How Many Carbs Are In Paleo Foods

Staying under 100 grams of carbs per day (on average) is fairly easy if you are following a Paleo template diet.

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, you can track your carb counts using a tool like MyFitnessPal.com but the best thing is to develop an understanding of the amount of carbs in different types of foods.

This way, you will be able to create meals that stay within the target carb range without having to look them up in your online food tracking tool.

To help you develop a good foundation for calculating carbs counts, I’ve broken down various types of Paleo foods into 3 categories: Carb Foods, Protein Foods and Fat Foods.

Definitions:

Carb Foods: Foods that have more Carbohydrate (Carbs) than Protein or Fat

Protein Foods: Foods that have more Protein than Carbohydrate or Fat.

Fat Foods: Foods that have more Fat than Protein or Carbohydrate.

Most of the foods below have some level of each MacroNutrient (Carbs, Protein, Fat) but they are listed by the dominant macronutrient.

1) Carb Foods

1/2 Cup Cooked Spinach = 2 Grams Carbs

1/2 Cup California Blend Veg = 3 Grams Carbs

1/2 Cup Broccholi = 3 Grams Carbs

1/2 Cup Cauliflower = 3 Grams Carbs

1 Sweet Potato = 24 Grams Carbs (check for portion size)

1/2 Cup Quinoa = 60 Grams Carbs

1 Baked Potato = 63 Grams Carbs (check for portion size)

1/2 Cup Jasmine White Rice = 72 Grams Carbs

As you can see, you could eat a HUGE amount of Broccholi, Spinach, Cauliflower each day and still stay under 100 grams of carbs.

Eating a cup or two per day of these vegetables is a great way to improve health as they are super low in carbs and high in vital nutrients and fiber which help repair and restore health.

Sweet Potatoes, White Potatoes, Quinoa and Rice are also good choices if you want something more hearty but you just have to watch the number of portions to keep carbs in the right range.

2) Protein Foods

2 Eggs = 1 Gram Carbs

4 oz Chicken (mfp had 1 filet 77g) = 0 Gram Carbs

4 oz Beef = 0 Gram Carbs

4 oz Fish = 0 Gram Carbs

Protein rich foods make are great if you’re trying to control carbs. Why? Well as you can see above most Protein rich foods have low or zero carbohydrate content. Also, Protein is the most filling food which helps to control hunger and has been shown in studies to have the biggest impact on weight loss.

3) Fat Foods

1 Tbsp Butter = 0 Gram Carbs

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil = 0 Gram Carbs

½ Cup Almonds = 12 Grams Carbs

½ Cup Cashews = 18 Grams Carbs

Sunflower Seeds (Raw) = 14 Grams Carbs

Pumpkin Seeds (Raw) = 8 Grams Carbs

Macadamia Nuts (Raw) = 9 Grams Carbs

Fat rich Paleo approved foods are very interesting. If you’re talking about something like Coconut Oil or Butter, the Carb count is zero.

However, seeds and nuts have more carbs than you might think and it’s quite easy to eat more than 1/2 cup of nuts which can make it easy to eat too many carbs. Bottom line, seeds and nuts are a good choice to get some healthy fat into the diet and keep carbs low but portion control is key.

 

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