White bread is perhaps the most common source of carbohydrates consumed in the United States today. Nearly every sandwich ordered at a self-serve scoreboard contains white bread, as do the garnishes at any fancy restaurant. Americans love their white bread and consume a lot of it without a second thought. Bodybuilders, on the other hand, have a responsibility to examine common, everyday foods to determine if these carbohydrate sources have any place, or a limited place, on the bodybuilding menu.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to white bread as food for bodybuilding purposes. The first view is that white bread is ideal for bodybuilding goals. It is digested quickly, which provides calories quickly coaches looking to gain mass. These carbon hydrates rapid digestion, eaten after a workout with a good protein source creates the desired hormonal environment- resulting in high insulin levels and increased absorption of testosterone in tissues. White bread is readily available, either in the court, or more commonly, in the format bun restaurants. Maybe a chicken breast on a bun is the fastest and easiest way to get fast proteins and carbohydrates in the body after a workout? Carbohydrates are there, calories are there, the taste is there, the speed is there, and comfort is certainly present. The perfect carburetor?
The other school of thought is that white bread has no place in the diet of bodybuilding. Fast delivery of results calories at a point of insulin, which helps create an anabolic environment, but creates a greater chance of body fat also added. The enrichment process eliminates most valuable vitamins and minerals bread. White bread also contains carbohydrates complexing starch processed, the body is not used efficiently. One might as well eat a bag of flour. While packing bread can claim good micronutrient content, up to half of these are eliminated during enrichment and processing. In addition, the lack of fiber means that the bread journey through the body will be slow at best.
The answer, as with many things in life, probably in the middle. If the coach does not have access to another source of carbohydrates, white bread provides a quick peak insulin and calories needed. After all, bad calories are better than no calories when you lose valuable muscle tissue. For coaches looking to gain mass, any source of carbohydrate calories can be good at a time. However, optimal gains will be achieved with the liberal use of white bread and more frequent use of sources of quality carbohydrates such as brown rice, oatmeal, oat bran, bran cereal oats (IE Cheerios), whole wheat pasta , baked potatoes, fried potatoes low in fat. popcorn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, whole wheat bread, some fruits (berries are best) and vegetables. Bodybuilders looking to gain weight should consume white bread occasionally and bodybuilders who observe levels of body fat should eat white bread rarely.