The book is all about how to use intermittent fasting to lose weight and to do it safely, healthfully, and effectively to slim down in a matter of just days or weeks, depending on how much fasting you want to try. Life in the Fasting Lane is about to hit bookstores and make intermittent fasting, or IF the most followed diet in the country, since it’s healthy, it works and you can use it any time you need to lose weight fast.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting (IF) is a dietary pattern that uses regularly scheduled alternating periods of eating and fasting to lose weight. There are many different methods of IF which vary the time periods between eating and fasting:

• Twice a Week (5:2): This method prescribes eating less than 500 calories for two days a week, and ensuring these days are separated by one non-fasting day, in which you eat your regular amount of calories.
• Time-Restricted Eating (16:8): This method requires 16 hours of fasting and permits eating only within an 8-hour window. This ratio is repeated for as many or as few days per week as you’d like.
• Eat Stop Eat: This method uses a 24-hour fasting period and is usually observed just once or twice a week.
• Alternate Day: As the name implies, this method alternates fasting days with days in which you observe a normal, healthy diet. On fasting days, Alternate-Day fasting suggests you cap your calories at a quarter of what you normally eat on a non-fasting day.

How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

Dr. Fung: “If you fast, and don’t eat at all, for 12 or 14 or 16 hours, then your insulin is going to fall – therefore, your body is going to switch over and naturally burn fat. So your body wants 2,000 calories a day, and your body has maybe 200,000 calories stored (as fat). So your metabolic rate doesn’t fall, even without exercise. You just start to burn all those stored calories from fat.

“This is proven. Take one study – they fasted patients for four straight days and measured their metabolic rate and after four days of eating zero, they were burning 10 percent more calories than when they ate 2,000 calories a day.

“So if insulin falls, the counterregulatory hormones in the body go up. You activate your fight or flight response, your norepinephrine goes up, and adrenaline goes up, etc., which means you burn more.

“When you go back to eating, your metabolic rate stays the same. You start burning food as fuel. Your body fat is nothing more or less than the body’s fuel storage system. But you have to fix the hormone response to food to pull that energy out of storage.

“When we asked patients with Type 2 Diabetes to participate in fasting 24 hours, three times a week, they lost weight and got better. They even got off their meds. And it happened so fast. But you don’t have to fast for 24 hours for this to work for you.  You can eat an early dinner, and then not eat until morning or early afternoon and you are essentially doing it, burning fat.”

Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy?

Before you shake your head in disbelief and think: “No way is this a good idea,” I too was skeptical since I’ve always believed a healthy diet that is low in calories is the way to go. After editing a health and fitness magazine for over a dozen years and imparting knowledge of how to follow the “fewer calories in, more calories out” way of losing weight the safe and healthy way, when I listened to the science behind fasting, and then read the book, I was convinced that Dr. Fung is onto something.

In fact, fasting dates back to the beginning of humankind when no matter how hungry, humans had to be sharp, strong, and energized to find, forage or hunt for that next meal. Cycling through feast and famine was as natural as cycling through sleep. When Dr. Fung explains the science of how fasting works, he unwound decades of scientific “knowledge” I had held dear. In short, he is extremely convincing. The benefits of IF can include:

• Weight loss
• Boosted energy
• Improved cognitive function
• Healthier cholesterol levels
• Reduced insulin resistance
• Healthy blood pressure levels

“Fasting makes you more focused and helps your mental acuity. You can think a lot more clearly when you’re not trying to digest a heavy meal. When you’re not eating, everyone thinks it would make it harder to concentrate, but actually, the opposite is true: You can think more clearly. The lion who just ate is sleepy and not dangerous – but the hungry animal is dangerous and can focus on what it needs. When you’re full – or you’ve had a big meal – all you want to do is lie down and take a nap. So when fasting you’re super sharp.”

How to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle With Intermittent Fasting

One thing to know before you start: There is a way to do it right, and that will help you lose without “yoyo-ing” in energy or weight gain. It all has to do with fuel systems in your body and training your energy to pull from fat and keep insulin levels low so they never tell your body to “store excess energy as fat.” Once you get the hang of it, you will burn fat as fuel, all day long.

