It's not hard to come up with a low carb foods list; the nutritional labels present on all packaged foods gives a count of the grams of carbohydrate in each serving of the contents. The trick is just to remember that a serving can be quite small. But even those packaged foods which have little or no carbohydrate content may have been processed and have almost none of their fiber or nutrients left. Add to that artificial preservatives and high levels of sodium which is a major flavor enhance in many packaged foods, and the number low carb processed foods which deserve a place on y6our low carbs food list becomes even smaller.

Artificial preservatives may be great for preserving the contents of the processed low carb foods in a package, but they do nothing to preserve the health of those who consume them. While salt contains iodine which is essential for thyroid health, the excessive amounts of salt in processed foods can lead to hypertension and if too much salt is consumed for too long, to fluid retention and heart failure.

Keep It Natural

The best foods to have on your low carb foods list, therefore, are those which are in as close to their natural state as possible. Because you will be restricting your consumption of whole grain products which are high in fiber and vitamins, you'll need to find the nutrients somewhere else. Natural foods, especially raw or lightly steamed fruits and vegetables, even small amounts have significant amounts of minerals, vitamins, and phytonutrients.

When you start a low carb foods list, the first thin you should do is make categories for simple and complex carbohydrates. Only rarely will you be using simple carbohydrate foods when you are following a low carb eating plan; the small amounts of carbs which you are allowed should come almost entirely in the form of complex carbohydrates.

The most prominent foods on your low carb foods list, of course, will be high protein foods like meat, poultry, fish and seafood, eggs, cheese, seeds, and nuts. You'll also have fats like butter, olive and other vegetable oil, and cream, but nutritionists agree that monosaturated oils like olive oil are the best for us. And even though you may be under the impression that a low carb diet gives you carte blanche to eat as much protein and fat as you like, overdoing either of them will lead to weight gain and other health problems.

Complex Vs. Simple Carbs

Because you will need to eat simple carbs, like fruits, in very small amounts for the nutrients they provide, just make sure that you don't waste you simple carbs allotment on canned fruit. Other simple carbs are milk sugar, or lactose, founding dairy products, and sucrose, or table sugar, founding thousands of frozen, canned, and boxed foods. Both fruit and milk deserve to make it to you low carb foods list. Anything with table sugar should be avoided as much as possible.

Even items from the corner bakery, although they may be freshly baked and contain no preservatives, will have sugar, and more than likely, processed white flour. They are taboo on all other diets, and should be taboo on you low carb foods list as well. For more info see http://www.southbeachdietclub.com/sbd.html Beach Club.

While no bread is a low carb food, there is a place for whole grain bread on your whole carbs food list. It will give you the fiber you need to help fill you and to slow the digestive processes so that you feel full longer, and that your blood sugar levels remain steady.