Hi Everyone –
This will likely be one of my longest posts – but I think one of the most resourceful blogs! One of the questions I get asked a lot is, “How do you determine how many carbohydrates are in specific foods?” We can always read the label. But what happens if our food (or beverage) doesn’t have a label? Like champagne! Champagne does not have a label right? [Side note – if you want to be in the know on the carbohydrate content of all alcohol click HERE to get the 411. I wrote a killer blog on this very topic!] Well, that is why exactly I created this fancy guide to counting carbs for women with PCOS.
The ultimate guide to counting carbs for women with PCOS
If you have ever been in a PCOS nutrition session with me, you know I’m like a carbohydrate calculator. Throw any food my way and I can tell you how many grams of carbohydrates are in that particular food. But no worries if you’re not a freak show like me 🙂 That is a-okay!
I’ve created what I consider to be a comprehensive guide to counting carbs for women.with PCOS. This list should be awesome for any woman who has PCOS and is counting their carbs (Hint: if you have PCOS you should always being counting your carbs!)
This list is by no means all-inclusive – but I think I cover the majority carbohydrate containing foods most people eat. If a food is not listed — a great resource which I use all the time is www.calorieking.com . This website is awesome! You can download the app and have the carb count of all foods at the tap of a button! And extra bonus – it is FREE!
You have probably heard me reference that I often recommend a total intake of carbohydrate for most women with PCOS to be between 90 – 140 grams per day. You can use this list below to see how close you are coming within those targets. To be fair – I never count the carbohydrates that are in non-starchy vegetables. The only ones I do count are the starchy vegetables, peas, corn, potatoes and the winter squashes. All other vegetables have about 5 grams of carbs in each 1/2 cup.
Here you go! Enjoy The PCOS Dietitian’s guide to counting carbs for women with PCOS
The BEST guide to counting carbs for women with PCOS
Carbohydrate Content of Foods
BREADS / CRACKERS / GRAINS/ STARCHY VEGETABLES
* carbohydrate content may vary from brand to brand, always read the food label if there is one!
Starches Amount Carb grams
Breads
Bread, white or wheat 1 slice (1 oz) 15 g
Light bread 1 slice (1 oz) 7-8 g
Low Carb bread 1 slice (1 oz) 9 g
Challah 1 oz 15 g
Lavash, plain 2 oz 30 g
Pita bread, all types 2 oz 30 g
Mini/Pocket 1 oz 15g
Turkish/Middle Eastern 1 oz 15 g
Hamburger or Hot dog bun 1 bun 20 g
Dinner rolls 1 small 15 g
Sandwich roll 1 medium (2 oz) 30 g
Bagel 1 (Deli style) 60-70g
Mini bagel 1 (1 oz) 15 g
Croissant, plain 1 mini (1 oz) 15 g
1 medium (1 ½ oz) 20 g
1 large (2 ½ oz) 35 g
Danish, fruit 1 regular 30 g
Doughnut 1 medium 25 g
Pancake or waffle, frozen 1 small 15 g
English muffin, plain 1 30 g
Muffin, blueberry 1 small (2 oz) 30 g
Dunkin Donuts 1 regular 75 g
Tortilla, corn, 6” 1.2 oz, each 10 g
Soft Taco 1 15 g
Flour Tortilla 1 (1.7 oz) 30 g
Burritos Tortilla 1 30 g
Wraps, plain
Regular size 1 75 g
Large size 1 120 g
CRACKERS
Saltine 1 cracker 2 g
Cheese 1 crackers 2 g
Graham 1 cracker 5 g
Wheat Thins 1 cracker 1 g
Soda 1 cracker 10 g
Peanut Butter 1 cracker 4 g
CEREALS
Oatmeal 1 cup (cooked) 30 g
Farina 1 cup (cooked) 25 g
Dry Cereal 1 cup 22 – 45 grams
GRAINS
Rice, white or brown 1 cup (cooked) 45 g
Spaghetti 1 cup (cooked) 40 g
Elbows/spirals 1 cup (cooked) 40 g
Small Shells 1 cup (cooked) 30 g
Mac & Cheese 1 cup (cooked) 30 g
Grits 1 cup (cooked) 30 g
STARCHY VEGETABLES
Corn ½ cup 15 g
Corn on the cob 1 medium 20 g
Popcorn 3 cups 15 g
Potatoes
Plain, baked small (3 oz) 15g
Wendy’s, baked large 60-70g
Mashed ½ cup 15g
Plantain 1 medium 30 g
Yam ½ cup (mashed) 15 g
Yucca ½ cup (mashed) 15 g
Hash brows ½ cup (mashed) 10 g
French Fries
McDonald’s small 25 g
medium 60 g
large 70 g
Restaurant style 15 fries 25 g
BEANS
Beans, dry:
Black-eyed peas 1 cup (cooked) 30 g
Lentils or peas 1 cup (cooked) 40 g
Navy beans 1 cup (cooked) 45 g
Pinto or Black beans 1 cup (cooked) 45 g
Beans canned:
Backed in sweet sauce 1 cup 50 g
Black or Kidney beans 1 cup 40 g
Chili with beans 1 cup 30 g
Garbanzo beans 1 cup 50 g
Lima beans 1 cup 30 g
Refried beans 1 cup 40 g
FRUIT/ FRUIT JUICES
* Use a Food Scale to measure carbohydrate content of fruit per amount (oz.)
