The Best Carbohydrate Counter for Women With PCOS

by AmyPlano | Jul 23, 2016 | General information about PCOS, PCOS and carbohydrates, PCOS Breakfast Foods, PCOS snacks, Weight Loss

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! ♥