Do you want to cut some carbs out of your present diet? If you do, here are five natural ways to cut carbs without compromising taste or nutrition. And if you have diabetes or are a dieter, these five tips can help you better manage your blood sugars too.
Use Stevia Instead of Sugar or Honey
Make a move from sucrose or table sugar to a Stevia product. One packet is about one carb instead of about 15 carbs in a tablespoon of sugar or honey. Stevia is a natural sweetener, not an artificial sweetener. Here is how I use Stevia to make hot chocolate. It’s as yummy as the higher carb version.
My Low-Carb Hot Cocoa Recipe
Take two packets of Stevia (3 if you like it sweet), one tablespoon of cocoa powder, and 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla or plain WestSoy soymilk. Carbs are 5 per cup, and if you subtract for the fibre, you get about one carb per cup. Using a handheld blender or a shaker cup, mix the ingredients. It froths up into an exquisite beverage, hot or cold.
Up Your Fiber Per Bread Slice
Next, check the nutrition label on the bread you eat regularly. If the fibre grams per slice reads 2 grams or less, you can do better. Select a bread with three or more grams of fibre per slice. Some varieties that meet this amount are the sprouted-grain varieties or Ezekiel bread varieties. These slices of bread also have more protein grams per slice than fluffy white bread. The more fibre and protein the bread slice has in it, the chances are fewer carbs in the portion.
Up Your Protein and Fiber Per Serving
This tip also applies to servings of cereal. The higher the protein and fibre per serving, the lower the carbs per serving, generally. And eating cereal and grains that have had the least amount of processing done to them is one of the best ways to manage blood sugar levels too.
Eat Your Fruit Whole
The serving size of fruit and fruit juice has about the same amount of carbs per serving. Still, a big difference between eating a serving of whole fruit and drinking your fruit is the amount you consume. Since when do you stop at a half-cup serving of juice? It’s a lot more likely you will drink a full cup of juice, and that full cup will be double the carbs. Plus, your blood sugar response will most likely be higher without the benefit of the fibre found in the whole piece of fruit.
Eat Your Vegetables Raw
One final way to cut carbs in your diet is to eat plenty of fresh vegetables along with your carbohydrate foods. The fibre in the raw vegetables helps fill you up, and raw vegetables don’t contribute that many carbs.
Eat enough fibre and protein. Eat your vegetables raw when you can, eat your grains minimally processed, eat your fruit whole, and sweeten with Stevia. Suppose you follow these five tips for cutting carbs naturally. In that case, you are well on your way to reducing carbs in a delicious and nutritious way.