“If you never let your insulin drop then you never tell your body to pull calories from fat. So there is a whole movement among athletes to train in the fasting state.  If you train without eating, then you need to pull calories out of storage to get through an intense workout. If you eat in the morning – let’s say you have a muffin before your workout – then you use up that source and your body never uses calories from fat and your workout was not effective if the reason you’re working out is to lose fat.

Here’s the great news. whether you fast for 12, 14, or 16 hours or longer it is completely flexible – you could push it up to 16 hours, and do it a couple of times a week. So you eat in an 8-hour window, from 11 am to 7 pm, and then have 16 hours of fasting. A lot of celebrities have talked about IF and how it helped them, like Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Hugh Jackman. It’s really simple. Counting calories and counting carbs are complicated, but timing is simple.

“When people ask me: Is there anything you can eat during the fast? I tell them, Yes. There are variations of fasting. Classic fasting is water only. But there are variations. You can actually do well with all kinds of things: Take tea for example, or coffee with cream, which has fat so there is very little insulin response to that. Just don’t put sugar in it. Even if you take something like celery sticks, Insulin would blip up temporarily but go back down. We use a lot of fasting aids, predominantly tea and other drinks. Green tea is very good: The main advantage is the chemical compound called catechin that helps to suppress hunger. The caffeine in both coffee and tea will help your metabolic rate. Keep your metabolism up.

I love to recommend cold brew green tea – or I like to tell patients to try Pique Green Tea which comes in crystals; they brew it and dehydrate it, so it’s essentially an instant tea.

“I tell people to cut out snacking [after dinner], so you get to 14 hours. Then you push it to 16 hours. Typically it’s a lot easier to drop breakfast than dinner. If you look at circadian rhythms, hunger is usually at the lowest point at 8 am and it’s easy to not eat. At that moment you’ve gone 12 to 14 hours without eating and you’re the least hungry. Your body is fueling itself without food.

Can You Eat Anything While Fasting?

“IF works well on a plant-based diet, which is how people ate for many years in Asia. And they stayed slim. It’s only when you add processed or high-carb foods that you have to watch out. You have to be careful about the types of foods you eat since processed foods like wheat and flour, bread is now so processed. For bread now they take the wheat berry and grind it into a fine dust. So the absorption is super quick, unnaturally quick. If you eat a lot of cakes and cookies and processed bread and donuts, that will spike your insulin. If you’re eating a plant-based diet, make sure to keep it whole-food, plant-based, not processed food.

“So if you’re plant-based and eating beans, legumes, vegetables and whole grains like quinoa that all keeps insulin low. If you look at the simple sugars in cereal like Captain Crunch and chocolate donuts that may be vegan but they’re terrible for you.

What to Eat to Break Your Fast

Focus on whole foods and healthy plant-based options that are easy to digest when breaking your fast. These include:

• Cooked vegetables
• Healthy fats
• Legumes
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Raw fruits
• Vegetable broth or soups
• Vegetable juice

Expert Tips to Start Fasting

1. Start slow

Begin by trying IF for 16 hours, which just means not breaking your fast until lunchtime and beginning your fast again in the evening.

2. Stop snacking and limit your alcohol

Create a strict rule about snacks after dinner which will make it easier to kick off your fast, instead of being tempted to prolong your eating window by having a late dessert or midnight snack. Alcohol is metabolized like sugar, so be sure to limit alcoholic beverages and stop drinking at the same time you begin your fast.

3. Break your fast with whole foods

Avoiding processed food and instead reach for whole foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes prevents blood sugar spikes. To break your fast, eat easily digestible foods from the list above.

4. Sip on green tea when fasting

Green tea contains catechin which can help to suppress hunger, so it’s a great tool to use while fasting.

Bottom Line: Intermittent fasting is an effective way to promote weight loss.

Before beginning a fasting regimen, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about any potential risks and choose an IF method that will be the healthiest for you.

If you want to read more from Dr. Jason Fung, get a copy of The Complete Guide to Fasting. And his other book, The Obesity Code. Life in the Fasting Lane is available on Amazon.

For more great expert advice, visit The Beet’s Health & Nutrition articles. 

The post Here’s How to Lose Weight Fast With Intermittent Fasting appeared first on The Beet.

