Should I eat carbs at dinner, after I come home from training?

I get back from Muay Thai and grappling at night, eat dinner, and then go to bed a couple hours later. I always have chicken, a salad, and sometimes a couple of eggs (both white and yoke). I don't eat carbohydrates, because I heard the body doesn't need the energy from carbs when it's about to go to sleep. So if I did have carbs, it would just get stored as fat.

However, I was just studying the bioenergetics section of my CSCS study materials, and they said "Post-exercise carbohydrate ingestion is critical. If inadequate, glycogen resysnthesis is impaired." The glycogen is the stuff in your muscles that will be used for energy in glycolytic activities (stuff that lasts 30 seconds to 3 minutes...like hitting a round of thai pads or sparring) and oxidative activites (like running for 30 minutes).

So should I have carbs for dinner? Does it matter if they come from fruits or starches (like bread, rice, pasta)?

 

Yesh.

 

Yes.

 

Yes. Believe it or not there is a difference, and it all depends on exactly what goals you have in mind. I don't feel like answering in the form of a novel at the moment, so I'll just post a few basic rules of thumb when it comes to carbs.


1. High-glycemic carbs for mass building. Mushy, soft-textured carbs (fast acting high-glycemic carbs) such as Cream of Rice, Cream of Wheat, mashed potatoes, white bread and fat-free baked goods are ideal for mass building. A soft texture expedites digestion, which in turn increases insulin levels. Insulin-infused carbs reverse muscle breakdown and help to drive amino acids into muscle tissue.


2. Low-glycemic carbs to get leaner. Slow-digesting (low-glycemic) carbs have a minimal effect on insulin levels. Favoring these slow-to-burn carbs allows you to keep calories high to maintain mass gains while moderating insulin levels to get leaner. Low-glycemic choices include rye bread, yams, red potatoes, peas, corn, buckwheat noodles and artificially sweetened low-fat yogurt.



Also, as far as the fruit carbs, fruit provides small amounts of vitamins and fiber and naturally occurring fructose (fruit sugar) helps to restore glycogen in the liver. Bodybuilders (for example) would be more concerned with storing glycogen inside muscle, and that's the primary role of staples such as potatoes, rice, pasta, yams, bread and high-fiber cereals. All in all, high-fiber complex carbs offer more benefits than fresh fruit to those looking to build lean body mass.

 

I want to get leaner, so I guess I want the low-glycemic carbs. I just found a chart of the GI in foods, and it said bananas have a low glycemic index. Should I be fine if I just add a banana to chicken and salad for dinner?

 

For gods sake its not about INSULIN PWO

 

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f15/timing-late-meals-792040/

 

This guy confuses me saying that high-GI carbs like white bread are pro-mass. I'm bulking right now and I haven't touched simple carbs, I'm on whole wheat everything. Just from everything I've read/gathered, that seems right to me. Am I supposed to incorporate any high-GI carbs or is this guy talking out of his ass?

 

He is not correct on human biochemistry and exercise induced responses. You don't need High GI PWO

 

carbs? my car has 2 ..does this count?

 

I wasn't specifically speaking of PWO only; just general carb rules of thumb for people working out. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

 

Not to be argumentative, but how do you figure that? Care to elaborate?

 

You really want me to get into this and why HIGH GI isn't needed PWO?

 

If you don't mind, yes.

 

I will tonight. It is a long explanation.

 

Hey man, still waiting on that low GI PWO post. Pressure is on. Ha.

 

now im confused

 

Thank you, I will look forward to hearing your reasoning for it. If you have a valid scientific reason for this stance, it means that myself and most other bodybuilding trainers as well as industry pros and champion bodybuilders have all been laboring under false delusions (in all fairness, although uncommon, it wouldn't be the first time).


As far as not needing High-GI PWO, there are quite a few sources that may disagree with you:

From Fitness For One and All:

"The body's main priority post-workout is to replenish glycogen stores. The body stores glycogen in two places: in the liver and in muscle tissue. Of these two, the muscles can store a far greater amount, 250 to 400 grams, while the liver can only store about 100 grams. Moreover, it is primarily muscle glycogen that is depleted during a workout.

So the goal post-workout more specifically is to restore muscle glycogen. The body will even break down muscle tissue for this purpose if carbohydrates are not available. For this reason, it is vital to include carbohydrates in the post-workout drink. But what form of carbs is best for this purpose?

Post-workout is the one time that high-glycemic carbs are preferred. This term refers to carbs that are high on the glycemic index. This is a measure of how quickly a food raises blood sugar and hence insulin levels. Normally, it is best to eat lower glycemic foods so as not to initiate an insulin spike. But post-workout, the exact opposite is true. The elevated insulin levels will help to drive nutrients into the muscle cells.

Moreover, speed is of the essence. It is vital to get the carbs to the muscle cells as quickly as possible. And again, high-glycemic carbs are preferred to lower glycemic carbs for this purpose."



An article discussing it by Dr John Berardi with quite a bit of reference material



Another article here written by Justin Harris



There are quite a few other articles and data that conclude pretty much the same thing, these were just the first few that came up when I searched. Again, I'm not trying to be condescending or argumentative so if you have the science that proves otherwise I really would like to hear it so I could decide logically whether or not to change my stance on the subject.