Eating fewer carbs can have incredible health benefits. Not only does eating fewer carbs result in a reduction in hunger, but many studies have found that low carb diets can lead up to 2-3 times more weight loss than a low-fat diet, for example. While on a low carb diet it may seem challenging to know what to eat and while it may at first appear to limit eating a lot of foods, it turns out there are still many foods to eat. The Body Reboot book discusses a variety of delicious meals to eat while on a low carb, or more specifically, keto diet. The keto diet is a low carb, high-fat diet that has helped many people get healthy and lose a lot of weight. After knowing which essential food items to eat on a low carb diet, you may find you’re missing out on some of these underrated foods below:

Lamb

According to Healthline, lamb has a lot of nutrients, making it an ideal meal to eat on keto. If you’ve been eating a lot of meat but forgot about lamb, maybe it’s time to incorporate it into your low carb diet! Lamb also has a lot of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which can help with heart health and diabetes. The Nutrition Bulletin from 2002 further discusses why CLA has many health benefits.

Like beef, lamb contains many beneficial nutrients, including iron and vitamin B12. Lamb is often grass-fed, and tends to be high in the beneficial fatty acid conjugated linoleic acid.

Ruminant meat is a natural source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Evidence has shown that CLA has many potential health benefits on cancer, coronary heart disease and diabetes. However, to date, all of the published research has been conducted in animals and there are few data in relation to the potential health benefits of CLA in humans. Lamb is the richest meat source of CLA. The main CLA isomer found in meat is c9,t11. Research has shown that cooking or storing meat does not alter its CLA content, but it can be changed by manipulating the diet of the animal. Little information is available that quantifies the contribution of meat to CLA intake. More research is required to further improve our knowledge on the role that meat can play as a vehicle that naturally supplies dietary CLA.

Cucumbers

If you haven’t been eating cucumbers on your low carb diet, then you’re missing out! Not only are cucumber super low in calories, but they also are very low carb as well. Additionally, check out all of the great nutrients cucumbers have in them mentioned on Healthline:

Cucumbers are low in calories but high in many important vitamins and minerals.

One 11-ounce (300-gram) unpeeled, raw cucumber contains the following:

Calories: 45
Total fat: 0 grams
Carbs: 11 grams
Protein: 2 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Vitamin C: 14% of the RDI
Vitamin K: 62% of the RDI
Magnesium: 10% of the RDI
Potassium: 13% of the RDI
Manganese: 12% of the RDI
Although, the typical serving size is about one-third of a cucumber, so eating a standard portion would provide about one-third of the nutrients above.

Additionally, cucumbers have a high water content. In fact, cucumbers are made up of about 96% water.

To maximize their nutrient content, cucumbers should be eaten unpeeled. Peeling them reduces the amount of fiber, as well as certain vitamins and minerals.

Jerky

Jerky is a delicious snack to have on a low carb diet, and it also happens to have zero carbs. You may not be eating it that much because some store bought jerky has a lot of carbs or sugar, but if you make it yourself, as Healthline recommends, you can control what ingredients are in it.

Jerky is meat that has been cut into strips and dried. As long as it doesn't contain added sugar or artificial ingredients, jerky can be a perfect low-carb snack food.

However, keep in mind that a lot of the jerky available at stores is highly processed and unhealthy. Your best bet is to make your own.

Carbs: Depends on the type. If it's purely meat and seasoning then it should be close to zero.

Onions

Onions may not be the first thing you think of eating on a low carb diet, but it turns out they’re great to eat and are packed full of nutrients. The total carbs for onions are 11 grams per cup or 9 grams per 100 grams. If you’re trying to stay under 20 or so grams of carbs per day (which many recommend on the keto diet), you may want only to eat half a cup. Live Science also gives us the scoop on onions and why you should be eating more of them:

Turns out that onions are nothing to cry over — these flavorful bulbs are packed with nutrients.

“Onions are super-healthy,” said Victoria Jarzabkowski, a nutritionist with the Fitness Institute of Texas at the University of Texas at Austin. “They are excellent sources of vitamin C, sulphuric compounds, flavonoids and phytochemicals.”

Phytochemicals, or phytonutrients, are naturally occurring compounds in fruits and vegetables that are able to react with the human body to trigger healthy reactions. Flavonoids are responsible for pigments in many fruits and vegetables. Studies have shown that they may help reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Tea

In the past, you may have been hesitant to drink tea while on the keto diet. However, perhaps you should consider incorporating in your diet. Tea can help you burn more fat! A 2008 American Journal Clinic Nutrition study revealed that drinking tea can increase fat oxidation, which means it can help your body burn more fat!

BACKGROUND:
Green tea consumption is reportedly associated with various health-promoting properties. For example, it has been shown to promote fat oxidation in humans at rest and to prevent obesity and improve insulin sensitivity in mice.

OBJECTIVE:
We investigated the effects of acute ingestion of green tea extract (GTE) on glucose tolerance and fat oxidation during moderate-intensity exercise in humans.

DESIGN:
Two studies were performed, both with a counter-balanced crossover design. In study A, 12 healthy men performed a 30-min cycling exercise at 60% of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) before and after supplementation. In study B, 11 healthy men took an oral-glucose-tolerance test before and after supplementation. In the 24-h period before the experimental trials, participants ingested 3 capsules containing either GTE (total: 890 +/- 13 mg polyphenols and 366 +/- 5 mg EGCG) or a corn-flour placebo (total: 1729 +/- 22 mg).

RESULTS:
Average fat oxidation rates were 17% higher after ingestion of GTE than after ingestion of placebo (0.41 +/- 0.03 and 0.35 +/- 0.03 g/min, respectively; P < 0.05). Moreover, the contribution of fat oxidation to total energy expenditure was also significantly higher, by a similar percentage, after GTE supplementation. The insulin area under the curve decreased in both the GTE and placebo trials (3612 +/- 301 and 4280 +/- 309 microIU/dL . 120 min, respectively; P < 0.01), and there was a concomitant increase of 13% in insulin sensitivity.

CONCLUSIONS:
Acute GTE ingestion can increase fat oxidation during moderate-intensity exercise and can improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in healthy young men.

Chia Seeds

You may have added chia seeds to a salad or smoothie before, and you can still incorporate them into your low carb diet. Be aware, however, that they are slightly higher in carbohydrates than some foods, but if they fit into your daily carbohydrate limit then Healthline says they’re a good source of fiber and other nutrients.

Chia seeds are currently among the world's most popular health foods.

They’re loaded with many important nutrients and can be used in various low-carb-friendly recipes.

What’s more, they’re one of the richest sources of dietary fiber on the planet.

When looking at the listed carb numbers below, keep in mind that about 86% of the carbs in chia seeds are fiber. Therefore, they contain very few digestible net carbs.

Carbs: 12 grams per ounce, or 44 grams per 100 grams.

There are many foods you can eat on the keto diet, and there are likely many you haven’t been eating. Now that you have a good idea of underrated low carb foods to eat, why not eat some and while you’re at it, make a few delicious recipes? Right now we’re giving out copies of the Body Reboot book where you can find out what other low carb foods are excellent to eat as well as plenty of recipes too. Cover the cost of shipping, and we’ll send you a FREE book. Check out this page to find out if there are any copies left.

Sources: Nutrition Bulletin: 11 January 2002, Healthline, LifeScience, Healthline, Am J Clin Nutr. 2008