Study subjects who followed the advice to “eat clean” by limiting processed foods, including processed meat, and eat clean, which is defined as consuming more fruit and vegetables are “more likely to meet the dietary guidelines” of five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, in contrast to those who rarely or never try to eat clean, according to a study published in the journal Nutrients. Those who rarely or never try to eat clean did not consume as much healthy food as the clean eaters, who also exhibited a higher level of dietary restraint. The only downside of following clean eating advice is that a ‘clean’ diet may lead to obsessive eating habits in certain women, the study found.

Clean eating is considered a positive approach to eating, which promotes the exclusion of processed foods and focuses on whole foods. The study asked 762 women ranging in age from 17–55 to self-report their intake and approach to clean eating. The most important aspect of clean eating is to get more servings of fruits and vegetables and whole foods such as whole grains into your diet and skip the packaged or processed foods, high in fat, added sugar, and preservatives.

The American Heart Association defines “eating clean” as adding more fruit, vegetables, and whole grains to your plate while getting rid of packaged foods and junk food. They do encourage not just fresh vegetables, but also frozen or canned vegetables such as peas, broccoli, and beans, but not the kind with added sugar or buttery sauce. When defining processed foods the AHA points out that most food has been minimally processed in some way, but while baby carrots are part of clean eating, cheesy Doritos are not. To start your clean eating approach, lose weight, and boost immunity, start with these 3 simple steps.

Try 3 Simple Steps to Start Your Day and Begin Clean Eating This Summer

The three easiest ways to eat clean and try to start your clean eating practice for summer are to add more fiber in the form of fruit, to drink more water, and to add vegetables at breakfast, such as avocado toast or a smoothie.

1. Add more fruit to your diet, especially early in the day, to be healthy

Several recent studies have shown that people who avoid fruit because they worry that the inherent natural sugar in fruit is bad for them are going about it the wrong way. You need to eat more fruit since only 9 percent of Americans get their daily recommended servings of 2 fruits and 3 vegetables a day. The fruit has important fiber as well as nutrients such as antioxidants, vitamins, and phytochemicals that help boost your immunity and lower inflammation, as well as keep you full longer. A study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that people who eat whole fruit daily are less likely to develop diabetes, and consequently have lower blood sugar than those who don’t eat fruit every day.

Another study found that people who eat dried fruit such as apricots, figs, dates and dried sliced apples have lower BMI and smaller waists than those who skip the dried fruit altogether. Find the kind that does not contain added sugar or added coatings, obviously, since those can drive blood sugar up.

Still another study on fruit showed that those who ate fruit for lunch are 50 percent less likely to suffer fatal heart disease or die prematurely of any other cause. The healthiest people in the study ate fruit for lunch and vegetables for dinner while the least healthy ate snacks like potato chips and other processed foods for snacks, so clean eating not only helps you lose weight and boost immunity but also lowers your risk of heart disease and death.

Most people get about half the amount of fiber they need in a day, which for women is more than 21 grams and for men is more than 38 grams. That’s the minimum. An apple has about 7 grams, start eating fruit and you’ll be able to keep your blood sugar in check and your insulin from spiking, which tells your body to store fat. Tell yourself most fruit is made up largely of water, so you’re not only helping your cells take up nutrients slowly and steadily but helping your cells stay hydrated as well, which is a twofer when it comes to immunity and weight loss.

2. Drink more water, to boost weight loss and strengthen immunity

Drinking enough water every day is easier said than done, but when we drink the right amount, our bodies reap benefits such as increased focus, more energy, natural weight loss, and better digestion. Staying hydrated supports immune health and can give our daily workout performance a boost and improves how we feel physically and mentally. The flip side is that drinking less than we need undermines all of those things.

If water is not your favorite beverage, try infusing it with lemon, mint, cucumber, or a handful of fresh berries to make it tastier. The fact is you should have a large pitcher or water bottle at your elbow all day long and keep refilling your glass to be drinking all day long.
To make sure you’re drinking the right amount, Nicole Osinga RD, who created The Beet’s VegStart Diet recommends using this simple formula: Multiply your weight in pounds by two-thirds (or .67) and the number you get is the number of ounces of water to drink in a day. Meaning, if you weigh 140 pounds, you should drink 120 ounces of water every day, or about 12 to 15 glasses of water per day.

