Keto Diet Carb Limit? | Revolution Gray

When it comes to weight loss, it seems like carbs are the bad guy.

While this isn’t the case for everyone, a diet low in carbs can help with weight loss. How?

A low carbohydrate diet can help you lose weight because it depletes your body of glycogen, which is the storage form of carbohydrates. When you have fewer carbs in your system, your body will start burning fat for energy, which leads to weight loss. Additionally, a low carb diet can help you keep your blood sugar levels stable, which means you will be less likely to experience cravings and mood swings — two factors that can derail your weight loss efforts.

High blood sugar (hyperglycemia), high insulin (hyperinsulinemia), and high blood pressure (hypertension) are the three factors linked to metabolic syndrome, a condition of increased risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. The good news: following a low-carbohydrate diet may help to prevent or reverse all three of these problems.

When you eat a lot of carbs, your body produces insulin to help transport the glucose from your bloodstream into your cells. When you eat fewer carbs, your body doesn’t need as much insulin, and blood insulin levels drop. This is good because it reduces the risk of both diabetes and heart disease.

The Keto Diet and Carbs

The Keto diet restricts carbohydrates and includes a high level of dietary fat.

There is no specific carb limit on the keto diet, it is generally recommended that you keep your carb intake below 50 grams per day. Consuming too many carbs can knock you out of ketosis and disrupt your weight loss progress.

If you’re new to the keto diet, it may take some time to find your carb limit. Start by gradually reducing your carb intake and tracking your ketone levels. When you reach a point where you’re losing weight consistently and your ketones remain high, you’ve found your carb limit.

Carb Trackers to use on a Keto Diet

Carbohydrate trackers are a great way to keep you on pace and may be suitable for those who want to maintain or lose weight. Carbohydrate trackers also help with glycemic control in diabetics, as many people take insulin based on blood glucose levels. You can use a diary or log of your foods to figure out an estimated carbohydrate amount, however, it is sometimes nice to have an app that does the work for you.

Some examples of carbohydrate trackers include:

Carb Tracker Free – Carb Counter and Diet Tracker with over 2 million foods in its database. Available on Android Market includes a barcode scanner.

MyNetDiary – An online diet planner with a carbohydrate counter. In addition, there is a mobile app available for diets.

Keeping Track – An iPhone App which has a database of 1,500 foods and includes a barcode scanner.

Carb Manager – An Android App that allows you to scan barcodes or search by food name and track blood glucose levels in addition to carbohydrate intake.

If you are simply looking to maintain your current weight, a low carbohydrate tracker may suit you best. Some examples of low carb trackers include:

Lose It! – An iPhone App and Android App that helps you lose weight by tracking your intake of calories and macronutrients.

Daily Carb Tracker – Android App which tracks grams of carbohydrates, helping you stay within your daily limit.

Whichever tracker you choose, make sure that it fits into your lifestyle and that you are comfortable using it.