A low-carb diet for beginners: which foods contribute
The most important points at a glance
Moderately low-carb means up to 35 percent of energy or no more than 140 grams per day. For comparison, according to the BZfE, the usual requirement is about 225 grams for women and 290 grams for men. So this is about halving the amount, not giving it up entirely.
The more important lever is the type of food, anyway. Compared with products made from white flour, whole-grain products provide more nutrients and fibre, and the recommended amount of fibre is at least 30 grams a day. If you only reduce the amount but leave the type unchanged, you lose exactly that fibre.
You will first read what low carb means in numbers, followed by a table of carbohydrate contents, three common misconceptions, a comparison with the ketogenic version, and an honest section about how to tell when this diet does not fit into your everyday life.
What to expect in this article
1. What low carb means in numbers
2. Why the type matters more than the amount
3. What disappears when you cut things out
4. Which foods provide how many carbohydrates
5. Where cutting back is unquestionably worthwhile
6. Three statements that refuse to go away
7. What a low-carb day actually looks like
8. What really happens when you lose weight
9. How to tell that it is not right for you
10. How to find out what suits your body
11. Limits: what a DNA test cannot do
12. What you can change starting tomorrow
Frequently asked questions
Sources
What low carb means in numbers
The term is vague, and that is the first problem for beginners. It ranges from a slight reduction to a ketogenic diet, with a fivefold difference in between.
The consumer advice centre draws a useful line. A moderately low-carbohydrate diet is one in which up to 35 percent of energy, or no more than 140 grams per day, comes from carbohydrates (2022). Anything below that is a different category.
The German Federal Centre for Nutrition provides the baseline: More than half of daily calories should come from carbohydrates—about 225 grams for women and 290 grams for men (2025). Going from 225 to 140 is a noticeable change, but not one that eliminates entire food groups.
Key point
Low carb is not a diet but a range. Someone who talks about it without a number may mean 140 grams a day—or possibly 25.
Why the ambiguity of the term comes at a cost
Anyone who sets out to eat low carb without a number in mind will use product descriptions as a guide. But those are geared toward the strictest version because it promises the biggest difference.
The result is a change that is harsher than necessary, cuts out more than makes sense, and therefore ends sooner. Having a number in mind prevents that. Forty grams less of a side dish is a different task from giving up bread.
Once someone has worked out the 140 grams, they also notice that an ordinary day is often closer to that figure than expected. For many people, the largest single source is not bread but a drink.
Why the type matters more than the amount
This is where the sentence that makes the biggest difference for beginners appears, and it comes from the Federal Centre for Nutrition.
Documented source
“Whole-grain products are particularly valuable for our bodies. Compared with refined-flour products, they provide more nutrients and fiber.”
Federal Centre for Nutrition (BZfE)
Carbohydrates, as of 02/28/2025
The sentence sounds harmless, but it has an uncomfortable consequence for low carb. Whole-grain products are rich in carbohydrates. If you reduce the amount and cut whole grains first, you lose exactly the nutrients and fiber that make these foods valuable.
The DGE lists whole-grain products, vegetables, fruit, legumes, and potatoes as high-quality sources of carbohydrates. Four of these five groups appear on the chopping block in many low-carb guides.
What this means for the order of priorities
For beginners, this results in a clear order of priorities. First, change the type—for example, replace refined flour with whole grain and white rice with brown rice. Only then reduce the amount, specifically for items that contribute little anyway.
This order costs nothing and loses nothing. Reversing the order lowers the number on the label and the fiber at the same time.
What disappears along with what you leave out
The DGE guideline for fiber is at least 30 grams per day for adults, derived from a fiber density of at least 14.6 grams per 1,000 kilocalories (basis of the calculation as of 2021).
Fiber is found almost exclusively in carbohydrate-rich foods: whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruit. Meat, fish, eggs, and cheese contain none. A diet that reduces carbohydrates while leaving the rest unchanged inevitably reduces fiber intake as well.
This is not an argument against low carb. It is a reminder of which item needs to be planned for when making the change. Someone who eats 140 grams of carbohydrates a day while favoring vegetables and legumes reaches both figures. Someone who gets 140 grams from white bread reaches neither.
How to recognize a low-fiber dietary change
A simple test: Look at what has replaced the carbohydrates on your plate. If it is vegetables and legumes, the fiber is still there. If it is meat, cheese, and eggs, it is gone.
Both qualify as low carb according to the definition. Only one also meets the guideline of 30 grams of fiber; the other does not. No number of grams on a package reveals this difference.