3. Add more vegetables to your breakfast, with avocado toast or a smoothie

One way to get started on clean eating is to start the day by skipping the sugary cereal, the carb-filled bagel or the added-sugar granola bar and instead focus on how to get more healthy whole foods into your diet, early in the day. This helps keep blood sugar low and stoke the metabolism to start fueling up in a way that will energize you and keep you feeling full longer.

One simple way is to try a small slice of avocado toast on whole wheat bread, with fresh avocado slices or homemade guacamole. The research on avocado is impressive since it shows that people who eat an avocado a day have smaller waists and lose weight more easily, due to the fact that avocado is full of healthy natural fat, plus fiber and protein, all of which turn on the body’s satiety cues and stave off hunger for six hours after eating it.

The other way to get vegetables in the morning and up your fiber intake is by adding kale, celery or spinach to your morning smoothie along with fresh berries, almond milk, or nut butter such as almond or peanut butter for clean plant-based protein. A 2019 review published in Frontiers in Nutrition states that because fruit is so high in fiber, it is helpful in promoting weight maintenance or weight loss over a 3 to 24 week period. It’s also been shown that whole fruit intake could decrease your calorie intake, especially when it’s consumed before a meal or when eaten in place of other high-calorie foods.

Adding smoothies to your day instead of a meal or snack is also associated with healthy weight loss and immunity because the body’s gut microbiome gets shifted from unhealthy bacteria to healthy bacteria when you add more fruit and vegetables to your diet. But smoothies add up so keep your smoothie as a snack to 300 calories or fewer and your smoothie as a replacement for a meal to 500 calories or fewer for best results.

If you prefer juicing, try that instead since, in a small study of participants who tried a 3-day juice-cleanse, the microbiome was still improved even two weeks after the cleanse ended, suggesting that these minor changes have an impact for days after you start your clean eating approach. The study, published in Food Science and Biotechnology, found that participants drinking fruit and vegetable juice for three weeks had a significant improvement in their gut microbiota 17 days after their cleanse, which helped improve weight loss, digestive issues, energy, and the appearance of their skin, as reported by the study subjects.

If you need to get back on track, here’s how to course correct and eat clean

The best way to bounce back after overdoing it is to simply add a salad. A recent 2021 study published in the Recent Patents on Food, Nutrition & Agriculture found that the fiber content from salad vegetables was beneficial in keeping glucose rates from skyrocketing after meals. The researchers tested red oak leaf lettuce, red coral lettuce, green oak lettuce, butterhead lettuce, and romaine. The fiber content of these lettuces inhibited specific enzymes that are important in breaking down carbohydrates so the overall glucose absorption is reduced, which in turn keeps blood sugar low.

Just adding a salad to your meal, even if you eat a full-fat lunch or dinner, helps to keep blood sugar more stable than if you ate a big meal and skipped the side of greens. So if you end up overindulging one of these days, simply get back on track by eating a salad to help regulate blood sugar and damp down insulin response, then get back to your clean eating approach.

For more ways to start your clean eating approach to summer, try the free 2 Week Clean Eating Plan from The Beet with 5 recipes a day and helpful tips, motivation, and expert advice as to how to do it. And sign up for the free Smoothie of the Day Recipe Newsletter to get a new idea for a healthy, immune-boosting smoothie in your inbox every morning for 14 days.

The 13 Best Foods to Boost Your Immune System to Fight Off COVID-19 Symptoms

Here are the best foods to eat on repeat, to boost immunity and fight inflammation. And stay off the red meat.

1. Citrus for Your Cells and Healing

Your body does not produce vitamin C, which means you need to get it daily to have enough to create healthy collagen (the building blocks for your skin and healing).The recommended daily amount to shoot for is 65 to 90 milligrams a day, which is the equivalent of one small glass of orange juice or eating a whole grapefruit. Almost all citrus fruits are high in vitamin C. With such a variety to choose from, it’s easy to get your fill.

