For most people, the optimal dietary approach seems to include a balance of plant and animal-based foods. Some people prefer more (or all) plants due to ethical or religious reasons, while others prefer no carb foods.

Some people just don’t like veggies, while others struggle to digest plant fibres and find relief from debilitating digestive, mental health^[1] or other symptoms when they avoid plant-based foods and even dairy.^[2] ^[3] ^[4]

Others feel that the nutrients in plant-based foods are less bioavailable and that the nutrients in animal-based foods will be more easily absorbed.^[5]

The chart below shows a comparison of the nutrients provided by:

the most nutrient dense zero carb foods,
the most nutrient dense plant-based foods, and
the most nutrient-dense foods available.

As you might expect, the zero carb foods (red bars) do well in the proteins and fatty acids while the plant-based foods (blue bars) generally contain more vitamins and minerals.

Going zero carb will reduce the insulin load compared to most dietary approaches, although the higher levels of protein may mean that you won’t necessarily be ‘ketogenic’ or showing high levels of blood ketones.

While the recommended daily intake values for various nutrients is debatable, it appears that it is more difficult to obtain the recommended quantity of calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E and vitamin C on a zero carb approach compared to others that contain plant-based foods and hence it may be useful to supplement these nutrients.

You’ll notice the most nutrient dense zero carb foods listed below contain a solid amount of organ meats which are very nutrient dense. The chart below shows the nutrient density of the highest ranking zero carb foods with and without organ meats (cutting out all carbohydrate-containing foods narrows the list of available foods from 8000 to 2887 and removing offal narrows the list to 2784 available foods). Organ meats make a significant difference to the levels of copper, manganese, selenium, vitamin A and vitamin B-12. So if you are going to go with a zero carb approach it makes sense to maximise your organ meats.

The zero carb foods below are sorted using both nutrient density and insulin load (to make sure you’re not just eating lean protein). Also included in the table are the nutrient density score s, percentage of insulinogenic calories, insulin load, energy density and the multicriteria analysis score (MCA) that combines all these factors (see the building a better nutrient density index article for more details on the MCA process).

no carb offal

food	ND	insulin load (g/100g)	calories/100g	MCA
turkey liver	9	21	189	1.6
lamb liver	9	20	168	1.4
chicken liver	9	20	172	1.4
beef brains	5	8	151	1.4
lamb kidney	8	15	112	1.3
veal liver	8	26	192	1.2
beef liver	9	25	175	1.2
chicken liver pate	4	17	201	1.1
lamb brains	3	10	154	1.0
beef kidney	5	20	157	0.8
pork liver	5	23	165	0.7
beef heart	3	16	165	0.7
lamb sweetbread	3	15	144	0.7
liver sausage	-2	10	331	0.7
turkey heart	3	20	174	0.7
lamb heart	3	19	161	0.6
sweetbread	-2	9	318	0.6
beef tripe	3	14	103	0.6
beef heart	2	23	179	0.5

no carb animal products

food	ND	insulin load (g/100g)	calories/100g	MCA
ham (lean only)	8	17	113	1.1
ground turkey	2	19	258	0.8
chicken breast	6	22	148	0.8
pork chop	5	23	172	0.8
roast ham	3	18	178	0.7
roast pork	3	20	199	0.7
turkey ham	3	14	124	0.7
ham	1	11	149	0.7
turkey drumstick	4	21	158	0.7
turkey meat	4	21	158	0.7
turkey (skinless)	2	16	170	0.6
turkey bacon	-1	11	226	0.6
turkey drumstick (with skin)	0	15	221	0.6
chicken (leg with skin)	2	18	184	0.6
pork ribs	2	21	216	0.6
pork loin	2	19	193	0.6
pork shoulder	4	22	162	0.6
pork sausage	-0	13	217	0.6
turkey	-1	21	414	0.6
leg ham	4	22	165	0.6
pork	2	22	209	0.6
meatballs	-1	14	286	0.6
veal loin	3	20	175	0.6
ground pork	3	25	185	0.6
salami	-2	17	378	0.6
turkey	3	23	189	0.6
bratwurst	-2	13	333	0.5
kielbasa	-2	12	325	0.5
bologna	-1	11	172	0.5
pork sausage	-2	16	325	0.5
bacon	-3	11	417	0.5
pork ribs	-2	16	361	0.5
lean beef	3	23	149	0.5
veal	4	24	151	0.5

no carb seafood

food	ND	insulin load (g/100g)	calories/100g	MCA
fish roe	10	18	143	1.6
caviar	7	23	264	1.5
salmon	9	20	156	1.5
trout	8	18	168	1.4
sturgeon	8	16	135	1.4
mackerel	3	10	305	1.2
crab	10	14	83	1.2
anchovy	6	22	210	1.2
halibut	9	17	111	1.2
crayfish	9	13	82	1.2
sardine	5	19	208	1.2
oyster	7	14	102	1.0
cisco	3	13	177	1.0
cod	8	48	290	1.0
lobster	8	15	89	1.0
flounder	7	12	86	1.0
herring	3	19	217	0.9
pollock	8	18	111	0.9
rockfish	7	17	109	0.8
perch	6	14	96	0.8
shrimp	6	19	119	0.7
haddock	6	19	116	0.7
tuna	4	23	184	0.7
whiting	5	18	116	0.6
white fish	5	18	108	0.5
octopus	5	28	164	0.5
clam	4	25	142	0.4
scallop	5	22	111	0.3

no carb dairy and egg

food	ND	insulin load (g/100g)	calories/100g	MCA
egg yolk	4	12	275	1.4
whole egg	4	10	143	1.2
kefir	5	7	41	0.7
whey powder	9	82	339	0.6
cream	-4	5	340	0.5
sour cream	-3	6	198	0.5
feta cheese	-2	15	264	0.4
butter	-5	3	718	0.4
cheddar cheese	-2	20	410	0.4
limburger cheese	-2	15	327	0.4
camembert	-2	16	300	0.4
blue cheese	-2	19	353	0.4
Swiss cheese	-2	22	393	0.4
cream cheese	-4	10	350	0.4
gruyere cheese	-2	23	413	0.4
cream cheese (low fat)	5	19	105	0.4
edam cheese	-3	21	357	0.3
muenster cheese	-3	19	368	0.3
Monterey cheese	-3	19	373	0.3
gouda cheese	-3	21	356	0.3

If you’re not sure which approach is right for you and whether you are insulin resistant, this survey may help identify the optimal dietary approach for you.

notes

^[1] https://zerocarbzen.com/2016/10/04/zero-carb-interview-amber-ohearn/

^[2] https://www.gutsense.org/fiber-menace/about-fiber-menace-book.html

^[3] https://optimisingnutrition.com/2015/10/05/ketogenic-fibre/

^[4] https://zerocarbzen.com/

^[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3153292/

^[6] However, keep in mind that this analysis is based on the USDA database that includes all the nutrients in the food rather than what will be absorbed. Species-specific nutrient bioavailability is still an emerging area. While we can measure the nutrient in a food, it is hard to quantify how much of those nutrients are digested and absorbed into the body.