Top 5 Most Delicious Low Carb Fruits for Your Diet

According to recent statistics, Americans get 12% of their daily calorie intake from saturated fat. While this makes sense- it’s difficult to find food that isn’t chock-full of carbohydrates- it can cause a lot of long-term health issues. Obesity and related illnesses like diabetes and heart disease can cause a lot of problems, so it’s best to be cautious.

Luckily, there are lots of foods that you can eat that are low in unhealthy sugars and fats! Low carb fruits are one of the best ways to get your daily dose of delicious sweetness while remaining conscious of your health. Here, we’re going to talk about what makes a fruit low-carb and give you some of the best options for low-carb fruits on the market!

What Makes a Fruit ‘Low-Carb?’

Before you can understand low-carb fruits, it’s important to know why fruits generally have a lot of carbohydrates. Basically, they’re high in naturally occurring sugars, which metabolize into carbs when taken into the body. This is why many low-carb diets specifically say to avoid fruit, which is… bad advice, to say the least.

The sugars found in fruits aren’t bad. The human body needs some sugars to survive. It’s simply that you should be conscious of what fruits you’re eating and the types of sugars found in them. There are three types of sugars found in most foods:

  • Glucose, which is essential because the body uses them as an energy source for the brain and muscles
  • Fructose, which occurs both naturally (in fruit- which is good for your liver in moderation) and synthetically (in high fructose corn syrup- which is never good for you)
  • Sucrose, which is usually bad for you (it’s what makes up candy, chocolate, etc),  but is occasionally alright when it naturally occurs in some fruits

Eating delicious fruit in moderation is actually a great way to both stay healthy and keep your palate happy. Let’s take a look at some of the best low-carb fruits you can get!

1.  Berries

Berries are one of our absolute favorite fruits. You can pop them in your mouth and eat them whenever you want a delicious and healthy snack. They also make for an amazing dessert to eat after a meal in lieu of synthetic sweets.

They also are incredibly low in carbs. For every 100g od strawberries you eat, you’ll only get a net 5.68g of carbohydrates. However, there are only 7.68g of carbs total in these servings- the rest is fiber. This 7.68g is the lowest amount of fiber that you’ll find in any berry.

The award for the lowest net carbs, however, goes to blackberries. You get 9.61g of carbs per 100g of blackberries, but because of the 5.3g of fiber that balances it out, you only end up with 4.31g of net carbs. This is the lowest net carbs in any berry.

Love raspberries? That’s great! They also are a low carb fruit and have a lot of vitamin C to boot. You can eat some raspberries- or any berries, really- with some wheat bread and lean cheese for the perfect lunch. These foods all pair well together and create a well-balanced flavor!

2.  Melon

Most varieties of melon also classify as low-carb fruit. In fact, watermelon is considered to be the lowest-carb fruit out there- per 100g of fruit, you’ll only end up with 7.55g of carbohydrates total. This isn’t the net carbs, either. This is the total amount! Pretty awesome, right?

Cantaloupe is pretty great, too. With 8.16g of carbs and .9g of fiber, it nets only 7.26g of carbohydrates. Similarly, 100g of honeydew has 9.09g of carbs and .8g of fiber for every 100g of fruit, which gives it a net 8.29g of carbohydrates. Combined with the fact that these melons contain a lot of vitamin C and potassium, this makes them pretty healthy!

Also, it’s pretty cool to note that all melons are considered to be low-fructose. Most of the sugars they contain are glucose, which is healthy and essential to your body’s well-being!

3.  Kiwi 

Measuring a kiwi in grams makes no sense, so we’re going to tell you about the carb content of a single mid-sized kiwi. Since, you know, that’s how you’ll be eating it.

There are about 11g of carbs in one of these fruits, which isn’t a lot when you consider the other content of a kiwi. They contain over twice as much vitamin C as oranges do and a whole lot of fiber. This makes them ideal for regulating your blood sugar and fighting against diabetes. It also helps to lower cholesterol and keep your heart healthy.

4.  Pineapple

Pineapple is richer in sugar than other options on this list because it’s a tropical fruit. However, with 22g of carbs in one fruit, it’s still considered to be low-carb. Plus, it’s still good for these on a diet because it has a lot of thiamin in it. This means that it combats inflammation and ensures that your organs, muscles, and joints are all healthy and pain-free.

Both kiwi and pineapple are the perfect fruits for including in a summer salad. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on them as they sit on a bed of lettuce with some honey-glazed nuts and grilled chicken thrown in. It truly is the perfect meal.

5.  Avocados

While you may not have known this, avocados are indeed a fruit. The pit in the middle is a seed, and the other properties that this extremely nutrient-rich and low-carb food has are similar to that of other pitted fruits.

For each 100g of avocado you eat, you’ll only get a net 1.83g of carbohydrates. When you consider that you’re getting 6.7g of fiber from the same serving, this is an incredibly low number!

You can eat avocados on sandwiches to add a bit of texture to them. They also make an excellent ingredient for handmade Japanese maki rolls and can be paired here with eel, salmon, or cucumber.

Avocados are also absolutely delicious when thrown into salads with exotic herbs and spices. These herbs can often be decarbonated and have unnecessary sugars removed from their constitution. For more information on how this process works, check out this decarb guide!

More on Tasty Low Carb Fruits

Now that you know some of the best low carb fruits that you can look forward to eating with your next meal, it’s time to learn more. Check out the ‘recipes’ tab on our home page to learn some of the awesome things that you can cook using the delicious fruit that you love!

Bon appetit!