2. Red Peppers to Pump Up Skin and Boost Immunity with Twice the Amount of Vitamin C as an Orange Has

Want even more vitamin C, add red bell peppers to your salad or pasta sauce. One medium-sized red bell pepper contains 152 milligrams of vitamin C, or enough to fulfill your RDA. Peppers are also a great source of beta carotene, a precursor of vitamin A (retinol). How much beta carotene do you need a day: You should try to get 75 to 180 micrograms a day which is the equivalent of one medium bell pepper a day. But a red pepper has more than two and a half times your RDA for vitamin C so eat them all winter long.

3. Broccoli, But Eat It Nearly Raw, to get the Most Nutrients Out of It!

Broccoli may be the most super of superfoods on the planet. It’s rich in vitamins A and C as well as E. The phytochemicals in it are great for arming and strengthening your immune system.How much lutein should you eat in a day: There is no RDA for lutein, but experts say get at least 6 milligrams.

4. Garlic, Eaten By the Clove

Garlic isn’t just a great flavor-enhancer, it’s essential for your health. Garlic’s immune-boosting properties are tied to its sulfur-containing compounds, such as allicin. Allicin is thought to improve your immune cells’ ability to fight off colds and flu, and viruses of all kinds. (Smelling more garlic on the subway? It could be smart coronavirus management.) Garlic also has anti-microbial and anti-viral properties thought to fight off infections. How much should you eat in a day: The optimal amount of garlic to eat is more than most of us can fathom: Two to three cloves a day. While that may not be doable, realistically, some people take garlic supplements to get 300-mg dried garlic in a powdered tablet.

5. Ginger is a Power Player for Immunity and Digestion

Ginger is another ingredient that has super properties when it comes to fighting off illness. It has been shown to decrease inflammation, which can help if you get swollen glands or a sore throat or any inflammatory ailment. Gingerol, the main bioactive compound in ginger, is a relative of capsaicin, and is responsible for much of its medicinal properties. It has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits.How much should you eat a day: Most recommendations land on 3–4 grams of ginger extract a day, or up to four cups of ginger tea, but no more than 1 gram a day if you are pregnant. Some studies have linked high dosages to an increased risk of miscarriage.

6. Spinach, Wilted, Not Steamed (Also Kale and Dark Leafy Greens of All Kinds)

Spinach is not only packed with vitamin C but also antioxidants and beta carotene, both of which give your immune system the healthy boost it needs to fight off invaders. Don’t overcook your spinach, since the more it’s cooked the less active the antioxidants will be. If you eat it raw or lightly steamed you’ll keep more of the nutrients intact.How much should you eat a day: Aim for 1 cup fresh spinach or 1/2 cup cooked per day, but this is the right moment to try the raw or slightly wilted approach. Order warm or wilted spinach salad when you go out, or make it yourself with olive oil, pine nuts, and vegan parm.

7. Almonds for the Win, Pop Them Like Candy

Vitamin E in almonds will help ward off colds and flu and is key to your immune system humming along. It’s a fat-soluble molecule, meaning it requires the presence of fat to be absorbed, so nuts are the perfect package for E to make it into your system.How much should you eat in a day: A half-cup serving, or 46 whole, shelled almonds, provides almost 100 percent of your RDA of vitamin E. Almonds are great for you but they don’t come with a “free” pass, since 1/4 cup is a serving and has 162 calories, so double that for your RDA and you’re eating about 325 calories. Throw them into smoothies instead.

8. Turmeric to Fight Inflammation, Put it In Your Tea or Smoothie

This highly pigmented spice is known for its anti-inflammatory qualities. How it helps immunity? It decreases exercise-induced muscle damage. Tumeric bolsters the immune system by stimulating antibody formation and people with auto-immune diseases are told by their doctors to take 500 mg of curcumin daily to reduce inflammation and stave off soreness.How much should you eat in a day: Try adding extra Tumeric to your diet during periods of stress or during flu season. Or take 500-2,000 mg of curcumin to help fight inflammation and power up your immune system.

9. Green Tea by the Gallon, Skip the Coffee and Sip this Instead

Green tea has high levels of EGCG, (epigallocatechin gallate) a hard-working antioxidant that is known to boost immune function. Green tea is steamed so the EGCG is still active when you drink it.Green tea also contains L-theanine, an anti-oxidant which appears to help in the production of T-cells in your body, the killer  L-theanine may aid in the production of germ-fighting compounds in your T-cells.How much green tea should you drink in a day: The optimal amount is three to five cups in a day, but most people won’t get to that level. Any amount is better than nothing. Swap out a usual beverage daily for green tea could improve your health.

