How low carb is low carb?

By , medical review by , Evidence based
How few carbs are there in a low-carb diet? It depends on who you are, what you find sustainable, and what you’re trying to achieve.

Low carb is often defined as any diet containing fewer than 130 grams of carbs per day. Generally speaking, the fewer the carbs, the more effective the diet appears to be for weight loss without hunger and for treating type 2 diabetes.

However, eating fewer carbs also makes the diet more restrictive and can make it feel more challenging to sustain.

At Diet Doctor, we recommend recipes and meal plans for up to 100 grams of carbs per day. Here are three examples of how a low-carb dinner can look, depending on how many carbs you eat per day (the yellow stuff is delicious herb butter).


 

Ketogenic

Under 20 grams per dayStrict low carb

Moderate

20-50 grams per daymoderate low carb

Liberal

50-100 grams per dayLiberal low carb

 
 

Our definition

Here’s the way we define different levels of carb intake at Diet Doctor:

  • Ketogenic low carb <20 grams of net carbs per day.
    This level of carbohydrates is defined as below 5 energy percent (E%) carbs in our recipes or, if it is a meal, 7 grams of carbs or less.
    In our ketogenic recipes, the amount of carbs per serving is shown in green balls.
  • Moderate low carb 20-50 net grams per day. This level is defined as between 5-10 E% carbs in our recipes and the amount of carbs per serving is shown in yellow balls.
  • Liberal low carb 50-100 net grams per day. This means 10-20 E% carbs in our recipes and the amount of carbs per serving is shown in orange balls.

For comparison, a regular Western diet can easily contain 250 grams of carbs or more in a day — most of them refined carbs, including sugar.

Note: Although our recipes are arranged by percent calories from carbs, protein, and fat, we do not feel you need to calculate these on your own. We provide them as a reference, but we recommend you limit your carbs, ensure adequate protein, and adjust fat as needed for taste. That eliminates the need to constantly calculate “percent macros.”

Fiber

Our listed carb counts are the number of digestible carbs, also called net carbs. This simply means we do not count the fiber.

For example, you can eat nearly all the fiber you want from keto vegetables without seeing a significant blood sugar or insulin impact.

However, don’t be fooled by the label “net carbs” on processed products, like chocolate bars. The labels can be misleading, as these products are often full of sugar alcohols that can have potential negative effects on weight and blood sugar.

If in doubt, avoid anything with the words “net carbs” printed on it.

An effective low-carb diet is ideally based on fresh, unprocessed food.

Learn more

Guide: Carbohydrates on a low carb or keto diet
 

 

Keto recipes

  • Keto no-noodle chicken soupKeto no-noodle chicken soup
  • Keto Cobb salad with ranch dressingKeto Cobb salad with ranch dressing
  • Pork shoulder chops with cauliflower au gratinPork shoulder chops with cauliflower au gratin
  • Keto pizzaKeto pizza
  • Keto pesto chicken casserole with feta cheese and olivesKeto pesto chicken casserole with feta cheese and olives
  • Chicken wings with blue cheese dressingChicken wings with blue cheese dressing
  • Spicy shrimp saladSpicy shrimp salad
  • Keto Fathead pizzaKeto Fathead pizza
  • Simple keto breakfast with fried eggs and veggiesSimple keto breakfast with fried eggs and veggies
  • Keto chops with green beans and avocadoKeto chops with green beans and avocado
  • Keto salmon pieKeto salmon pie
  • Keto Tex-Mex casseroleKeto Tex-Mex casserole
  • Keto frittata with fresh spinachKeto frittata with fresh spinach
  • Keto Caprese chickenKeto Caprese chicken
  • Keto French quicheKeto French quiche

Moderate recipes

Liberal recipes

How to choose

Some people may need to keep the carbs very low for maximum effect – a keto low-carb diet. This includes many people with significant weight issues, diabetes (mainly type 2) and food or sugar addiction, for example.

Other, more carb-tolerant people, may do very well on a liberal low-carb diet.

This also lowers the risk of any side effects.

The third group – healthy, lean, active people – may not even need to eat very low carb, as long as they consume mainly unprocessed carbs.

We believe that people looking for dramatic health improvements may do best starting out on a strict keto diet.

Later, as you hopefully approach your weight and health goals, you can try adding back some carbs and see if you can maintain your health gains.

Here’s a two-week guide to a strict low-carb diet

However, if avoiding most carbs does not feel possible to you, it’s possible to obtain health benefits just by avoiding the worst carbs.

Feel free to use the guide below for a more gradual start:

Eating better: Six steps down the carb mountain

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More

Low carb for beginners

Low-carb recipes – marked ketogenic, moderate or liberal

A keto diet for beginners (strict low carb)

Low-carb basics videos

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    "I sort of wanted to save the world"
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    Q&A with Franziska Spritzler
  • Low-carb tips with team Diet Doctor – Traveling
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    Why a low-carb diet and other questions
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    "A more pleasurable way to live"
  • A global food revolution
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    Low-carb living
  • 7 tips to make low carb simple
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    How to formulate a low-carb keto diet
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    Living low carb with Caroline Smale
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    Everything in moderation?
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    The cause of obesity
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    The latest science behind a keto diet
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    Are there potential dangers with a low-carb diet?
  • Women's questions introduction
  • MEMBERS ONLY
    The three top most common myths about low carb
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    Low carb explained
  • Q&A with Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt

Visual guide

20 and 50 grams of carbs in different ways