Eliminate These Foods to Easily Lower Carbs
By Randi Morse
When I was diagnosed with diabetes, one of the first things I learned how to do was watch my carbohydrate intake. There are all sorts of diets out there now that bash on carbs, saying that they are the enemy. Some diets even want you to eliminate carbs completely. Dietitians all agree that this is a bad idea. Your body needs carbs for fuel, minimizing the amount of carbs that you eat, and eating healthy carbs, are extremely important not only for diabetics but also for anybody who is looking to live a more healthy lifestyle. Here are a few tricks that should help you greatly lower your amount of carb intake everyday.
Sugary Drinks
They are absolutely delicious, those sugar-sweetened beverages that we love to enjoy on a hot day. Unfortunately, they are also full of tons of unnecessary carbs. A 12-ounce can of soda generally has around 38 grams of carbohydrates in it. Think you're safe by drinking iced tea? Nope, a 12-ounce can of sweetened iced tea has 36 grams of carbs in it. All of these carbs come straight from sugar, meaning they have no nutritional value at all. Slowly decrease the amount of soda you drink. If you usually have two cans of soda a day, drop down to one candidate for a few weeks. Then have one can every other day until you get to the point where you only have soda as a special treat.
Bread
Every day my husband goes to work, he brings a sandwich with him. If you were trying to lower your carb intake, sandwiches are a no-go, especially if you use white bread. Bread is considered to be a staple in many cuisines, but the amount of carbs in them is very high. A rye bread, which is considered to be extremely nutritious in many ways, has about 15 grams of carbs per slice. This means if you have a sandwich, you are automatically eating 30 grams of carbs. If you have to eat bread, make sure you go for the most healthy bread you can find, like a stone cut wheat bread. This is because the carbs from those breads break down slowly, giving your body more energy over time.
Changing your diet can be difficult, and the best piece of advice I ever got from my dietitian was to implement the dietary change slowly. If you make these changes slowly, the sense of deprivation that you may be worried about is lessened greatly.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Hiram, Ga.