10. Papaya, The Tropical Healer to Keep You Vacation-Healthy All Year Round

Papaya delivers over twice your recommended daily amount of vitamin C in one fruit. It also contains an enzyme called papain that has anti-inflammatory effects — and inflammation is one factor in most illnesses, so avoiding it can help your body fight off bacterial infections like sinusitis.Papayas contain potassium, vitamin B, and folate, which is a powerful cell rebuilder. Exactly how folic acid works to build immunity is linked to its role in protein synthesis, and researchers think that any mechanism in which cells proliferate can be affected (which is why it’s critical for pregnant women). People who are folate-deficient have compromised immune systems.How much folate should you eat a day: Whether you are pregnant or not, folate (vitamin B9) is a great vitamin to keep your cells healthy and strong. The recommendation is 400 micrograms a day, or get it from legumes, spinach, papayas, and avocados.

11. Kiwis, a Vitamin Powerhouse

Kiwis are full of folate, vitamin K, vitamin C, and potassium. These vitamins in combination work in the body to build healthy cells, fight infection and keep your immune system humming along. Vitamin K deficiency is rare but when people don’t have enough they suffer from weak bones and compromised immune systems. The inflammation system in the body is also dependent on vitamin K, especially your killer T cells that mobilize and fight cancer and other diseases.How much should you eat in a day: Vitamin K is one of the unsung heroes of the body. Women should get 90 micrograms a day, and men should have 120 micrograms.

12. Sunflower seeds to sprinkle on salads or eat by themselves

Sunflower seeds are especially healthy since they provide phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin B-6 as well as vitamin E. Your immune system needs vitamin E to function at full throttle. You can also get vitamin E from avocados and spinach and broccoli.How much should you eat in a day: Anywhere from 1 ounce (30 grams) per day to a healthy handful is considered healthy, but because they are high in sodium you might want to refrain from eating the entire bag. The raw seeds have 204 calories per quarter cup.

13. Miso, Soup or Paste to Add to Your Soups and Salad Dressings

The nutrients in miso — which is a soybean paste that has been fermented with salt and a koji starter — boosts immune system function by delivering healthy probiotics to the gut, making your microbiome healthier. How does Miso benefit your immune system?  It is a “sirt” food, which are foods that contain high levels of ‘sirtuins’ or proteins that regulate cells and activate metabolism. A diet high in sirts is believed to lead to weight loss, increased wellness and longevity.How much should you eat in a day? Researchers believe that consuming one bowl of miso soup per day, as is the tradition in Japan, lowers the risks of breast cancer. Other than its high sodium content there is no reason to stay away from miso with all its varied health benefits. We say cheers to that.

The post 3 Simple Steps to Start “Clean Eating” to Lose Weight and Boost Immunity appeared first on The Beet.

Why do people tend to overeat carbs on a plant-based diet?

One of the reasons plant-based dieters are likely to overdo the carbs is that they’re really easy to make, find, and eat, says Taub-Dix. “Especially for people who are on the go. Muffins, crackers, bread or rolls are the kind of the foods that you reach for, because they’re so easy, portable, and their prep is basically nonexistent.”

In some cases, the economic ease of eating carbs is a factor. A carb-heavy snack like pretzels is less expensive than nuts, or another plant-based snack. Of course seeds and nuts or a piece of fruit (even though it has carbs is full of fiber) would be a better choice.

“One of the main reasons we all love carbs is that they are the king of comfort,” says Taub-Dix. “When you eat carbohydrates, especially carbohydrates that are pure, like a piece of whole-grain toast, the carbohydrates get absorbed and stimulate the release of the feel-good brain chemical serotonin, which provides comfort feelings.” That’s why you’re more likely to reach for a carb snack when you’re feeling stressed, rather than carrots and hummus. Your body is wired to crave carbs for that serotonin release that will improve your mood.

