How Many Carbs Should You Eat a Day?
Key takeaways:
Carbohydrates are a nutrient and an essential part of a balanced diet. But eating too many simple carbs versus complex carbs per day can pose health risks.
There are several factors that influence your daily carbohydrate requirement, such as your age, size, and daily activity level.
For some people, reducing how many carbs you eat per day may be necessary for certain conditions or helpful in weight loss. But in most cases, the type of carb matters more than the quantity.
Table of contents
Carbohydrates, or carbs, have been a hot topic for decades. They’re one of the three main macronutrients in your diet, along with protein and fat.
Carbs are an essential part of a balanced diet. They serve as your body's preferred energy source and provide other essential nutrients like B vitamins and dietary fiber. But eating too many carbs per day — or less nutritious versions — can interfere with your health.
Here’s what you need to know about how many carbs to eat per day. More importantly, we’ll also review the types of carbohydrates that are best for your health.
What should your daily carb intake be?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how many carbs you need to eat each day. Multiple factors can influence how many carbs your body needs, such as your:
Activity level
Metabolism
Age
Body size
Health conditions
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that between 45% and 65% of the calories you eat come from carbs. For someone eating 2,000 calories a day, this would be about 225 g to 325 g of carbs per day.
Carbs make up the largest percentage of calories from the three macronutrients. This just goes to show how important they are to your diet.
Despite this guidance, it’s better to focus on eating nutritious carbs rather than focusing too much on a specific number (more on this later).
Does gluten-free mean low carb? Some gluten-free snacks are low carb, but not all.
How do carbs affect your blood sugar? Understanding simple versus complex carbs can help you predict how much certain foods will raise your blood sugar.
High-fiber, low-carb snack options: Learn more about what a dietician recommends as good low-carb snacks that keep you satisfied.
How many carbs should you eat per day to lose weight?
As mentioned above, there are several factors that come into play when determining the right amount of carbs for you, including any weight-loss goals. Excess calories get stored as fat in the body. So eating more carbohydrates than you need may contribute to weight gain.
It’s possible that cutting back on carbohydrate-rich foods may help with weight loss. However, the evidence isn’t convincing. And it may not be sustainable over the long term.
How many carbs per day should you eat if you have diabetes?
Carbohydrate intake plays an essential part in keeping the body’s blood sugar within a healthy range. So, people with diabetes have to be particularly mindful about the amount of carbs they eat per day. In addition to the factors above, the right number of carbs for people with diabetes depends on:
Current blood sugar levels
Your overall blood-sugar trends
Meal schedule
The medications you take for diabetes
The timing of your diabetes medications
If you have diabetes, it’s important to talk with a healthcare professional to know how many carbs you need per day. You’ll also want to learn how to space out your carb intake throughout the day to avoid blood sugar spikes. Working with a certified diabetes care and education specialist can also be helpful to learn the right amount of carbs per day for you.
What is considered low carb?
There is no strict definition of what’s considered “low carb.” Technically, if less than 45% of your daily calories (225 g) come from carbs, that can be considered low carb. However, the number can vary.
Some research suggests that anything less than about a quarter of your daily calories from carbohydrates is low carb. This is around 130 g of carbs or less. Alternatively, the American Academy of Family Physicians considers a much lower amount to be low carb: 20 g to 60 g of carbs per day.
What types of carbs should you be eating each day?
Not all carbs are the same. The type of carbs you eat can make a big difference in your health. There are two main categories of carbs: complex and simple.
Complex carbs
Complex carbs are the most nutritious type of carb. They’re made up of larger molecules and take longer to digest and to be absorbed in the body. This means they have a lower glycemic index and don’t raise blood sugar as quickly. The energy you get from complex carbs is longer lasting. And eating more complex carbs can help control your appetite and support a comfortable weight.
Examples of complex carbs include:
Whole grains like oats, brown rice, and products made with whole wheat
Vegetables, like broccoli, carrots, and bell peppers
Nuts and seeds, like almonds and chia seeds
Beans, like black, kidney, and garbanzo beans
Lentils
Fruits, like apples and berries (fruit contains a mixture of simple and complex carbs)
Simple carbs
Simple carbs, on the other hand, are made up of smaller molecules. Your body digests these types of carbs quickly and easily. Simple carbs have a high glycemic index, which means they raise your blood sugar quickly. This makes them provide quick energy, but it’s not long lasting.
Examples of simple carbs include:
Desserts like cookies, pastries, and cake
Refined grain products, like white rice and white bread
Milk
Health effects of too many carbs
As mentioned, carbs are a vital part of your diet. If you mainly eat whole foods and follow a balanced diet, you shouldn’t have to worry about carbs. But eating too many carbs per day or having a diet that consists of less nutritious options may raise your risk for the following health conditions:
Obesity: Excess carbs can lead to fat storage and contribute to weight gain.
