaches
  • Coconut

Gram-for-gram, these fruits are significantly lower in carbs than many others you’ll find at the grocery store. While these still need to be managed and moderated as part of your diet, they are safer in general.

It’s easy to incorporate these fruits and others like them in to your normal diet routine with things like low carb jams and jellies available online or in-store at The Low Carb Grocery.

Best Vegetables for Low Carb Diets

When it comes to the best low carb vegetables, there are plenty of options available that cover a very wide range of tastes. Generally, most of these vegetables will be the ones that grow ‘above ground’, such as leafy vegetables and stalk vegetables.

Here are the top vegetables to consider as part of your low carb diet:

  • Spinach
  • Lettuce
  • Avocado
  • Olives
  • Asparagus
  • Cucumbers
  • Eggplant
  • Zucchini
  • Cabbage Broccoli

These vegetables can be eaten pretty freely on most low carb diets, but of course it doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the wind. Regardless of what individual foods may be considered technically ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for a particular diet, monitoring your intake of all foods is important to stay on track and meet your goals.

You can even add more vegetables in to your diet plan with crunchy, salty vegetable snack chips.

We hope that this guide has helped you refine your diet plans and your understanding of fruit and vegetables carb counts, and given some ideas on what you may want to add to your next shopping trip to the grocery store.

Who knows, you may discover a fruit or vegetable suits your taste buds more than you thought it would, and those are always pleasant discoveries to make.