Carbs 101: The Many Benefits of Carbohydrates

Eat your carbohydrates. There… I said it. You either want to give me a hug or punch me in the throat for saying that. Depending on what side of the debate you’re on, you should first fully understand the benefits of carbohydrates before you take action after reading that statement.

Whoa now! Simmer down. I know you may be a little hesitant to focus on carbohydrates in your nutrition plan. For some reason, carbohydrates were part of cancel culture before cancel culture was even a thing. If you talk about carbohydrates or tell someone that your nutrition plan contains a moderate or high amount, you’ll get a swarm of people ganging up on you, ready to kick you into the bottomless pit and scream, “This is Sparta!”

But why?

Unfortunately, quite a few people are part of an anti-carb cult and don’t truly understand the benefits of carbohydrates. Many believe that the only way to enhance weight loss is to eliminate carbohydrates — but that isn’t necessary.

Related Article: 7 Misconceptions About Carbs and Losing Weight

When you look at the various macronutrient options (protein, carbohydrates, and fat), each of them serves a very important purpose in the body. While some may argue that you can get away with eliminating carbohydrates and replacing them with fat, it may not be the best or most ideal option for you.

In this article, we will look at the many benefits of carbohydrates and why you should make them a priority in your nutrition plan — no different from how much emphasis you probably put on your protein intake.

Let’s dive in!

The Benefits of Carbohydrates

Below, you will find a list of the many benefits of carbohydrates and why they need to be included as part of your well-balanced nutrition plan. Carbohydrates are not the enemy. The only enemy is those who are ill-informed on the topic.

1. Weight Management

Now, wait a minute! I thought people were screaming from the mountaintop that carbohydrates are the reason for weight gain? How could one of the benefits of carbohydrates be that they can aid in weight management? Well, it can!

Here’s the truth… Not all carbohydrates are bad. The ones you should try to stay away from are simple carbohydrates and sugars (with the exception being fruit). These will cause an immediate spike in blood sugar and tend to not have the most ideal health benefits.

Focus on complex carbohydrates to help fuel your body (provide you with adequate energy to get through workouts and allow you to live a more active lifestyle) while also helping you feel more satiated throughout the day and helping prevent you from going into a caloric surplus. The less your body is causing insulin to spike, the less it will signal for your body to start storing fat.

It should also be noted and explained for those in the back that consuming carbohydrates isn’t the reason for people experiencing weight gain. Weight gain comes from putting yourself in a caloric surplus, which takes into account everything you eat on a daily basis. Just because you had white rice in one of your meals doesn’t mean that carb source is going to cause you to wake up tomorrow and see the number on the scale jump up.

2. Increase Muscle Mass

Do you want to build more lean muscle mass? If so, it’s one of the benefits of carbohydrates. Muscle mass not only enhances your physique but also burns more calories throughout the day without you needing to do anything. This aligns with what was mentioned in #1 and helps you more easily manage your weight.

Carbohydrates provide glycogen to the muscles, which is converted into ATP (an energy source) to help amplify your workouts and allow you to push harder and further in the gym.

Click here to continue reading…

Do you need content or copy for your business or website? Let me know how I can help! We also own Writing Rebels if your company is not in the health and fitness industry.