What is a Carb-Conscious Diet? Eating Smarter with Jennie-O.
When planning a nutritious diet, carbohydrates are a tricky macronutrient to maneuver. On one hand, they are essential for boosting energy and providing your body with vital minerals. As with anything though, you can have too much of a good thing. If your diet contains too many carbs (particularly refined carbs with added sugar), you may experience weight gain, increased levels of stress, and difficulty stopping yourself from overindulging.
Understanding a nutritious, carb-conscious diet can be a daunting task—however, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done! If you want to dive right in you could try the keto diet, but if you’re looking to dip your toes into a carb-conscious lifestyle, keep reading our tips for cutting your carb count.
Pass (On) the Bread, Please
You knew this one was coming. While it’s easier said than done, trading your buns, tortillas, and bread out for a bed of leafy greens can severely cut your daily carb intake. Recipes like the Seattle-Style Turkey Lettuce Wraps take all of the great meaty flavor of authentic taco fillings and ditch the tortilla carbs.
The Power of Cauliflower
If you’re planning a low-carb diet, you should know by now that pizza is generally considered a big no-no. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Steering clear of carb-dense thick crusts and looking to thin-crust whole-grain recipes or, even better, go completely grain-free with a Turkey Sausage Pizza with Cauliflower Crust. Just because you want to go carb-conscious doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor.
Squash Your Guilt
With the exception of most berries, fruits are rich with carbohydrates, which makes them easy candidates to avoid if you’re looking to go carb-conscious. However, veggies are still a great low-carb option, especially squash. Try out the Turkey Roast with Squash; it’s got 150 calories and 1 gram of carbs per serving. Just as fun to make as it is to eat!
Going carb-conscious doesn’t have to break the bank or remove all the fun and flare of great dishes. Try all carb-conscious recipes and menus from Jennie-O today!