Six strategies to cut carbs on a plant-based diet

1. Set a daily carb range and follow it

When you first decide to reduce carbs from your plant-based diet, assess how many grams you’re eating daily so you know how much you need to dial it back. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans say that 45 to 65 percent of your diet should be carbohydrates (about 225 to 325 grams per day).  That’s if you’re following a 2,000-calorie diet, which is often used as an example. If you’re eating less than 2,000 calories, dial it down accordingly.

“Not everyone needs a 2,000-calorie diet,” says Taub-Dix. “And for some people, 325 grams is a lot of carbs each day and not necessary.” If you’re trying to lose weight, experiment within the lower end of the range. Download an app that will help you track carb counts to find a range you feel satisfied with while creating balanced meals. We like MyFitnessPal, Carb Manager, Senza, and Macros to name a few.

2. Fill up on Natural Sources of Carbs, and Eat as Much Fiber as You Can

Remember that carbs aren’t just grains, potatoes, pasta, and rice. Sources of naturally occurring carbs include fruits, vegetables, dairy, nuts, seeds, and legumes. Choose carbs that are high in fiber, unprocessed, and filling, like carrots, broccoli, artichokes, and beets.

The most important thing to calculate when choosing carbs is “net carbs” which are the carbs absorbed by the body. To calculate your net carbs, subtract the fiber in your food from your carbs. That is the number of carbs that your body uses as fuel, or if you don’t use them (walking, running, commuting or just sitting at your desk) those carbs are the ones slated to be stored as fat.

To calculate net carbs in processed foods, subtract the fiber and a portion of the sugar alcohol on the label (which also does not get absorbed the same way as carbs) from the total carbohydrates listed. In general, most processed food is lower in fiber than natural whole foods, so if you’re eating carbs, eat complex carbs in the form of grains, vegetables, and fruits.

3. Try a Plant-Based Delivery Service

Some plant-based meal delivery services allow you to choose meals that are lower in carbs, when you sign in and choose the menu choices, such as Purple Carrot’s Spaghetti Bolognese with zucchini noodles and ground “beef” crumbles or one of Thrive Foods Direct’s meals. Learn to cook this way as you go: Those zoodles have fewer net carbs than regular pasta because the fiber content in the zucchini counts in your favor.

4. Trim Your Carb Portions Throughout the Day

Cutting down on your carbs without feeling like you’re eliminating them altogether is the key to success. Just by slicing your current carbohydrate consumption in half and doubling up on vegetables, you’ll add the necessary fiber to lower the carb impact on your body.

For breakfast, cook 1/3-cup of dry oats with low-carb fruits, like blueberries, to round out your meal and give you slow-burning energy to start your day.

Make your lunch sandwich open-faced and choose a bread that has at least 3 grams of fiber per slice. Portion out a ½-cup of brown rice at dinner since brown rice has more than four times the fiber of white rice.

5. Add Low-Carb, High-Fiber Vegetables to Every Meal

You’re patting yourself on the back for following a plant-based diet, but if most of your veggie intake is potatoes, corn, and peas, you could be making smarter choices. Pile your plate with leafy greens, peppers, zucchini, asparagus, tomatoes, and green beans. Lose the starchy vegetables (potatoes) and instead opt for cauliflower, broccoli and brussels sprouts. Choose avocadoes and berries as low-carb fruits instead of bananas which have 27 grams of carbs each.

6. Add healthy fats

In order for you to feel satisfied and full while reducing carbs, you may want to increase the amount of fat and plant protein you’re eating. A study published in The Lancet found that study subjects who ate low-carb diets and replaced their calories with calories from animal-derived fat had a higher mortality rate. Those who replaced the calories with plant-based fats had a lower mortality rate.

To quote the study:

“Low carbohydrate dietary patterns favoring animal-derived protein and fat sources from sources such as lamb, beef, pork, and chicken, were associated with higher mortality, whereas those that favored plant-derived protein and fat intake, from sources such as vegetables, nuts, peanut butter, and whole-grain bread, were associated with lower mortality, suggesting that the source of food notably modifies the association between carbohydrate intake and mortality.”

So the bottom line is: choose carbs that have high fiber content. And round out your diet with low-carb sources like nuts, seeds, tofu, nut oils, nut butter, chia seeds, and hemp seeds.

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