Carbohydrates provide the body with energy to complete everyday activities.  The majority of your diet should be obtained from carbohydrates.  In recent years, carbohydrates have been given a bad reputation by claims it contributes to obesity and other health related diseases like diabetes.  These conditions, however, are only brought on if you have too much of the bad carbohydrates.  Yes, carbohydrates can be classified into good and bad.

Bad carbohydrates are basically carbohydrates that have gone through processing.  They are not natural and the chemical alterations they go through strip them of their original nutrients (Build Muscle With Whole Foods).  Examples of bad carbohydrates are white rice, white bread, candies, pastries, ect.  The effect of these foods is that they cause your blood sugar level to spike, as energy from these foods is released very quickly into the bloodstream.  They provide a brief, short lasting energy to the body.

If you feel tired and lacking energy all the time you can blame it on consuming too many bad carbohydrates.  The processing that these foods go through result in the extraction of fiber and bran which slows down the speed at which these foods are released into the bloodstream.  Good carbohydrates can be obtained from vegetables, brown bread, brown rice etc.  They are released into the bloodstream slowly, preventing the spike in your blood sugar level and giving you long lasting energy.

Consuming good carbohydrates will leave you feeling fuller and more satisfied, not to mention they contain a lot of vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to your body.  Having too many bad carbohydrates can cause you to get fat.  If you consume good carbohydrates then you may increase portions without having to worry about getting fat.  On the other hand, bad carbohydrates are empty calories and provide no nutritional value, so the body does not really know what to do with it and much of it is stored as fat.

You may ask: “Why would they do such a thing?  Why would they extract all those nutrients and minerals?”  The purpose is for taste and a longer shelf life for these foods.  If you want to successfully build muscle I suggest replacing bad carbohydrates with good carbohydrates in your diet as much as  possible.  You will feel healthier, have more energy and get the vitamins and minerals necessary that encourage muscle growth.

Training for muscle is only one part of the equation, you also need to get nutrition right.  Consuming bad carbohydrates will only sabotage your effort to build muscle.