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A low-carb diet is safe but cutting carbs out all together would not be a good idea. As a type 1 diabetic I have to watch carbs constantly but when I have too little carbohydrates my blood sugar gets low. A drop in blood sugar levels makes me weak, shaky sweaty and disoriented. This can be a very dangerous thing but luckily I always carry glucose tablets in my purse to counteract this occurrence.

The first thing and easiest thing to do when trying to limit carbs is to stop drinking soda completely or either drink diet soda. Once you start looking at packaging labels and serving sizes you will be amazed at what you find. Basically anything that is packed with sugar will be high in carbs. Carbohydrates turn into sugar once the body breaks them down, so they are the same thing. Therefore consider one 20 oz bottle of coke and the amount of carbs per serving. You may think that 1 serving is the entire bottle, but you'd be wrong.

One serving may be only 8 0z and there are 26 grams of carbs per serving. So now you have to multiply 26 three times to get the total amount of carbs in that one bottle of coke! I know you may be thinking that it "tastes so good," but there are many diet options with no sugar or carbs that are also good. For instance coke makes a diet version that is sweetened with SPLENDA and it tastes exactly the same as a regular coke. The difference is that you wont get any of the sugar or carbs found in a regular coke but all the taste.

Another good thing to try is to look for low-carb bread. It is sad that the low-carb options for bread are almost three times the price as a regular loaf. In fact most low carb foods are much more expensive. Lets look at a regular loaf of store brand white bread. It may have as much as 23 grams of carbs per serving, and guess what a "serving," is only 1 slice not 2! In comparison Sara Lee makes several different styles of bread that are only 9 grams of carbs per slice.

It takes time and a lot of product comparison but anyone can learn to live a low carb lifestyle. One good thing is that most meats, hamburger, sausage, chicken turkey, pork etc have very little carbs. All of these meats may be high in fat however, but you can cut that down by how you prepare them. Also, most vegetables have very little carbs. A quick rule of thumb is to limit pasta, bread, chips, sugary drinks and sweets.

Now if you just have to have something sweet try a nice fresh piece of fruit. Fruit also has sugar but it's fructose which is much better than the processed sugar found in candy. Also, there are deserts now that contain splenda and have much fewer carbs. Breyers makes a lower carb ice cream sweetened with splenda in several flavors. If your mouth just needs something to munch on try a handful of mixed nuts instead of chips. They are lower in fat and much lower in carbs.

It should also be mentioned that "sugar-free" doesn't necessarily mean "carb free" or "low carb." Sometimes in order to make up for the lack of sugar the carbohydrate content in some food may actually be more. So the best plan is to eat a lot of vegetables, fruit and lean meats. Also, pay attention to serving sizes and make good choices.

Learn more about this author, Julie Bruce.
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