Healthy Swaps for Junky Carbs
When you’re trying to tighten up the waistline one of the first things most people cut out are the junky carbs, even if you’re not doing a “low carb diet”.
And rightfully so!
As our consumption of processed sugars and grains has gone up, so have the waistlines of countless American’s.
Waistlines aren’t the only thing going up…there’s also our rate of type II diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.
So cutting out the junky carbs is a fantastic first step. The question then becomes…
“What do I eat instead?”
I’m going to give you multiple swaps for 3 common carbs that we usually struggle to let go of. These swaps will make it a lot easier to stick to your plan.
Whether you’re doing basic clean eating, paleo, whole 30, or even a low carb or keto diet, there will be some swaps that can work for you here.
These won’t be exactly like the comfort foods you’re used to, but they feel familiar enough to give you that comfort food feeling - which goes a long way when you’re making dietary changes.
Pasta
“I want to lose weight but I love my pasta!”
Yeah, you and me both sister. I wasn’t named Nikki noodle for nothing. Luckily there are a lot of great substitutes out there to get the job done!
Are they exactly like a wonderful bowl of mac n cheese? Not really, but they’re close enough to scratch that pasta itch when you’re cleaning up your diet.
Using the worst, better, best guidelines we’ll break down my 4 favorite pasta swaps…
- Better -
>>> Banza noodles:
These are still processed and too high in carbs for my fellow keto-ers. But they have much fewer carbs than traditional noodles and instead of being made from flour, they are made from chickpeas. They really pack a punch with protein also! Anytime we can swap junky carbs for protein is a win.
They are firm like a whole wheat noodle, but I personally think they taste great and you can use them just as you would any other pasta.
- Even Better -
>>> Palmini noodles:
These noodles are made from Heart of Palms. They have the perfect pasta texture! To me, they seem a tiny bit tart, but if you’re putting any sauce on them at all, you do not taste it. They come in at only 4g total carbs and 2g of fiber = 2g net carbs and they have 2g of protein. Huge win! And a lot of local grocery stores are starting to sell them.
>>> Sharitaki noodles:
These noodles would be my most fav if it weren’t for the weird water they come floating in. Really it’s just water and citric acid, but you definitely need to rinse them off. The texture and flavor are both phenomenal. These noodles are made from the Japanese Konjac plant and are basically carb-free – there are 2g of carbs and 1g of that is fiber so we’re talking about just 1g net carb!
I have yet to see them in grocery stores but they are pretty easy to find online. I have only had the Miracle Noodle brand and they were a delight.
- Best -
>>> Veggies:
The cheapest and easiest pasta substitute is to simply replace your pasta with a veggie of your choosing. Sure, you can zoodle/spiralize your veggies if you want a more classic pasta look to your food. And you may want to take that extra step when you’re first starting out.
Eventually, you may get lazy like me and be over the zoodle craze. Now I just chop and sautee my veggies real quick and put my sauce on top. (Or, I find them already spiralized at the grocer store, but again this is more expensive).
>>> Spaghetti squash:
Yes, it gets its own listing separate from the other veggies because it’s a little pasta miracle all onto itself. If you haven’t played with spaghetti squash do yourself a favor and close this blog post and go to the store right now!
Ya just cut the thing in half, remove the stringy stuff and seeds with a spoon. Then bake it face down until it’s done which usually takes about 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Once it is ready you simply take a fork and run it back and forth over the squash and it comes off in little strings that seem kinda nooodly 😉
Because it’s a squash many people low carb dieters avoid this veggie. But spaghetti squash has 10g total carbs and 2g of fiber, so it’s 8g net carbs. This will definitely fit into many peeps macros so don’t shy away from this delicious alternative. It will also help you add in some color variation (which means different nutrients) into your diet other than the typical leafy greens that low-carbers tend to stick with.
>>> Cajun shrimp and pasta
Sautee shrimp in cajun seasoning and grass-fed butter. Add some olive oil after cooking to create more sauce and pour over Palmini noodles. Super fast and delicious!
>>> Easy healthy spaghetti
Bake spaghetti squash and shred. Brown beef, strain, then add a can of Rao’s marinara sauce and serve over the squash.
