low carb diet recipes are essential to any diet plan

When you take in in extra calories and don't offset them by increasing your physical activity, you will gain weight. You can lose weight and keep it off by preparing your meals using healthy low carb diet recipes and increasing your daily physical activity.

Follow this link for the most effective low carb diet recipes and low carb diet for losing weight fast and safely.

Low carb diet recipes should consist of healthy, nutritious low carbohydrate foods and be rich in essential vitamins and minerals. Essential vitamins and minerals are vital substances the body cannot make and must be taken from the diet.

Also, it is very important how low carbohydrate foods are prepared in the recipes. In order for these foods to be enjoyable and palatable, the low carb diet recipes should include herbs, flavors, and spices. Herbs, spices, and flavors have negligible calories and carbohydrate content.

The main ingredients in high carbohydrate dishes and desserts are fat, sugar and flour. These are the culprits that cause obesity. However, a number of foods are commercially available with substantially lower calorie ingredients than their normal counterparts. All of these ingredients can be used in low carb diet recipes.

Sugar can be replaced with artificial sweetners that have negligible calories and carbohydrate content. There are numerous sweeteners on the market. They can be found in most local grocery stores.

Splenda is the latest artificial sweetener to hit the market. The sweetener has been combined with maltodextrin and measures just like sugar, spoon-for-spoon, cup-for-cup. Splenda is not completely free of carbohydrates, but it has far less carbohydrates per teaspoon than sugar.

Splenda has 0.5 grams of carbohydrates per teaspoon. Whereas, sugar has 4 grams of carbohydrate per teaspoon. The sweetness of Splenda is not lost during cooking or baking. By using Splenda, one can significantly reduce the carbohydrate and calorie content of low carb foods and retain sweetness.

Flour is a starch and is very high in calories. All starches are carbohydrates. Recipes that contain a lot of flour are equally as fattening as those that contain a lot of sugar. Delectable low carbohydrate foods can be prepared from low carb diet recipes using flour substitutes.

The most popular flour subsitutes are the low carbohydrate bake mixes. There are several different brands of these mixes on the market. Most of these mixes are generally a combination of some form of protein and fiber, such as soy, whey and sometimes oats.

Butter or oil can be used in low carb diet recipes. However the amount of butter or oil should be limited. Fats and oils are enegy dense ingredients and can add extra calories to low carbohydrate food dishes. A small amount of fat is required in the diet to enhance the absorption of fat soluble vitamins.

However, too much fat or oils added to low carbohydrate dishes can be fattening. To reduce the number of calories from fat, skim milk can be used instead of whole milk. Below is an example of just one of many delectable, healthy low carb diet recipes you can choose from:

SPINACH STUFFED PEPPERS

3 green, red, or yellow bell peppers 8 cups of water 1 pkg. chopped frozen spinach (10 oz.) 1 large tomato, diced 3/4 cup 1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 cup shredded non-fat or part-skim mozzarella

DIRECTIONS:

1) Cut each pepper in half lengthwise. Remove seeds. In a 6 quart or Dutch oven stockpot, bring water to boil over high heat. Add peppers. Cook for 4 to5 minutes, or until tender-crisp. Rinse with cold water, drain. Arrange pepper-cut-sides up in a 10 to 12 square casserole. Set aside.

2) Heat oven to 350F. Prepare spinach as directed on package. Drain, pressing to remove excess water. In a small mixing bowl, combine spinach and other ingredients, except cheese. Spoon spinach mixture evenly into peppers. Sprinkle cheese over peppers. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and pepers are hot through center.

Number of servings per recipe: 6

Serving size: 1/2 pepper

Calories per Serving: 60

Carbohydrate per serving: 11 grams

Fat per serving: less than 1 gram

Low carb diet recipes can help you to plan a variety of healthy meals. Choosing the right low carb diet recipes is the key to healthy cooking, eating and successful weight loss.