Carbohydrates are an often misunderstood and maligned source of food in today’s diet culture. Years ago the trend was to avoid fat, and this still is a focal point of weight loss, but in more recent times they have taken over as one of the most feared foods on your kitchen table.

So what’s the deal then, are they good or bad for you? Depending on how you talk to they can either be essential or evil. Let’s take a look at some of the facts and set the record straight.

First of all there are many types of good carbohydrates so it’s not really possible to just lump them all into a good or bad category. One must look at each type and quality first before assessing their nutritional value in addition to their effect on weight loss and muscle gain.

As food gets more and more processed this is where one of the major problems of this type of food comes from, cheap, calorie rich, and nutritionally devoid foods like sweets, sodas, candies and so on. These would generally be considered bad carbohydrates.

These foods do have their place in the regiment of a weightlifter and exercise conscious individual though. That is during the period just after a good workout, the body needs glucose and quickly and that’s where these high glycemic foods can be beneficial.

Other than that though they end up causing more calorie intake than needed and would be better replaced with something that can do the body more good. They also don’t curb appetite very long with results in more eating, more calories, and therefore less weight loss.

Complex good carbohydrates on the other hand take longer to digest, keep you feeling full longer and thus don’t suffer the problems of the above high GI versions. Things like veggies and brans and germs are great choices as they have fiber which is good for our health and again takes longer for your digestive system to break down while giving you more nutrition over more processed foods.

So remember to take in more good carbohydrates and less of the bad carbohydrates.

About the Author

Derek Wright loves working out in the gym and offering advice for others to get the best out of their workout routine. He also writes about things like the most fattening food