Potatoes
Oh, the poor potato. They really are quite good for you, we’ve just done horrible things to them…like truffle fries. Did I say horrible? I mean delicious, no wait…I mean horrible. Sigh.
Ok depending on what your goals are you can definitely keep your potatoes. If however, you’re trying to drop your carbs, either for the health benefits of being in ketosis or simply to stick with a low carb diet for weight loss, then you’ll be wanting some potato swaps - so here are a few that I love.
>>> Radishes
Oh, you thought I was going to say cauliflower, didn’t you?! We’ll get there. But I personally love my radishes as a potato sub because quite frankly…I’m sick of everything being made from cauliflower.
Ok here’s the deal, radishes plain and uncooked taste nothing like potatoes. The key is to prepare the radishes how you would a potato in specific recipes. Then they’re like magic! And at just 4g total carbs and 2g fiber, it’s a net carb win of only 2g!
>>> Cauliflower
Good grief I hate to even list it because in the low carb world everything is made from cauliflower and you’ve got to mix it up a bit. But there’s a reason this is a staple in low carb homes - because it just works!
You can mash your cauliflower like a potato, chop it and sautee it like rice, or even chop it, cook it, strain it, and make it into a pizza crust. The possibilities are endless!
>>> Cabbage
Cabbage in place of potatoes? Yeah right. Ok, it’s not as logical as the jump from cauliflower to potato, but it can be done. I absolutely love cabbage in place of hash browns!!! You can use shredded cabbage with some egg and make them into little hash brown servings or use as the base of a breakfast skillet instead of potatoes. Works like a charm!
“Hello, comfort food breakfast!”
>>> Radish breakfast potatoes:
Cube and sautee radishes in whatever seasoning you would make cubed breakfast potatoes. I personally like butter, chili powder, salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, and crushed garlic. Serve with whatever breakfast meat or eggs you wish.
>>> Healthy potato salad:
Follow your usual potato salad recipe but swap your standard mayo or miracle whip for Primal Kitchen brand mayo and use diced radishes or chopped cauliflower in place of potatoes. It really hits the spot!
>>> Keto Breakfast Skillet
>>> Best-Ever Cabbage Hash Browns
Sweet Tooth
Now, what to do about that sweet tooth….
Truly the best advice is to just avoid sugary things until your palate for them withers away.
When you use a lot of artificial sweeteners you may not be ingesting the carbs and calories, but we know that it tells your brain sugar is coming, and then sugar doesn’t come. This is thought to further overeating as your body seeks what your brain thinks it’s getting. The science on all of this is pretty murky but one thing is for sure, the use of artificial sweeteners over the past few decades has NOT helped with obesity.
So the best-case scenario is to avoid it.
But, we’re not perfect, especially when starting out. So what things can we do about this sweet tooth instead of falling off the wagon?
>>> Honey
You can use nature’s candy – honey – instead of processed sugar. It’s so darn good for you. Now, if you’re truly low carb or keto, you can’t have honey. But, if you’re following a whole food diet then honey is perfectly fine and probably the best option in my humble opinion.
>>> Sugar substitutes
If you’re keeping the carbs low and want a sugar substitute I opt for natural sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that seems to be a little better tolerated than most and has a decent flavor. But again, you want to use these as sparingly as you can.
Photo from glutenfreehelp.info
>>> Grain-Free Banana Muffins
Grab the recipe. These are not low carb, but they are healthier carbs. They are also gluten-free, paleo, and whole 30 approved. Plus they’re freakin’ delicious!
>>> Dark Chocolate
Grab a piece of REAL dark chocolate. The good stuff, not overly processed and sweetened American milk chocolate. True dark chocolate is lower in carbs and higher in fat than your typical “candy” type chocolate.
The higher the percentage of the cocoa the fewer carbs the chocolate will have, but it will also be more bitter. You can play around with how high you can tolerate.
>>> Fat bombs
I only recommend making these if you’re following a ketogenic diet. They are high in fat as the name suggests. I make mine with equal parts dark chocolate and melted coconut oil. If the percent of cocoa is super high, I may add in a little stevia and some vanilla. Then I pour it into candy molds and freeze. Do not overeat these! Just pop one in your mouth when you have a sweet tooth.