Which foods provide how many carbohydrates
The following overview assigns food groups to the three levels resulting from a daily allowance of 140 grams. Where documented amounts are available, they are included.
| Food group | Level | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetables, all varieties | allowed | The DGE lists vegetables among the high-quality carbohydrate sources. With a 140 g allowance, they make hardly any difference |
| Meat, fish, eggs, cheese | allowed | Practically carbohydrate-free, but they also provide no fiber |
| Legumes | allowed | Classified by the DGE as a high-quality source. The most important source of fiber that remains within the allowance |
| Whole-grain bread | reduced · 39 g per 100 g | Two slices of 50 g each contain around 39 g, or a good quarter of the daily allowance |
| Whole-grain pasta | reduced · 61 g per 100 g | A 100 g dry portion contains 61 g, which is almost half the allowance |
| Whole-grain rice | reduced · 74 g per 100 g | The highest value in the overview. Half a portion fits; a full portion exceeds the rest of the day's allowance |
| Potatoes | reduced | Classified by the DGE as a high-quality source. No documented content in the sources reviewed |
| Fruit | reduced | Also considered a high-quality source by the DGE. With a 140 g budget, there is room for one or two portions |
| Refined-flour products | eliminated | The first item that should be cut: many carbohydrates with fewer nutrients and less fiber than whole-grain products |
| Sugar and sugary drinks | eliminated | The only point that the DGE also wants to see limited independently of low carb: under 10 percent of energy |
| White rice, refined pasta | eliminated | Not because of the carbohydrates, but because the whole-grain version provides more at a similar carbohydrate content |
This overview shows that the “eliminated” column contains different items from the ketogenic version. There, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, legumes, and fruit are all on the elimination list. Here, they are reduced or allowed.
That is precisely where the practical difference lies. With 140 grams, a side dish is included; with 25 grams, it is not. Anyone who wants to see what the strict version looks like can find it in the article on keto nutrition.
Where cutting something out is clearly beneficial
Low-carb advocates and professional societies agree on one point, and that is sugar. The German Federal Centre for Nutrition notes: Too much sugar is harmful to health. In the long term, consuming too much sugar can contribute to overweight and significantly increase the risk of type 2 diabetes (2025).
The same source calls sugar a source of empty calories because it contains no vitamins or minerals, and points out that it harms the teeth.
The scale of it: A consensus paper by the DGE, the German Obesity Society, and the German Diabetes Association specifies a maximum intake of free sugars of less than 10 percent of total energy intake (2018). At 2,000 kilocalories, that is around 50 grams per day.
Why this is the best place to start
If you do not know where to start with low carb, start here. It is the only item you can cut without creating an evidenced disadvantage, and the only one for which professional societies also specify an upper limit.
Everything else involves weighing fewer carbohydrates against less fiber. With sugar, there is no such trade-off.
Three statements that persist stubbornly
Widespread versus supported by evidence
Widespread
“Carbohydrates make you fat.”
Supported by evidence
For a wholesome mixed diet, the DGE recommends getting more than 50 percent of energy intake from carbohydrates and names whole-grain products, vegetables, fruit, legumes, and potatoes as high-quality sources. Sugar has its own upper limit of less than 10 percent of energy intake (DGE, DAG and DDG, 2018).
Widespread
“On a low-carb diet, the pounds fall off by themselves.”
Supported by evidence
Weight loss is usually between 5 and 10 percent of initial body weight within twelve months, and at first people mainly lose 2 to 3 kilograms of water (Verbraucherzentrale, 2022).
Widespread
“Whole grains are off-limits on a low-carb diet.”
Supported by evidence
Compared with white-flour products, whole-grain products provide more nutrients and fiber (BZfE, 2025). With a budget of 140 g per day, two slices of whole-wheat bread at around 39 g fit in.
What a low-carb day looks like in practice
Two examples, calculated against the budget of 140 grams. They show how much can fit within it.
A day that works out
In the morning, scrambled eggs with vegetables and a slice of whole-wheat bread at around 20 grams. At lunch, fish with half a portion of whole-grain rice—50 grams dry, or around 37 grams. In the evening, salad with legumes and cheese. Plus an apple in the afternoon.
This day stays below 140 grams, includes bread, a side dish, fruit, and legumes, and therefore also covers fiber. It differs from an ordinary day mainly in the portion sizes of the side dishes.
A day that goes off track
The same day with a full portion of whole-wheat pasta—100 grams dry—instead of half a portion of rice already comes to 61 grams from that alone. Add two slices of bread at 39 grams and a sugary drink, and the budget is used up before dinner.
The difference between the two days lies not in the selection, but in the amount of side dishes and one drink. That is the actual change with low-carb eating, and it is smaller than its reputation suggests.
What really happens when you lose weight
The initial success is real and is regularly overestimated. The Verbraucherzentrale notes that with low-carbohydrate diets, people often lose weight quickly at first, but initially this is mainly a loss of two to three kilograms of water (2022).
