What is better for muscle growth from fast carbohydrates – sweets or baked goods

Author: Mikhail Ziborov - author of the site makefitness.pro.
2021-03-03

Currently, there is a negative opinion about simple carbohydrates: they are said to be the cause of excess weight in people. However, the issue is not the carbohydrates themselves, but their excess. For those who find it difficult to gain mass and build muscle, quick carbohydrates can actually be a real "lifesaver." But this raises the legitimate question: which is better among quick carbohydrates—sweets or baked goods? Let’s figure it out.

Quick Carbohydrates for Mass Gain

Both sweets and flour products are quick (simple) carbohydrates by structure. They are quickly absorbed, which is why they are called quick. Yet, despite their initial appearance (whether it's a chocolate bar or bread), both eventually convert into glucose in the body—the simplest carbohydrate (sugar) that the body uses as fuel. Even buckwheat ultimately turns into glucose.

Interestingly, in the body, this fuel can be stored as compacted sugar—glycogen. The most significant storage sites for glycogen are the muscles and liver. When this fuel runs out in the muscles, the liver steps in, sending some of its glycogen reserves to the muscles. When the liver's glycogen stocks also dwindle, the body starts generating energy from fats and proteins.

Quick carbohydrates are a great way not only to recover strength during a workout right after it but also to make up for the calorie deficit for weight gain.

Often, skinny people have a fast metabolism that doesn’t allow them to gain weight. Moreover, most of these individuals are not used to eating a lot. When it comes to gaining muscle mass, they can’t consume enough regular food to facilitate muscle growth. We remember that growth requires a caloric surplus, meaning more than usual. Quick carbohydrates provide a way to meet that caloric need calmly, without stuffing the stomach to the brim. That’s the first advantage.

The second advantage of quick carbohydrates is their rapid absorption. We are all busy with work, studies, or other obligations. Sometimes you need to work all day and then go to the gym when you’re already exhausted. Or the opposite: train and then rush to a job where you must give it your all. In both cases, carbohydrates help quickly replenish the expended energy. The only question remains: which is better, sweets or baked goods? And can quick carbohydrates always be consumed, or are there times when they are not recommended?

Sweets for Mass Gain

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Sweets are great because almost everyone likes them. Sweets not only replenish glycogen and fill its storage places (depots) but also provide pleasure while consuming them—levels of pleasure hormones rise.

It's wonderful that you can enjoy a product while also fulfilling the requirement for gaining weight—consuming calories.

When to consume sweets: When your energy reserves (glycogen) are low, but you still need to do a lot of work: train or go to work/study. When you feel hungry or even shivery from hunger. In such moments, consuming sweets is justified: it will go towards replenishing missing energy rather than being stored as fat.

When not to consume sweets: When you know you are already in a slight caloric surplus, i.e., excess calories from other foods. In such cases, sweets will be detrimental to your athletic physique: not only will muscle increase, but so will body fat. This isn't aesthetically pleasing and doesn’t provide any advantages regarding training.

Baked Goods for Mass Gain

By "baked goods," we mean all products where flour is the base and sugar is a supplement. Even confectionery items fall into this category, except those primarily made of chocolate and some fruit filling (where flour is minimal).

Baked goods are also quickly converted into glucose and glycogen, just like sweets, but with the difference that baked goods occupy much more space in the stomach due to their structure. Compare the same caloric content of chocolate and bread. Their volumes will differ: bread has a larger volume. This volume will occupy space in the stomach. What does this mean?

This means that bread will, for a time, press against the stomach walls, creating a feeling of fullness. With sweets, this doesn’t happen. Try to fill up on bread. You can do it. Try to fill up on chocolate. You will not be able to. To be precise, you may no longer want chocolate, but it won't bring you the same sense of fullness. Although you'll get calories from both.

Therefore, baked goods are reasonable to consume within the framework of general nutrition or at times when you need to fill up and quickly obtain the necessary calories.

Sweets or Baked Goods: Which is Better?

By the way, a gainer in sports nutrition is used specifically at times when more calories are needed, but regular food is no longer appealing. A gainer based on maltodextrin, dextrose, and other sugars can also be considered a sweet.

You can find the best gainers and quality manufacturers on our site MakeFitness.Pro.

Cons of Sweets:
- It is easy to overeat and gain a significant excess of calories, leading to weight gain (fat), not just muscle growth;
- It increases the degree of glycation of the protein structures in your body, meaning the proteins glue to carbohydrates, and proteins can no longer be used by the body as building material.

Pros of Baked Goods:
- 2 in 1: you can fill up and also add necessary calories;
- They contain more vitamins and minerals compared to sweets, which are also important for muscle tissue growth.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that sweets seem to be the more attractive option in the context of this material, I, along with many other athletes and trainers, lean towards removing sweets whenever possible, replacing them (for example, with fruits, which are generally healthier) or at least minimizing their intake.

Consuming baked goods, in my opinion, is more relevant, but! Only bread products, not confectionery, and only within the framework of your properly structured nutrition, that is, during main meals.

If you need quick carbohydrates without overloading the gastrointestinal tract, then eat a banana. As a last resort, a Snickers (which has a medium glycemic index). But even better is a gainer, because there you clearly know how many calories you are consuming, plus the presence of protein makes this product more beneficial for weight gain.

However, if you train incorrectly, your diet will lead to fat gain, not muscle. One of the best weight gain workout programs for the gym or at home is available on our site.