Diabetes: With diabetes, the body either doesn’t make or doesn’t respond well to the hormone insulin. Not having enough insulin leads to high blood-glucose (sugar) levels. Since eating carbs raises blood-glucose levels, people with diabetes need to closely monitor how many carbohydrates they eat and how often they eat them.
Heart disease: Some high-carb diets, especially those high in simple carbs, can lead to high cholesterol levels. Reducing your simple carb intake — and eating healthy fats, lean protein, and complex carbs — can help improve heart health.
Gastrointestinal issues: Health conditions like diverticulitis and diverticulosis, colon polyps, and even colorectal cancer are more likely in people who don’t eat enough fiber in their diets. Eating more high-quality carbs instead of refined carbs helps you get more fiber and keeps your gut healthy.
Cavities and tooth decay: Sugar from simple carbs increases the risk of developing cavities or dental caries. This can lead to tooth decay and many other teeth and gum disorders.
Do you need to follow a low-carb diet?
Most people don’t need to follow a low-carb diet. It’s unnecessary. More specifically, frequent or restrictive dieting can have a negative effect on your metabolism. And it can increase the risk of gaining weight in the long term.
Instead of feeling the need to follow a low-carb or ketogenic diet, it may be easier to focus on the right amount of carbs that’s sustainable for you and your lifestyle. Start with small changes at a time to allow yourself to adapt.
If you have specific questions about how many carbs per day you should have, or the best types of carbs for your unique health needs, you can also consider talking with a registered dietitian.
Which high-carb foods have lower-carb alternatives?
If you’re looking for nourishing, lower-carb options to include in your diet, consider the following swaps:
High-carb food | Lower-carb alternative |
|---|---|
Rice | Cauliflower or other vegetable-based rice |
Tortillas | Egg white tortilla or other low-carb wrap |
Pasta or noodles | Noodles made of vegetables like sweet potato, zucchini, or carrots, or pastas made from lentils, chickpeas, or brown rice |
Starchy vegetables like potatoes, peas, and corn | Non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, onions, bell peppers, and asparagus |
Fruit juice | Vegetable juice, or 1 serving of whole fruit |
Bagels | Bagel thins, English muffin, or whole-grain bread |
Bread and buns | Large lettuce leaves for wraps or sandwich thins |
Traditional pizza crust | Pizza crust made out of vegetables like cauliflower and butternut squash |
Grain-based flours | Non-grain flours like almond flour, coconut flour, and cassava flour |
Soda and other sweetened beverages | Water and other unsweetened drinks like sparkling water or unsweetened teas |
Most sugar-sweetened desserts | Desserts based on nuts, coconut products, or avocados without as much added sugar and with more fiber |
Frequently asked questions
No, carbs aren’t bad for you. In fact, they’re an essential part of a nutritious and balanced diet and an important source of fuel for your body. It’s important to make sure that you eat more complex carbs versus simple carbs each day to reap the most health benefits.
Yes, all carbs eventually break down into sugar. Simple carbs are digested and break down into sugar more quickly than complex carbs. Simple carbs tend to have a greater and more rapid impact on your blood glucose levels than complex carbs.
Not necessarily. Gluten-free foods don’t have wheat gluten, but there still may be other sources of carbs in their ingredients. To understand if a food is low carb, it’s best to read the nutrition label to see how many grams of carbs are in each serving.
The bottom line
Carbs are an essential part of a nutritious and balanced diet. Since many factors influence your carbohydrate needs, there’s no one-size-fits-all number of carbs you should be eating per day. For most people, the type of carb you eat is more important than the quantity. But a diet that includes too many simple carbs — like those from desserts and refined grain products — can negatively affect your health. When possible, it’s best to eat complex carbs, like whole grains, vegetables, and fruits.
Ultimately, it’s important not to focus too heavily on a single nutrient, like carbs. Your overall diet matters a lot. This means eating a variety of foods that are rich in complex carbs, fiber, protein, and healthy fat.
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References
Blomain, E. S., et al. (2013). Mechanisms of weight regain following weight loss. International Scholarly Research Notices Obesity.
Last, A. R., et al. (2006). Low-carbohydrate diets. American Family Physician.
Ludwig, D. S., et al. (2018). The carbohydrate-insulin model of obesity: Beyond ‘calories in, calories out’. Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine.
National Institutes of Health. (2015). Dietary fat vs. carbohydrate for reducing body fat.
Oh, R., et al. (2023). Low-carbohydrate diet. StatPearls.
Slavin, J., et al. (2014). Carbohydrates. Advances in Nutrition.
U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020). Dietary guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025.