Three figures for context
140 g
Maximum amount of carbohydrates with a moderately low-carbohydrate diet
30 g
Guideline for fiber per day that should be achieved
5 to 10%
Weight loss as a percentage of initial body weight over twelve months
Sources: Verbraucherzentrale, 2022; German Nutrition Society, reference values for fiber, derivation status 2021
Why the figure seems smaller than it is
Five to ten percent may sound like little. At 90 kilograms, that is 4.5 to 9 kilograms over twelve months. That is an amount that holds up in everyday life, unlike the promises circulating that same week.
IQWiG adds a warning that applies to every type of diet: Many diets do not remain successful in the long term or even cause a yo-yo effect, in which weight is higher for some time after the diet than it was before (2022).
Chapter at a glance
Moderate low-carb eating means no more than 140 grams of carbohydrates per day, compared with the usual requirement of 225 to 290 grams. Over twelve months, weight loss is usually five to ten percent of initial body weight, of which two to three kilograms are water at the beginning. Anyone who keeps the guideline of 30 grams of fiber in mind does not lose more than carbohydrates.
Why twelve months is the right benchmark
The Verbraucherzentrale figure refers to one year, not four weeks. That is unusual for diet figures and therefore the more honest benchmark: It describes what remains after twelve months, not what the scale shows in the first month.
Anyone who measures a change by this figure automatically checks the right characteristic: not how quickly it works, but how long it can be maintained. According to the IQWiG assessment, that is exactly where most diets fail.
How to tell that it is not right for you
Four signs that this change does not work for your everyday life. First: You eat lunch in a cafeteria where the side dish is an integral part of the meal. Second: You do endurance sports and notice a drop in performance after two weeks. Third: Your digestion changes noticeably because the fiber was eliminated as well. Fourth: You now eat less vegetables than before because you cut back on the wrong items while counting.
The third and fourth points are the most common and the most avoidable. Both occur when the quantity is reduced without anyone looking at the composition.
For diabetes, the consumer advice center explicitly states the following: carbohydrate-reduced diets should not be tried without consulting your family doctor or diabetes practice first (2022). Anyone taking medication whose dosage is adjusted to a specific carbohydrate intake also changes its effects when changing their diet.
How to find out what suits your body
Whether a change is sustainable depends less on the method than on how well it fits into your everyday life. A DNA test by mybody®x (MYBODY Lab GmbH) provides some guidance, with a clear limitation.
DNA test from saliva
DNA Metabolism Analysis | incl. 28-day plan & recipe book
According to the product page, it provides insights into genetic foundations and helps identify foods that fit your everyday life. The product page makes no statement about how many carbohydrates are right for you. The test does not provide a diagnosis or predict weight-loss success.
Laboratory analysis 15–25 business days after receipt of the sample
Product-page information, accessed 28 August 2026
The test includes the MY FOODBOOK with 60 recipe ideas tailored to your personal results. It shows how a result can become concrete meals instead of another list of forbidden foods.
Low carb is more suitable if …
you cook for yourself and determine the portion sizes of your side dishes yourself.
you already eat plenty of vegetables and legumes and get enough fiber from them.
your largest source is sugary drinks and refined flour. Then the change begins exactly where professional organizations also draw the line.
Probably not if …
you have diabetes and take medication without speaking to your healthcare provider beforehand.
you already eat a low-fiber diet. Then the change lowers a value that is already too low.
you are hoping for a quick success from it. The documented range is five to ten percent over twelve months.
What the three examples have in common
In both daily examples and the exclusion criteria, it is never about willpower. It is about cafeterias, portion sizes, drinks, and who cooks dinner.
This is easier to manage with low carb than with the ketogenic version because the framework is broader. Having a side dish in half the usual portion is a compromise that works in almost any cafeteria. Giving it up completely is not.
So anyone wavering between the two should not decide based on what sounds stricter, but on what fits into their own week.
Limitations: what a DNA test cannot do
A DNA test describes a predisposition, not a fixed outcome. It does not provide a diagnosis or predict weight loss. The product page does not state how many carbohydrates are right for you, and nothing that is not stated there is claimed here.
This article also has limitations in terms of content. The reviewed sources did not contain an explicit assessment of low carb by the DGE or the BZfE. The institutions discuss the guideline value for carbohydrates and their quality, not reduction itself as something to oppose. That is a distinction this article does not gloss over.
And the overview in Chapter 4 categorizes groups; it does not replace a nutrition table. The reviewed sources provide no values for potatoes and fruit, which is why no number is given there.
What this article deliberately does not claim
It does not state the effects of low carb on blood sugar, blood lipids, or other values. The reviewed sources contain no statement that an editorial team could cite, and a study without context from a professional institution is the weakest basis for a guide.
It also does not give carbohydrate contents for potatoes, fruit, and vegetables. The reviewed sources provide no figures for these, and no estimates are made here.
