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What constitutes as "low carb"?

daisymaegreen
daisymaegreen Posts: 50 Member
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
If I was recommended to eat a high protein/low carb breakfast (or any other meal), how many carbohydrates would you need to stay under to be classified as "low carb"? Thanks for your help in advance!

Replies

  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
    If I was recommended to eat a high protein/low carb breakfast (or any other meal), how many carbohydrates would you need to stay under to be classified as "low carb"? Thanks for your help in advance!

    I consider myself low carb/ high protein and I use 45% protein, 30% carbs, 25% fats
  • tross0924
    tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
    I think traditional low carb diets like Atkins are around 10%. But I'd say anything under 30% would qualify.
  • kristy_estes21
    kristy_estes21 Posts: 434 Member
    What kind of workouts are you doing?
    @4theking Would you recommend her eating 45% protein if she's not lifting heavy? That's quite a bit of protein for a women if she's not lifting heavy I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
    What kind of workouts are you doing?
    @4theking Would you recommend her eating 45% protein if she's not lifting heavy? That's quite a bit of protein for a women if she's not lifting heavy I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.

    I think in general, 45% is a bit much for a woman, but there wouldn't be any adverse effects. For a female, I normally recommend 35-40% protein, 35% carbs.
  • janeosu
    janeosu Posts: 140 Member
    What kind of workouts are you doing?
    @4theking Would you recommend her eating 45% protein if she's not lifting heavy? That's quite a bit of protein for a women if she's not lifting heavy I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.

    I think in general, 45% is a bit much for a woman, but there wouldn't be any adverse effects. For a female, I normally recommend 35-40% protein, 35% carbs.

    This is the range I stay close to and it has worked well for me :)
  • kristy_estes21
    kristy_estes21 Posts: 434 Member
    What kind of workouts are you doing?
    @4theking Would you recommend her eating 45% protein if she's not lifting heavy? That's quite a bit of protein for a women if she's not lifting heavy I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.

    I think in general, 45% is a bit much for a woman, but there wouldn't be any adverse effects. For a female, I normally recommend 35-40% protein, 35% carbs.

    That's what I was thinking too. :) That's about where I'm at. (Well I think you saw my percentages I posted the other day. lol)
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
    What kind of workouts are you doing?
    @4theking Would you recommend her eating 45% protein if she's not lifting heavy? That's quite a bit of protein for a women if she's not lifting heavy I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.

    I think in general, 45% is a bit much for a woman, but there wouldn't be any adverse effects. For a female, I normally recommend 35-40% protein, 35% carbs.

    That's what I was thinking too. :) That's about where I'm at. (Well I think you saw my percentages I posted the other day. lol)
    Yes I did. I think in this range, you can get the benefits of low carb but have more energy. I like to eat all my carbs in the evening. Helps to keep insulin and blood sugar more stable during the day and then provides me energy for my workout the next day.
  • daisymaegreen
    daisymaegreen Posts: 50 Member
    hmm, I think i didn't state my question clear enough. I'm not looking to go "low carb" in my diet. I was trying to look for a number, if it's even possible, that you should stay under to consider it low carb. like, if a item of food has X amount of carbs in it, it's considered high in carbs. If i wanted to eat a low carb breakfast, i should stay under X amount of carbs. For instance, if I eat 300 calories for breakfast with 35 carbs, is that considered low carb? did i make any sense?
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
    hmm, I think i didn't state my question clear enough. I'm not looking to go "low carb" in my diet. I was trying to look for a number, if it's even possible, that you should stay under to consider it low carb. like, if a item of food has X amount of carbs in it, it's considered high in carbs. If i wanted to eat a low carb breakfast, i should stay under X amount of carbs. For instance, if I eat 300 calories for breakfast with 35 carbs, is that considered low carb? did i make any sense?

    Never looked at it that way. Just take your calories, use the percent I gave you for carbs, then divide by how many meals you eat.

    300 calories with 35gms carbs would be close to 50% carbs, so that would be a bit high.
  • freerange
    freerange Posts: 1,722 Member
    hmm, I think i didn't state my question clear enough. I'm not looking to go "low carb" in my diet. I was trying to look for a number, if it's even possible, that you should stay under to consider it low carb. like, if a item of food has X amount of carbs in it, it's considered high in carbs. If i wanted to eat a low carb breakfast, i should stay under X amount of carbs. For instance, if I eat 300 calories for breakfast with 35 carbs, is that considered low carb? did i make any sense?

    Well, low carb varies a lot, anywhere from 20 to 100 carbs per day can be considered low carb. So anywhere from 7 to 33 carbs per meal (if three meals a day) would be considered a low carb meal. Consider that the average American gets 300 carbs or more a day in comparison.
  • daisymaegreen
    daisymaegreen Posts: 50 Member
    YaY! thanks! now these are things that I can work with...especially after googling the next part (yes, i know, i'm a bit slow....)

    "Compute the number of calories that come from carbohydrates. Each gram of carbohydrates provides about 4 calories, so the number of calories that comes from carbohydrates is 4 x C, where C is the number of grams of carbohydrates. Assume the food has 7 g of carbohydrates. The food, therefore, provides 4 x 7 = 28 calories from carbohydrates".

    So between that, and the numbers you all told me, I now know how to figure out my percentages!
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