Carbohydrates are a macronutrient that many have a love/hate relationship with. For most following the standard American diet, they'll never have an issue achieving their daily requirement of carbohydrates.
When you hear carbohydrates arise in conversations, it generally has a negative connotation. Want to lose weight? What do they recommend? Cutting carbs. But why? Are carbohydrates really that bad, or are they simply misunderstood?
The Hero
When it comes to energy production and replenishing glycogen levels, carbohydrates can be extremely important. For those who are fitness enthusiasts or athletes, carbohydrates are necessary to help your body perform at optimal levels and maintain that level of performance over an extended duration.
For many, white rice is an extremely common source of carbohydrates and very easy to prepare. While carbohydrates can be consumed with each meal, you have the ability to play with how many grams you want to consume.
Timing your larger carbohydrate meals around your workouts would be a great plan. Not only can the carbohydrates help improve your training and workouts when consumed as a pre-workout meal, but post-workout can also help speed up recovery.
What Can Carbohydrates Help Do For You?
- Improve muscle recovery
- Replenish glycogen stores
- Prevent muscle tissue breakdown
- Aid in muscle growth
- Boost physical and muscular energy
- Fuel the brain
The Villain
"I've never met a carb I didn't like" is a common sentiment you may hear quite often. The fact is, they're delicious – it's hard to deny that. The issue arises, and where it becomes a villain is when they are overconsumed. When you consume too many carbs and fill your glycogen stores, it can cause your body to convert the remaining carbohydrates into fat and store it. This is where carbohydrates get a bad rap.
Consuming too many carbohydrates throughout the day could put you in a caloric surplus and cause you to gain body fat (but yet, the same thing could be said about ALL macronutrients). Many assume it is the carbohydrates' fault, versus the total management of calories in versus calories out daily.
The Misunderstood Macronutrient
Many diets want you to lower your carbohydrate intake or eliminate them altogether. That is absolutely crazy! While you can live off of just protein and fat, you have the ability to improve both physical and mental performance by including carbohydrates in your meals. Not to mention, who doesn't enjoy carbohydrates? Can you honestly say for as long as you live, you'd never eat another carb? No, almost everyone would fail on that diet.
Don't look at carbohydrates as being evil – they aren't. Utilize them and work them around when you're going to need improvements in mental and physical energy (such as during the day). If you wanted to cut back on carbs, do it at night when you are more sedentary and less active.
If you want a delicious, 100% natural, gluten-free, soy-free, and vegan-friendly carbohydrate source, look no further than Pride Foods Rice' N Grinds. This nutritious hot cereal is available in more than a handful of delicious flavors to choose from. Rice N' Grinds is a fantastic source of carbohydrates that you'll look forward to every day. Fuel your day with Pride Foods Rice' N Grinds!
