. . . AND PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE FOOD LABELS

IF YOU’RE going low carb, it pays to know how to decode the labels on food packets.

First, check to see the percentage of carbs a food contains — you may need to do a quick calculation if this percentage is not expressed per 100g.

As a general rule of thumb, if you want to be low carb then look for 20 per cent or less of your diet being made up of carbs. Bear in mind that on a strict lowcarb diet, you’re aiming to eat a maximum of 50g carbs in a day.

But what you might not realise is that the amount of carbs you get from a food is affected by the amount of fibre it also contains. As you will know, fibre is very important for digestive health, helping to prevent constipation and helping to make you feel full.

It also slows the rate at which sugar is absorbed from food into the bloodstream, helping to control blood sugar levels.

So what you need to do next to estimate roughly how many carbs are available to the body, is to simply subtract the amount of fibre from the total number of carbs. This is an approximate guide, but a useful one nonetheless.

The low-carb diet is not just about restricting carbs and sugar — you should also be aiming to optimise your protein intake, which is vital for building and repairing tissues and also helps you feel satisfied after a meal.

Your daily protein needs equate to a minimum of 0.8g of protein per kilo of body weight, which is 56g for someone weighing almost 70kg (11st).

Of course, when you’re cooking at home, the ingredient information may not be so readily available. However, to help you we’ve included nutritional information on all the recipes in this series. You can also track your carb intake using resources such as Carbs & Cals (available as a book or an app) or other apps such as MyFitnessPal.