What are the best carbohydrates for gaining muscle mass?: the complete list and their benefits

It is known that by increasing the volume muscle massafter the years, It brings multiple benefits to the body and the person’s general health. THE carbohydrates (along with proteins and fats) plays a fundamental role in the diet, but an excess can cause instability. Which are the best for gaining muscle mass?

Carbohydrates, also called carbs, are so important that they should make up half of a balanced diet. These key nutrients are the “fuel“of the body along with proteins and fats. They give energy to the body’s organs, muscles and even the brain.

Representing the main source of energy, carbohydrates constitute one of the fundamental components of the diet. But there is a problem in this matter of carbohydrates: they are not all the same and do not have the same nutritional richness.

This is why it is common to have doubts about which carbohydrates you should not consume if you want to follow a healthy diet.

What are the best carbohydrates for gaining muscle mass?

It could be divided into two main types of carbohydrates: starches and the sugars, depending on how its chemical molecules are composed. Starches are complex carbohydrates, while sugars are simple. The former are absorbed slowly and represent the most important source of energy (vegetables, fruit, whole grains, corn, legumes, nuts and seeds).

Those that contain one or two saccharide molecules have a sweet taste and are absorbed quickly: sucrose (cane sugar), lactose (milk sugar) and fructose (sugar found in fruit, vegetables and honey) are the most common sugars .

Some foods, therefore, have the ability to provide the dose of quick energy necessary when making physical effort and, generally, this instant fuel is present in foods that contain carbohydrates, such as pasta and potatoes. These foods are abundant in the diet of athletes.

We must stop considering carbohydrates only as flours, sausages, sugars, sweets, and understand that a food that has carbohydrates but also fiber is positive for health. So it is a refined flour high caloric impact and low nutritional valuebut, for example, spinach provides essential carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Those who do and those who don’t

What you need to take into account when choosing carbohydrates to increase muscle mass are the energy needs and caloric expenditure. Nor can there be an excess in this case. There are foods such as potatoes, cassava, sweet potatoes, whole grains, bananas and pasta. beneficial for athletes They cope with the calorie expenditure of training and help recover lost fuel.

If you want to stay fit and not accumulate fat, there are carbohydrates that are better not to be consumed regularly, such as those that are absorbed quickly and whose preparation has a high amount of added sugars: white bread, white rice, refined pasta, biscuits , banknotes and cakes. And not even fried foods, sweets in general, soft drinks, alcohol and ultra-processed foods.

Finally, it is recommended for increasing lean muscle mass and losing fat increase your protein intake, of which the recommended ones are those that contain all the essential amino acids. The latter are those that our body does not produce and we obtain them only through food.