Food With Proteins And No Carbs is a blog where you can find recipes that are easy to make, healthy and tasty. These recipes will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle so you can look good and feel amazing at any age!
Food With Proteins And No Carbs
Protein can help you shed those unwanted pounds — and keep your belly full. But it’s important to eat the right amount and the right kind of protein to get its health benefits.
Seafood
Seafood is an excellent source of protein because it’s usually low in fat. Fish such as salmon is a little higher in fat, but it is the heart-healthy kind: it has omega-3 fatty acids.
White-Meat Poultry
Stick to poultry for excellent, lean protein. Dark meat is a little higher in fat. The skin is loaded with saturated fat, so remove skin before eating.
Milk, Cheese, and Yogurt
Not only are dairy foods like milk, cheese, and yogurt excellent sources of protein, but they also contain valuable calcium, and many are fortified with vitamin D. Choose skim or low-fat dairy to keep bones and teeth strong and help prevent osteoporosis.
Eggs
Eggs are one of the least expensive forms of protein. The American Heart Association says normal healthy adults can safely enjoy an egg a day.
Beans
One-half cup of beans contains as much plant-based protein as an ounce of broiled steak. Plus, these nutritious nuggets are inexpensive and loaded with fiber to keep you feeling full for hours.
Pork Tenderloin
This versatile white meat is 31% leaner than it was 20 years ago.
Soy
Fifty grams of soy protein daily can help lower cholesterol by about 3%. Eating plant-based soy protein instead of sources of higher-fat protein — and maintaining a healthy diet — can be good for your heart.
Lean Beef
Lean beef has about two grams more saturated fat than a skinless chicken breast. Lean beef is also an excellent source of zinc, iron, and vitamin B12.
Protein on the Go
If you don’t have time to sit down for a meal, grab a meal replacement drink, cereal bar, or energy bar. Check the label to be sure the product contains at least six grams of protein and is low in sugar and saturated fat.
Protein at Breakfast
Research shows that including a source of protein like an egg or Greek yogurt at breakfast along with a high-fiber grain like whole wheat toast can help you feel full longer and eat less throughout the day.
Zero Carb Food List
Keeping carbs low is the key to keto diet success. When carb intake is too high, we simply cannot enter ketosis and experience the unique benefits of keto.
However, this doesn’t mean that you have to rigidly track your carb intake at all times. In fact, many keto dieters are able to stay in ketosis by using one simple strategy: Eating mostly keto-friendly foods that have little to no net carbs (i.e., digestible carbs that reduce ketone production).
Although it may seem like carbs are hiding around every corner when you first start your keto weight loss journey, there are hundreds of delicious options that have zero or almost zero net carbs as well. To help you figure what these foods are and make keto as easy as possible, we’ve compiled the ultimate list of zero carb and almost zero carb foods for your convenience.
10 Low-Carb Dinner Recipes That Have Plenty of Protein
If you’re cutting back on carbohydrates, for whatever reason, you know that one of the most important components is figuring out how to stay energized after a meal. That’s where protein comes in. Bump up the protein when you lower the carbs, and you can rest assured you’ll stay well-fueled without midday crashes.
These 10 dinner recipes do just that — they keep the carb counts to a minimum, but have plenty of protein.
1. Parmesan Chicken Kale Sauté
Parmesan not only enhances the savory, salty flavor of this quick skillet meal, but it also gives it an extra protein boost as well.
Get the recipe: Parmesan Chicken Kale Sauté
2. Gorgonzola-Stuffed Steak Roll-Ups
This eye-catching steak may look fancy (read: hard to make), but it’s actually quite simple which means it’s as great for a weeknight dinner as it is for a dinner party.
Get the recipe: Gorgonzola-Stuffed Steak Roll-Ups
3. Meatball-Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Opting for pre-cooked meatballs ensures this comforting recipe is extra easy. Just make sure that if you’re using frozen meatballs you thaw them overnight in the fridge.
Get the recipe: Easy Low-Carb Meatball-Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
4. Tofu and Broccoli Salad
One of the difficulties in low-carb diets is that things can tend to be meat-focused. To mix it up, here’s a veggie-forward salad. The tofu and nuts add protein, while the crunch and flavor of the veggies keep it refreshing. This salad holds up well after it’s been dressed, so definitely make extra and pack leftovers for lunch.
Get the recipe: Tofu and Broccoli Salad with Peanut Butter Dressing
5. 20-Minute Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies
Yes, this colorful sheet pan dinner really does come together in 20 minutes. Serve it over cauliflower rice to bulk it up if you’d like.
Get the recipe: 20-Minute Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies
6. Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pork Chops
Low-carb shouldn’t be about doing without. If you’re ready for something rich and decadent, look no further than these skillet pork chops.
Get the recipe: 30-Minute Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pork Chops
7. Egg Curry with Cherry Tomatoes
Eggs aren’t the first thing you may think of when it comes to Indian curries, but using them is actually quite traditional. This dish is spicy, juicy, and bright-tasting. Serve it with cauliflower rice to keep it low-carb.
