Going low carb is often recommended by dieticians and health experts alike to lose weight, but cutting out carbs completely from the diet is not a good idea. Leaving out refined carbs and swapping high-carb foods with low-carb would actually greatly benefit the whole weight loss journey. Going on a low-carb diet not only helps you shed some weight, it also has amazing health benefits. Cutting down on carbs reduces hunger pangs, which eventually leads to weight loss. According to studies, low-carb diet is more beneficial over low-fat diet if you want to seriously shed significant pounds. In this post, we are listing 12 low-carb swaps for high carb foods, and you can find the right way to include them in your diet on the Rati Beauty diet, to bring about a great change in your wardrobe.
1. Sweet Potato over Potato: Sweet potatoes are highly nutritious, healthy and delicious root vegetables that can be added to your diet. Sorry potatoes, you hardly have a good reputation in weight loss circles. Sweet potatoes are rich in fiber, they also contains good source of carbs, protein and antioxidants. You can boil, bake or grill sweet potato. It contains around 24gm of carbohydrates whereas potatoes have 37 gm of carbs.
2. Brown Rice over White Rice: Brown rice is considered as a whole food and is less processed than white rice. During the price of making brown rice, rice bran and germ are not removed, which makes it more nutrient rich compared to white rice. They are a rich source of vitamins and minerals. It is also known as a heart-friendly food because it contains certain compounds which help reduce heart-related diseases. You can consume one cup of brown rice per day without thinking twice about gaining weight.
3. Eggs over Packaged Cereals: Eggs are termed as “super food” and are considered as one of the healthiest foods on the planet because they are packed with nutrients, egg contains Vitamin A, Folate, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B12,Vitamin B2, Phosphorus, Selenium, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin B6, calcium and zinc. Each egg contains around 77 calories, 6gm of protein and 5 gm of healthy fats. Eating two whole boiled eggs daily can be highly beneficial for your health and maintaining weight.
4. Almond Milk over Regular Milk: When we talk about cow/buffalo milk, they can cause inflammation in some people and not appropriate for lactose intolerant guys. Almond milk is not only low in calories and carbs, it has more nutritional value than regular milk. Almond milk is surprisingly low in calories, it also strengthens bones and helps to reduce certain heart diseases. It also has a good amount of vitamin D and is naturally rich in several vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin E. Jacqueline Fernandez recently revealed in her Instagram account that she consumes homemade almond milk for better-looking skin and body!
5. Fruit Juice over Packaged Juice: One cup of packaged juice has roughly 132-160 calories and 32-40 carbs. Also, they come loaded with sugars and preservatives etc., which should be totally avoided if you are trying to lose weight. We recommend trying out fruit smoothie prepared at home for best results. There are so many healthy fruit smoothies to add to your breakfast, they comparatively contain low carbs, low calories and are sugar free if you use Stevia. Banana oats smoothie, chikoo+apple, mango+kiwi etc are a few good options to try!
6. Strawberry over Banana: Undoubtedly, bananas are super healthy, but they also contain a good amount of calories and carbs. An average banana contains 90 calories and 23 gm of carbohydrates whereas 100gm of strawberries contains 33 calories and just 8g of carbs. Also, they contains high amounts of vitamin C which acts as a skin food. If you really want to control your carbs we recommend choosing strawberry over banana.
7. Spiralized vegetables over Noodles: Noodles are usually made from refined flour (maida) which is not only harmful for health, it would cause rapid weight gain as well. White flour is a complete “no no” when it comes to weight loss. These days, spiralized vegetables are getting quite popular. Not only they taste good but are super nutritious and weight friendly. You can use carrots, zucchini, cabbage and sweet potatoes to make sparilized noodles.
8. Regular Yogurt over Flavoured Yogurt: One cup of flavoured yogurt contains 200 calories and has 40g of carbs. This is just like eating a dessert or ice cream. It will only harm than doing good. In place of flavored yogurt, consider a cup of homemade fresh yogurt with no sugar. It contains 150 calories and 11g of carbs. It promotes bone health, aids digestion. Also, it contains probiotics which keeps intestine healthy. Also, our grannies always believed that one cup yogurt daily can improve skin and hair quality!
9. Zoodles over Pasta: We all love pasta but if you wanna go low carb, swap regular pasta with zucchini noodles (that can be made using thin strips using spiralizer). Invest a spiralizer and make thin noodles out of zucchini, carrot, and even sweet potato. If spiralizer is not available, you can cut these veggies into julienne strips as well. Zucchini is a vegetable that is low carb and is rich in many nutrients like vitamin C, copper, folate, magnesium, etc.
10. Riced Cauliflower instead of White Rice: White rice is a staple food for most Indians and consumed on a daily basis in a majority of households all over the world, so it’s hard to imagine life without white rice. White rice is a refined food, ripped off most of its fiber content during the refining and polishing process and what you get is a large chunk of carbs that can get your weight up. Have you ever thought about replacing rice with “riced” cauliflower? You would stock up on cauliflower if we told you that it has just 25 calories per 100 gm. So, just grate the cauliflower florets into rice-like consistency and make whatever you want out of it – from pulao to biryani, the options are endless.
11. Vegetable Chips instead of Potato Chips: You can make homemade crispies and chips with sweet potato, turnips, and even beetroots! Just remember to bake them, not deep frying them.
12. Dark Chocolate Instead of Milk Chocolate: Wanna eat something chocolate-y without worrying about calories or carbs from the milk chocolate. Here’s a good option – pick dark chocolate. Dark chocolate has multiple benefits – it boosts metabolism, has antioxidants, and helps reduce stress as well. Just a small tip – Pick chocolates that have 70-80% cocoa, and see the benefits unfold
Let us know your favourite low carb replacement in the comment below! Eat healthy and stay healthy!
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Source: Makeupandbeauty
