Sunday, September 5, 2010

Hidden Carbs- Part II- Beverages Courtesy of Doreen

(Part 2)
Beverages - many beverages we think of as being "free" in fact have carbs in them

- Coffee, both regular and decaf. - 0.8 gm per 6 fl oz; 1.3 gm per 10 oz mug
- Tea, black and green varieties - zero carbs
- Herbal teas - zero to 0.5 carbs, fruit-based are higher
- Diet soft drinks - in general are zero carbs, but check the label carefully. Some fruit-flavoured varieties do have a small amount of carbs, which could add up if you consume a lot.
- Diet fruit drink mixes, eg. Crystal Light - 0.2 gm per 8 fl.oz serving
Seasonings & Condiments - generally, we know that "sweet" sauces and syrups are high in carbs, but there are a few items which we use as dressings, seasonings and flavourings that are higher in carbs than you might expect.

- Herbs - most green herbs from the leaf (basil, mint, oregano, tarragon, etc....) are less than 1 gm per tsp dried, or 2 Tbsp of the chopped fresh herb
- Spices - from the dried root, seed or bark (cinammon, ginger, coriander, cumin, black pepper, cloves, etc....) are 1 gm per tsp of the ground spice
blended spices, such as curry powder, chili powder, Chinese 5-spice, garam masala, pie spice, etc - have 1 gm per tsp
- Vanilla, and other flavour extracts (almond, orange, etc) - 0.5 gm per tsp
- Garlic, fresh, 1 large clove or 1 tsp minced - 1.0 gm; garlic powder, 1 tsp - 2.3 gm
- Ginger root, fresh - 1 Tbsp grated has 1 gm carb
- Vinegar - most vinegars are zero carb - white, cider and wine; balsamic vinegar is 2.0 gm per Tbsp
- Hot sauces - most hot pepper sauces are zero (Tabasco, Red Hot), but beware some varieties such as Jamaican, Trinidad and Cajun style have sugar added. Read labels carefully.
- Bouillon cubes and powders - most commercially available products contain sugar and/or corn syrup. Check the label. One packet or 1/2 cube = 1 carb gm
- Lemon and lime juice, fresh or bottled, 1 Tbsp = 1.0 gm; dried grated rind, 1 tsp = 1.0 gm
- Soy sauce - 0.5 gm per tsp
- Mustard - most plain and dijon prepared mustards are less than 0.5 carb per tsp; beware "honey" varieties, and Russian sweet mustard at 2.0 gm per tsp
- Mayonnaise - most regular real mayonnaise is less than 0.5 gm per Tbsp. Beware the light mayo - 1.0 gm per Tbsp and ultra-low fat at 3.0 to 4.0 gm per Tbsp

Also remember that if a product is under .45g it is rounded to 0g on some nutrition fact labels.

I am finding most of this info on http://www.lowcarb.ca/ , so thank you's to them!

No comments:

Post a Comment