To round out my list of the best low-carb veggies I went carefully through the 800-plus pages of The Complete Food Counter by Annette Natow and Jo-Ann Heslin to determine which ones have less than half a dozen available carb grams in a 1/2 cup portion. But then I realized that this book has some substantial differences from the authoritative source, the "USDA National Nutrient Database," which I use here instead to show the results for the highest ranking low-carb foods named by "Nutrition Action Health Letter:"

Collards, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1/2 cup: 2 grams of available carb
Spinach, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1/2 cup: 1
Spinach, raw, 1/2 cup: less than 0.5
Kale, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1/2 cup chopped: 3
Chard, swiss, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1/2 cup: 2
Peppers, sweet, red, raw, 1/2 cup chopped: 3
Peppers, sweet, red, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1/2 cup chopped: 4
Brocolli, raw, 1/2 cup chopped or diced: 2
Broccoli, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, chopped: 3
Okra, 1/2 cup cooked, boiled, drained, without salt: 2
Brussels sprouts, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1/2 cup: 4
Lettuce, butterhead (includes boston and bibb types), cos, romaine, green leaf, or red leaf, raw, 1/2 cup shredded: less than 0.5
Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained, 1/2 cup: 2
Avocados, raw, all commercial varieties, 1/2 cup sliced: 1
Artichokes, (globe or french), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1/2 cup hearts: 1
Cauliflower, raw, 1/2 cup: 1
Cauliflower, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1/2 cup: 1
Cabbage, (including Chinese (pak-choi or bok choy), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 1/2 cup shredded: 1

I grew up with some disdain of leafy vegetables as "rabbit food." Maybe we all did.

The first reference to lettuce as rabbit food dates back at least to the 1930s. Considering how wrong everyone from the medical establishment on down has been about nutrition in general, it's not a surprise that we have also been wrong all along about leafy vegetables.

For more information on dietary information for diabetes, visit our Diabetes Diet page! Or see all of David Mendosa's blogs for more great diabetes information.