Get the recipe: Egg Curry with Cherry Tomatoes
8. Sheet Pan Steak and Veggies
It doesn’t get simpler than this oven-baked steak and roasted veggie dish. Feel free to swap in other vegetables, depending on what’s in season or what you have in your crisper drawer.
Get the recipe: Sheet Pan Steak and Veggies
9. Egg Roll in a Bowl
You can use practically any ground protein (pork, turkey, or chicken all work well) for this playful dinner. It’s just a matter of what you prefer.
Get the recipe: Egg Roll in a Bowl
10. Salsa-Simmered Fish
If you want to punch up this simple recipe, try using fresh salsa — either homemade or from the refrigerated section of your local supermarket. You also can’t go wrong with the regular jarred stuff, though, if you already have it on hand.
Health benefits of low protein-high carbohydrate diets depend on carb type
Researchers at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre conducted the largest ever study of nutrient interactions by examining the health of mice on 33 different diets containing various combinations of protein to carbs, and different sources of carbohydrate.
They found that a low-protein (10% of dietary energy), high-carbohydrate (70%) diet produced either the healthiest or unhealthiest metabolic outcomes of all 33 diets, depending on the kind of carbs.
When carbs were made up mainly of resistant starch, a form of starch that is resistant to digestion and is fermented by bacteria in the gut, the low protein diet was the healthiest of all diets. When the carbs were a 50:50 mixture of fructose to glucose, the same make-up as high fructose corn syrup (the primary sweetener used in the US packaged food and beverage industries) the low-protein diet produced the worst outcomes.
The study, which took three years to complete, is published in Nature Metabolism today.
“While the study was conducted in mice, the results appear to explain the disparity between healthy, low-protein, high-carbohydrate diets and growing levels of obesity and co-morbidities associated with highly-processed modern-day diets which are also protein-diluted and high in refined carbohydrates,” said Professor Stephen Simpson, senior author and Academic Director of the University’s Charles Perkins Centre.
“We found that the molecular make-up of a carbohydrate and how it is digested shapes the behavioural and physiological response to reduced levels of protein in the diet, impacts how the liver processes nutrients and alters the gut bacteria.
“These findings could explain why consuming low protein-high carbohydrate diets that avoid high fructose corn syrup, limit readily digestible processed starch and are abundant in resistant starch (which in a human diet would be whole grains and legumes such as beans and lentils) are associated with good metabolic health.”
The work builds on the team’s ground-breaking 2014 Cell Metabolism study, which showed low protein-high carbohydrate diets in mice resulted in the longest lifespan and best cardiometabolic health during mid-and early late-life.
For the 2014 study, the researchers used readily digestible starch as the main carbohydrate source, so the logical next step was to examine what happens if you alter the source of carbohydrate. The present study confirms the earlier findings and extends them to show the importance of the type of dietary carbohydrate, helping explain why the longest-lived human populations on earth, such as the traditional Okinawan Japanese have a low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet, but when protein is diluted in the human food supply by processed refined carbohydrates, the health outcomes are not so favourable.
Low-protein diets are not all equal
Dr Jibran Wali, lead author of the new study, said that all low-protein diets are not equal. A low protein-high carbohydrate diet is a setting to gain maximum health benefits from the carbs that are accessible to bacteria in the colon (e.g., resistant starch) but can also be a means to maximise the adverse effects of highly processed carbs.
“We found that the 50:50 mixture of glucose to fructose created the highest levels of obesity in mice, even when calorie consumption was comparable to other carbohydrates. This suggests that a calorie is not a calorie when it comes to carbohydrates, or even to different sugars and that consumption of glucose and fructose in combination promotes obesity and poor metabolic health,” said Dr Wali, NHMRC Peter Doherty Biomedical Fellow at the Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences.
The researchers say this finding may come as a surprise to many, as while there is consensus that excess calories from sugar cause weight gain and metabolic disease, there is an active debate on which form of sugar (sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, glucose, fructose) is the most detrimental.
“The findings could have immense practical benefits,” said Professor David Raubenheimer, Leonard P Ullmann Chair in Nutritional Ecology at the Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences and co-author on the study.
“For many people wishing to improve their diets, carbohydrates have become the enemy. Some go to extreme lengths, virtually removing them from their diets. Our results suggest this could be a mistake. Reducing certain kinds of carbohydrates, like high fructose corn syrup, would have benefits. But avoiding the digestion resistant forms, which are found in many plant foods, risks losing benefits of a nutrient that is high in the diets of the healthiest and longest-lived populations on Earth,” continued Professor Raubenheimer.
“The results of this study help explain why it is best to stay away from foods such as cakes, pizzas and confectionary and supports filling your plate with wholegrains such as brown rice, oats and quinoa, legumes such as lentils, beans and chickpeas, and opt for plenty of vegetables including sweet potato, pumpkin, and beets”, said Dr Rosilene Ribeiro, a dietitian and a researcher in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and a co-author on this study.