If you are a bodybuilder and think carbohydrates are foods to avoid, you might be wrong. Precisely carbohydrates are one of the nutrients needed for energy contraction, growth and muscle recovery in bodybuilding. As with other foods, carbohydrates are good and some are bad. Then what are the best carbohydrates for bodybuilders?
the best carbohydrates for bodybuilders
Carbohydrates such as ice cream, soda, or anything that uses sugar as the basic ingredient are called bad carbohydrates. The best carbohydrates for bodybuilders are starchy and slow-digesting carbohydrates, for example sweet potatoes, oats etc.
A breakfast cereal for example, it is recommended that at least two grams of fiber per serving be good for offseason bodybuilding. The amount of fiber contained makes cereal a good source of energy and can be consumed at any time because it slows digestion. You can double the portion size by mixing one spoonful of whey protein with enough milk with a ratio of 60 grams for carbohydrates and 30 grams for protein.
Oatmeal is a good carbohydrate to consume because the data states that people who consume oatmeal regularly have a small tendency to become obese. Some studies even show consuming oatmeal regularly will reduce the risk of children becoming obese up to 50%. In the digestive system, the content of oat fiber will form a gel that causes a feeling of fullness longer, eventually you do not want to snack and lead to weight loss. Bad cholesterol will be more difficult to absorb into your bloodstream because it is trapped by this gel. Besides causing longer satiety, oatmeal also contains calories to provide the energy needed to exercise. There is a study that says that metabolism will change in a positive way if you consume oat about an hour before exercising. This results in improved performance during training. The ability of oat as a good source compared to many other nutrients is to control glucose levels in your blood. Because it slows digestion, glucose in the blood will also increase slowly after eating and decrease immediately before eating. The content of phytochemicals contained in oats can also minimize the risk of getting cancer. If someone eats oats regularly, the danger of getting breast, prostate, ovarian cancer, etc. will be significantly reduced. Apart from fiber, essential vitamins such as biotin, folic acid, thiamine and vitamin E as well as iron and zinc elements are also found in oats.
All of these nutrients have the ability to increase your body’s cell response to infection. If there is a disease that attacks you, you will recover faster if you consume oat regularly.
Besides oats, there are still many other good carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, and pasta. Sweet potatoes can maintain a calorie deficit and burn fat, while brown rice contains high calories to help increase mass for bodybuilding that is going through the bulking phase. Whereas pasta contains very complex carbohydrates which means it takes longer to digest pasta. When the digestion process is slow, the process of releasing energy into the bloodstream is also slower which also means less excess energy will be stored as fat.