It's very important to eat leafy vegetables like spinach, lettuce, cabbage and so on. These types of vegetables contain many nutrients and also help you to feel full.

Lettuce
Lettuce is one of the staples of many diets. If you have a salad before lunch and dinner, it helps to make you feel full while consuming very few carbs or calories. A half cup of lettuce only has .5g of net carbs in it. On the other hand, lettuce has very few nutrients in it, so make sure you do not live on lettuce alone!
Lettuce Type Information

Cabbage
Cabbage is a bit higher in carb counts - 1.1g per half cup. However, the great texture of cabbage means it's great for being a "wrap" - like wrapping up sandwich meats and other items. I love cabbage with corned beef. It's high in Vitamin C, tho if you cook it for a long time (a la corned beef and cabbage) you leach out most of the vitamins into the water.

Kale
Kale is a leafy veggie related to the cabbage. It's got a TON of Vitamin A and Vitamin K, plus almost a full amount of Vitamin C as well for a cup. You get about 6g of net carbs for that cup. It's well worth that!

Spinach
Spinach is one of nature's perfect foods. It's no wonder that Popeye was addicted to the stuff! It only has .2g per half cup of carbs. That's barely on the scale! It is jam-packed with nutrients. It's got beta-carotene, vitamin K, folic acid, magnesium and much more. Eat your spinach!

Bok Choy
This leafy vegetable is also called "Chinese Cabbage". It is really healthy for you, with almost half of your daily requirements of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Great in stir fry, of course! Bok Choy only has .7g of net carbs per half cup.

The next time you're in the supermarket, grab a random new leafy item that you've never tried before. Give it a shot in a salad, add it to your sandwich, and see what it's like. You never know - it could become your new favorite!

Vegetable Carb Charts


Lisa Shea's Library of Low Carb Books