al dente’s Low Carb Pasta Review

I know the low carb eater misses pasta dishes. Pasta is pure carbs. The regular pasta recipe consists of mainly flour, which is where most of the carbs are. I had a ‘healthier’ version of pasta lying around the pantry and saw that a 2oz. serving consisted of 38g of carbs. Pretty high.

I found a low carb pasta on Nutrition, and thought I would give it a try. Al dente’s Carba-Nada pasta was surprisingly affordable and came in several flavors: basil fettuccine (the one I purchased), egg fettuccine, roasted garlic fettuccine, and lemon pepper fettuccine. Al dente is based out of Whitmore Lake, Michigan, the company strives on quality natural ingredients. They also make sauce and other pastas along with their low carb pasta selection.

Finding the Right Low Carb Sauce

Most grocers will have a few big brands of pasta sauce, and possibly others on their shelves today. While pasta sauce is not as carb heavy as pasta, you will generally find a ½ cup serving to have anywhere between 8g and 15g of carbs. If you see any that contain over 15g per serving, put it back on the shelf. They have probably added too much sugar.

Alfredo sauce is also another good choice. Consisting of mainly cheese, butter and cream, these sauces are naturally low carb. Expect to see a serving of alfredo sauce to have between 2g and 6g of carbs. You can also expect more fat though.

Protein In Your Low Carb Pasta

This one is up to you. I chopped up some turkey sausage and cooked it in a little oil before adding sauce to the pan. Beef can also be browned and added to your sauce. Meatballs are also a good choice. Don’t forget seafood either. Fresh shrimp or scallops go great with pasta.

Alcohol and Carbs: The Rules

Drinking is the easiest way to consume the carbs you need to avoid. Keeping an eye on this is necessary, especially when consuming alcohol. Alcoholic drinks vary in sugar, calories, and carbs. Knowing what to look for and order on your low carb diet is an essential part of the low carb diet. Beer, liquor and wine are the most common alcoholic beverages, and this article will focus on what all three mean to the low carb eater.

Carbs and Beer

Beer can be the worst, when looking at carb counts. Beer can have anywhere from 2g to 25g of carbs per 12 oz. serving. Why such a difference? Beer is brewed differently, so differently, that those same beers range in calories from 55 to 250. So what do you look for? The lighter end of beer is the 55 or 60 calorie beer that is marketed by Miller and Budweiser. Both of these contain around 2g of carbs. The micro brewed and stronger beers are at the higher end of the spectrum. Be careful when ordering these.

>

Beer	Calories	Carbs
Blue Moon	171	14
Bud Light	110	7
Budweiser	145	11
Budweiser Select	99	3
Budweiser Select 55	55	2
Coors	149	12
Coors Light	104	5
Corona Light	105	5
Corona Extra	148	14
Michelob Amber Boch	166	15
Michelob	155	13
Michelob Light	113	7
Michelob Ultra	95	2.5
Miller Chill	110	6.5
Miller Genuine Draft	143	13
Miller Genuine Draft 64	64	2
Miller Lite	96	3
O'Doul's	70	13
Pabst Blue Ribbon	144	12
Sam Adams Boston Lager	160	18
Yuengling Lager	135	12

Liquor, 0 Carbs?

Most strong liquor does not contain any carbs. You heard it right, 0 carbs. The problem is no one wants to drink liquor straight, which is where mixed drinks come in. Diet pop can be used, as well as low sugar juices to cut those unwanted carbs. Most other mixers will contain carbs, including tonic water.

While straight liquor contains 0 carbs, there are diluted liquors that are sweeter, and have added flavors. These are common in mixed shots and some drinks. Flavored rums, vodkas, and even whiskeys can contain up to 22g of carbs per shot.

Liquor	Calories	Carbs
Bourbon	70	0
Brandy	65	0
Cognac	70	0
Rum	65	0
Scotch	70	0
Vodka	60	0
Absolute Flavors	110	0
Amaretto	110	17
Bacardi O	70	3
Bailey’s	95	8
Captain Morgan Spiced Rum	65	1
Grand Marnier	75	7
Malibu Rum	60	5
Pucker	72	8

Water or Wine?

Even wine can be sneaky when counting carbs. While most regular wines are acceptable with 3-6g of carbs per glass, dessert wines and sweet wines are not so low. These can have up to 22g of carbs per serving. A general rule for wine is the more sugar the wine has, the more carbs.

All wines are based on a 5oz. glass.

Wine	Calories	Carbs
Chardonnay	100	1
Pinot Grigio	122	2
Riesling	115	5
Sauvignon Blanc	119	3
Merlot	130	4
Shiraz	120	4
Dessert Wine	220	20
Port	185	25
Champagne (Brut)	95	2
Champagne (Rose)	100	6