Food Amount Carb grams
FRESH FRUIT
Apple
Small 4 oz * 15 g
Medium 6 oz 25 g
Large 8 oz 35 g
Apricots 1 medium (2oz) 6 g
Applesauce ½ cup unsweetened 15g
Banana
1 medium 5 oz 20 g
1 large 7 oz 25 g
Berries 1 cup 20 g
Cantaloupe/Honeydew 1 oz 2 g
1 cup (cubes) 15 g
Cherries 10 pieces 10 g
Clementine 1 medium (3 oz) 15 g
Grapefruit ½ fruit 15 g
Grapes 15 pieces 15 g
Kiwifruit 1 medium (3 oz) 10 g
Mandarin 1 small (3 oz) 6 g
Oranges
Small 1 (5 oz with skin) 12 g
Medium 1 (7 oz) 18 g
Papaya ½ cup (cubed) 8 g
Medium 1 (with skin) 30 g
Peaches 1 medium (4 oz) 8 g
Plum 1 small (2 oz) 6 g
Pear 1 medium (6 oz) 22 g
Pineapple 1 thick slice (3 oz) 10 g
Strawberries 1 cup (sliced) 10g
3 large (2 oz) 3 g
Watermelon 1 cup cubes 12 g
CANNED FRUIT
(check the label!)
DRIED FRUIT
Apricots 8 halves (1 oz) 15 g
Prunes 3 medium 15 g
Raisins 2 Tbsp. 15 g
FRUIT JUICE
Apple juice 4 oz (1/2 cup) 15 g
Grape juice 4 oz (1/2 cup) 20 g
Orange juice 4 oz (1/2 cup) 12 g
Vegetable juice 4 oz (1/2 cup) 6 g
MILK / YOGURT
Food Amount Carb grams
MILK
Whole, low-fat or skim 8 oz (1 cup) 12 g
Chocolate milk 8 oz 26 g
Soymilk (plain) 8 oz 8-10 g
YOGURT
Plain yogurt 8 oz (1 cup) 12-14 g
Light yogurt 8 oz 16-20 g
Fruited yogurt 8 oz 32-40 g
Greek yogurt (plain/non-fat) 6 oz. 7-10 g
Greek yogurt (plain/ 2%) 6 oz 7-10 g
Greek yogurt (flavored/non-fat) 6 oz. 8-35 g
CONDIMENTS / SWEETENERS
Food Amount Carb grams
SUGARS
Table sugar 1 Tbsp 15 g
Honey 1 tsp 6 g
Jam or preserve 1 Tbsp 15 g
Syrup, Regular 1 Tbsp 15 g
Syrup, Light 1 Tbsp 7 g
BBQ sauce 1 Tbsp 6 g
Ketchup 1 Tbsp/ 1 pkt 5 g
Spaghetti sauce ½ cup 10 g
Cranberry sauce ¼ cup 25 g
FAST FOODS
* Ask for nutritional information where you buy/eat fast food
New York style pizza 1 slice 45 g
As I noted I am sure I missed a couple of foods. But I did my best to provide you with a comprehensive guide to counting carbs for women with PCOS . Let me know in the comments below if I missed any of your favorite carbohydrate containing foods. I would love to know. Bet your eyes are better than mine! ♥
