How low carb is keto?
On a keto diet, how many carbs do you need to cut? How many carbs can you eat? The answer varies a bit depending on you as an individual and your goals.
In general, the fewer carbs you consume, the bigger the impact you may expect on weight loss and reduction of cravings and hunger.
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 day
Moderate
20-50 grams per day
Liberal
50-100 grams per day
We define low carb as anything under 100 grams per day. Note that a Western diet often has 250 grams of carbs per day, or even more.
Learn more about the carb level that’s right for you:
How we define low carb and keto
At Diet Doctor, we define the different levels of carb intake this way:
- Ketogenic low carb <20 grams of net carbs per day.This level of carbohydrate intake 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.
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 practically we recommend you limit your carbs, ensure adequate protein, and adjust fat as needed for satiety and taste. That eliminates the need to constantly calculate “percent macros.”
Fiber and net carbs
Our listed carb counts are the number of digestible carbs, also called net carbs. This simply means we do not count the fiber.
However, be very careful of the term “net carbs” on labels of low-carb products, processed foods, protein bars, and energy/chocolate bars. Manufacturers often use “net carbs” as a way to disguise sugar alcohols that may slow weight loss and impact blood sugar.
The most effective keto diet — and the healthiest — is likely based on natural, whole foods.
What carb level to choose?
Do you need to stick to a keto diet, consuming under 20 grams of carbs a day? Or would you have good results with a moderate low carb diet, consuming 20 to 50 grams of carbs a day?
People with a lot of weight to lose, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome or sugar and/or food addiction, may find that they get their best results on a keto diet, keeping carbs very low.
People who want to lose pounds but still have good insulin sensitivity, have less weight to lose, or still have good blood sugar levels can often do very well on a moderate or even liberal low carb diet.
We believe many people may do best starting out on a strict keto diet.
Here’s a two-week get-started guide to a keto diet
However, if you feel that avoiding most carbs is too hard, it’s also possible to obtain health benefits by just avoiding the worst carbs.
Eating better: Six steps down the carb mountain
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