11 Low Carb Fruits and Vegetables To Grow

Eating a healthy diet generally includes eating foods from all food groups in moderation. One of the popular types of diet is a low carb diet. We all know that we should be eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. Growing your own fruits and vegetables at home is a great way to make sure you have access to the ingredients you need to eat well, and can save you money too.

Nutrition is a complex topic but forming a closer connection to food can help you understand it. And there is no better way to learn more about food and understand it better than growing it yourself at home, in a polytunnel or outside.

Those on a low carb diet will be glad to know that low carb vegetables are among the easiest crops to grow. Here are 11 low to very low carb vegetables to consider growing in your garden. Even if you do not have a garden at all, you might be able to grow some of these crops below in containers on a sunny windowsill.

Low Carb Leafy Greens

Leafy greens are always a great addition to a healthy diet, and trace carbs in leaf vegetables come along with plenty of fibre, so these crops have little if any impact on your blood sugar. Leafy greens are low in calories, and crammed with phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals. Fortunately, they are also pretty easy to grow, great for new gardeners.

• Lettuce

• Spinach

• Pak Choi

• Tatsoi

• Mizuna

• Mibuna

• Mustard Greens

• Rocket

• Cabbage

• Kale

• Amaranth

Beyond these 11 very low carb crops, there are also plenty of other low-moderate carb crops to grow in your garden and we include just some more suggestions below:

Stem and Flower Vegetables

Stem and flower vegetables are also very low carb, and also make healthy additions to a low carb diet. Many of the plants from which we eat stems and/or flowers are also great choices for a home kitchen garden. So further sowing and growing choices to help you follow your low carb diet might include:

• Celery

• Swiss Chard

• Calabrese Broccoli

• Sprouting Broccoli

• Romanesco

• Cauliflower

• Broccoli raab

• Kohlrabi

• Huauzontle

• Globe artichoke

• Asparagus

Lower Carb Fruits

While we commonly talk about them as vegetables colloquially, here are some other relatively low carb crops which are technically fruits for your kitchen garden. While these are somewhat higher in carbs than the above, they can still be good choices for a low carb diet:

• Green beans/French beans

• Runner beans

• Tomatoes

• Chilli Peppers

• Bell Peppers

• Aubergines

• Courgettes

• Summer Squash

• Cucumbers

In addition, you should certainly consider growing some perennial fruiting crops to add to your homegrown crops for a low carb diet. In particular, berries have lower net carb than other fruits, so you should consider growing:

• Raspberries

• Strawberries

• Blackberries

• Cranberries

• Blueberries

• Currants

Root Crops

Most root crops are higher in net carbs – parsnips, beetroots and to a lesser degree carrots are great additions to your diet, but should be included only in moderation if you are particularly restricting carbs or paying close attention to blood sugar. However, some root crops have lower net carbs, these include:

• radishes

• celeriac

• turnips

Crops to Avoid

Starchy roots and tubers are best avoided if you are sticking to a low carb diet. While they can be healthy elements of a home grown diet, potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes and other tubers may be best eaten only in moderation if you are trying to reduce carbs to manage blood sugar or reduce in weight.

Is a Low Carb Diet Right for You?

It is always important to consider all the pros and cons of a particular diet. Restricting the ingestion of high-carb or sugary foods can often be a good idea. But restricting carbs too excessively is not always the best option. Particularly low carb diets are not always sustainable or realistic, and going too far can sometimes hinder weight loss since the body will try to conserve energy.

It is often more important to focus on health and nutrition, and a healthy lifestyle over all rather than focussing too rigidly on carb restriction or weight loss. Growing plenty of your own fruits and vegetables could be a great way to reduce your reliance on overly-processed and unhealthy supermarket foods – and it will be better for the planet too.

Growing your own fruits and vegetables at home can help you avoid contributing to harmful farming and food systems. Organic food can, of course, cost more to buy. But you could grow your own food organically at home to make sure you do the right thing for you, humanity in general, and for the planet.

It is sometimes a bad idea to become too hung up on what you eat. Nutrition is important, but balance is key. Thinking holistically about your diet, hydration, exercise, sleep and mental health and well-being can be far more important. Gardening can help you to develop a healthier relationship with food, and to find healthy balance in all areas of your life.

If you have some tips for new gardeners to help them grow their own for a healthy diet, please do share these with us through the links below. Have you become healthier and happier through your grow your own efforts? If so, we’d love to hear from you.