What you can change starting tomorrow
If you take away just one action from this article, make it this: change the variety before reducing the quantity. White flour for whole grain, white rice for brown rice, sugary drinks for water.
The reason is unremarkable. Of all the steps in this text, this is the only one where you lose nothing. Reducing quantities takes away fiber along with carbohydrates; switching varieties gives you some back.
The starting question was which foods work with low carb. The complete answer is: almost all the ones you know, in smaller portions and in the better variety. That is less dramatic than most guides suggest and much easier to sustain.
Frequently asked questions
How many carbohydrates are allowed on a low-carb diet?
The Verbraucherzentrale describes a moderately low-carbohydrate diet as one providing up to 35 percent of energy, or no more than 140 grams of carbohydrates per day (2022). For comparison, BZfE cites an average requirement of around 225 grams for women and 290 grams for men (2025). At around 25 grams, the ketogenic version is significantly lower still and belongs in a different category.
Which foods should I cut out first?
Sugar and sugary drinks. This is the only category for which professional organizations also specify an upper limit: less than ten percent of total energy, or around 50 grams per day (DGE, DAG and DDG, 2018). BZfE also notes that too much sugar harms health and that sugar contains no vitamins or minerals (2025). Everything else is a matter of weighing the options; not this category.
Can I eat bread on a low-carb diet?
With a budget of 140 grams per day, yes. According to BZfE, whole-grain bread contains around 39 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams (2025), so two 50-gram slices use up just over a quarter of the daily allowance. Whole grain is the better choice because, compared with white-flour products, it provides more nutrients and fiber. With the ketogenic version, at around 25 grams per day, even one slice no longer fits.
How much weight do you lose with low carb?
Weight loss is usually between five and ten percent of initial body weight within twelve months (Verbraucherzentrale, 2022). The rapid loss at the beginning consists primarily of two to three kilograms of water. IQWiG points out that many diets fail to achieve long-term success or cause a yo-yo effect, in which weight later exceeds its previous level (2022).
What is the difference between low carb and keto?
The amount—by about a factor of five. Moderately low-carb means up to 35 percent of energy or no more than 140 grams per day, while keto means around five percent or about 25 grams (Verbraucherzentrale, 2022). In practice, this means that with low carb, bread, side dishes, and fruit remain part of the diet in smaller portions, while with keto they are eliminated. The Verbraucherzentrale finds no additional benefit in the ketogenic version compared with the moderate one.
Next step
A starting point, not a rule
If you want to know which foods suit your predisposition, the DNA metabolic analysis provides guidance. It does not replace medical advice and does not tell you how many carbohydrates are right for you.
View the DNA metabolic analysis View the strict versionRead more
You might also be interested in
The strict version with around 25 grams of carbohydrates per day and the reasons why the Consumer Advice Centre views it critically.
Because reducing carbohydrates increases the proportion of protein, it is worth taking a look at the figures behind it.
Sources
- Federal Centre for Nutrition (BZfE): Carbohydrates (as of 28.02.2025) – bzfe.de
- Consumer Advice Centre: High-fat and high-protein diets (as of 10.02.2022) – verbraucherzentrale.de
- German Nutrition Society (DGE): Reference values for fiber intake (basis of derivation as of 2021) – dge.de
- German Nutrition Society (DGE): Reference values for carbohydrate intake – dge.de
The verbatim quotation about whole grains, the carbohydrate content of whole-grain bread, whole-grain pasta, and whole-grain rice, the daily amounts of 225 and 290 grams, and the statements about sugar are taken from source [1]. The information on a moderately low-carbohydrate diet, weight loss, water loss, and the note for people with diabetes comes from [2]. The recommended amount of fiber comes from [3], while the recommended amount of carbohydrates and the list of high-quality sources come from [4]. The upper limit for sugar of less than ten percent of energy intake comes from the consensus paper on the quantitative recommendation for sugar intake in Germany by the German Nutrition Society, the German Obesity Society, and the German Diabetes Society (2018); the statement on the yo-yo effect comes from the IQWiG article “Weight Loss Programs and Medications” (2022). Both are attributed in the body text and are therefore not included in the numbered list. Information on price, sample type, and package contents comes from the mybody®x product page, accessed on 28.08.2026. All sources were accessed and reviewed on 28.08.2026.
mybody®x Editorial & Expert Team
Nutritional science Nutrigenetics Laboratory diagnostics Blood analysis interpretation
This article was created by the mybody®x editorial and expert team. The team combines laboratory diagnostics, nutritional science, and the interpretation of blood analyses. Everyone involved can be found on the authors’ page.
Published on 15.10.2025 · Last updated on 28.08.2026
The content is intended for general information and does not replace medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Reference ranges depend on the laboratory, method, and age—what always matters are the details on your test report.
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