How many grams of carbs is considered 'low carb'?

I've seen people say as high as 100g and as low as 5g.

Seems like everyone has a different number they deem low.

Under 100, unless you aim for keto where it is 20g (but some can stay in keto at up to 50g)

0-150 are the unofficial points that I most often see. 0-30 is considered keto range, though that ends up being more of an individual thing. Some can hold at higher.

ETA: I could personally maintain keto at 60-100g or so last summer, but I was lifting 8-10x per week, and throwing in a fair amount of weight vest walking as well.

150g almost seems like a normal diet to me. I would say low carb under 100.

I'd also consider it more meaningful to talk in terms of % of total calories rather than gram amounts to give context.

As lemurcat pointed out, 250 grams of carbs could be 50% of one persons intake and 30% of someone else's. In the first case, that would be a higher carb intake, but in the second case, that would be what I'd consider a lower carb diet.

In the same vein 150 grams of carbs could be a relatively high portion of someone's daily calories if their calories are on the low side, and citing that as being low carb without overall dietary context has always struck me as rather odd.

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

It's been years since I've posted this (and it might have changed in the meantime) but here's one attempt to define low carb:

Low-carb ketogenic diet (LCKD): less than 50g carbs and 10% calories daily
Low-carb diet (LCD): 50-130g carbs daily and between 10-26% of calories
Moderate-carb diet (MCD): 130-225g carbs daily and between 26-45% of calories

We suggest the following definitions:

The ADA designates low carbohydrate diets as less than 130 g/d or 26% of a nominal 2000 kcal diet and we consider this a reasonable cutoff for the definition of a low-carbohydrate diet. Carbohydrate consumption before the epidemic of obesity averaged 43%, and we suggest 26% to 45% as the range for moderate-carbohydrate diets. The intake of less than 30 g/d, as noted above should be referred to as a very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (VLCKD). The term Ketogenic Diet should be reserved for the therapeutic approach to epilepsy. Source

I eat about 250 grams of carbs on a 4k diet. What's that considered? Genuinely curious what people think. I fit the "or 26%...

Any time I'm cutting I consider it low carb because at my activity level (fairly lazy) it's the only macro I can manipulate to create a deficit. I need to get adequate protein and fat and that leaves the most delicious macro of all constantly going up or down. Usually 135g on a cut and around 200 maintenance

Hornsby wrote: »

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

It's been years since I've posted this (and it might have changed in the meantime) but here's one attempt to define low carb:

Low-carb ketogenic diet (LCKD): less than 50g carbs and 10% calories daily
Low-carb diet (LCD): 50-130g carbs daily and between 10-26% of calories
Moderate-carb diet (MCD): 130-225g carbs daily and between 26-45% of calories

We suggest the following definitions:

The ADA designates low carbohydrate diets as less than 130 g/d or 26% of a nominal 2000 kcal diet and we consider this a reasonable cutoff for the definition of a low-carbohydrate diet. Carbohydrate consumption before the epidemic of obesity averaged 43%, and we suggest 26% to 45% as the range for moderate-carbohydrate diets. The intake of less than 30 g/d, as noted above should be referred to as a very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (VLCKD). The term Ketogenic Diet should be reserved for the therapeutic approach to epilepsy. Source

I eat about 250 grams of carbs on a 4k diet. What's that considered? Genuinely curious what people think. I fit the "or 26%...

I would consider 250g of carbs high but given your calorie needs moderate carb seems like the more appropriate label. I don't think anyone (but the ADA as you pointed out) would consider it low carb.