Why is rice a good food for building muscle?

[PhilDrach]

I am fairly new to this. I know that rice is a staple for probably 99% of a bodybuilder's diet. Now I just made some white rice and I ate a cup of that. I am small and am bulking up, but COOKED white rice is not very dense in calories. There are about 200 calories in cooked white rice. Is it just because it is high in carbohydrates? I know that carbohydrates will help facilitate protein you consume to build muscle. Can someone help educate me on this? I am not looking for a white rice vs brown rice contrast. Just rice in general.

[Hunttarded]

I wouldn't consider it any better than other carbs. It's versatile and transportable. There aren't any real benefits exclusive to rice.

[WonderPug]

It's neither a "good" or a "bad" food for bulking, cutting or maintaining.

Why?

Because no food is "good" or "bad" sans dose and context of total daily intake of all nutrients.



P.S. What you think about carbs and protein is totally incorrect.

[XKINGX]

the white or the brown dam-it man the white or the brown!!!!!!

[NC1989]

I am fairly new to this. I know that rice is a staple for probably 99% of a bodybuilder's diet. Now I just made some white rice and I ate a cup of that. I am small and am bulking up, but COOKED white rice is not very dense in calories. There are about 200 calories in cooked white rice. Is it just because it is high in carbohydrates? I know that carbohydrates will help facilitate protein you consume to build muscle. Can someone help educate me on this? I am not looking for a white rice vs brown rice contrast. Just rice in general.

Rice is one of the most calorie dense foods outside of pure fat. A half cup serving of rice (dry) is 336 calories. Add a tablespoon of butter (120kcal) and you have a 456 calorie side dish. The reason it's good to eat for bulking is it's calorie dense and a quick digesting carb that will give you energy. But remember the most important thing is just to eat above maintenance. And it doesn't hurt to do it in a healthy way. Eat vegetables and fruit along with rice, potatoes and meat.

[PhilDrach]

It's neither a "good" or a "bad" food for bulking, cutting or maintaining.

Why?

Because no food is "good" or "bad" sans dose and context of total daily intake of all nutrients.



P.S. What you think about carbs and protein is totally incorrect.

Then can you please explain to me then what carbohydrates role is in building muscle? I thought that without the right amount of them, then the protein you take in won't go to build muscle.

[WonderPug]

Then can you please explain to me then what carbohydrates role is in building muscle? I thought that without the right amount of them, then the protein you take in won't go to build muscle.

CHO is nonessential and people develop lean body mass, including muscle mass, on ketogenic diets where exogenous CHO intake is restricted to trace levels.

[NC1989]

Then can you please explain to me then what carbohydrates role is in building muscle? I thought that without the right amount of them, then the protein you take in won't go to build muscle.

Technically, carbohydrates have no role in building muscle. But they are an easy source of calories for achieving a caloric surplus, which is the key to bulking. The guy above mentioned the keto diet in which you could build muscle while eating very small amounts of carbs, like less than 20g a day. It's true, although you still need to achieve a caloric surplus to gain overall weight.

[ironwill2008]

I am fairly new to this. I know that rice is a staple for probably 99% of a bodybuilder's diet. Now I just made some white rice and I ate a cup of that. I am small and am bulking up, but COOKED white rice is not very dense in calories. There are about 200 calories in cooked white rice. Is it just because it is high in carbohydrates? I know that carbohydrates will help facilitate protein you consume to build muscle. Can someone help educate me on this? I am not looking for a white rice vs brown rice contrast. Just rice in general.

Carbs are the body's preferred energy source. And while they're not essential, things usually go better (energy level, overall health from the micros contained in complex carbs) with some carbs in the diet.


As far as rice is concerned, why not? It's easy to cook, is highly adaptable to a million tasty recipes, is generally easily digested, is loaded with micronutrients, is readily available, and relatively inexpensive.

[WonderPug]

Carbs are the body's preferred energy source..

Technically, substrate preference is dependant on macronutrient intake.

With high CHO diets, the primary substrate is CHO.

With ketogenic diets, the primary energy substrate is fat.

This is noted when RQ is tested.

[ironwill2008]

Technically, substrate preference is dependant on macronutrient intake.

With high CHO diets, the primary substrate is CHO.

With ketogenic diets, the primary energy substrate is fat.

This is noted when RQ is tested.

Agreed.

[WonderPug]

Energy substrate utilization under varying dietary conditions is actually a fascinating topic that is highly relevant to this community.

For anyone interested, I offer the following:

60% peak VO2– this is roughly the highest level of energy output a well-conditioned person can sustain for several hours. I call this “all-day speed.” When I’m doing a very long swim or bike ride (say, north of 4 hours), this is the maximum average power output I can sustain. In me this corresponds to about 2,500 mL/min of oxygen consumption, which requires about 750 calories per hour

Prior to ketosis – At this level of energy output, I required 95% of my energy to come from glycogen, and was only able to get 5% of my energy from fat.

Post ketosis – At this same level of energy output, I was now only 22% dependent on glycogen, and therefore able to get nearly 80% of my energy from fat.

To learn more, please see here.

[ironmaniac508]

Carbs are the body's preferred energy source. And while they're not essential, things usually go better (energy level, overall health from the micros contained in complex carbs) with some carbs in the diet.


As far as rice is concerned, why not? It's easy to cook, is highly adaptable to a million tasty recipes, is generally easily digested, is loaded with micronutrients, is readily available, and relatively inexpensive.

Carbs are unessential? You need fiber to go to the bathroom lol, just eat protein and fat no carbs at all and see what happens, no veggies nothing....just take a vitamin your health will be fine. I know you mentioned consuming carbs would give provide your body the nutrients it needs but to say they are unessential?

Wonderpug...you have left 45k posts in just under 3 1/2 years, you have no life. Also, do you even workout? I want you to consume enough calories to maintain your weight, eat under 50 grams of carbs everyday while following a rigorous workout routine (boxing, swimming, hard running, cycling, lifting whatever)...do this for 6 months without deviating away from that diet and let me know what happens. You seem to be an advocate of the paleo/ketogenic diet, I followed something along those lines for about 4 months and my workouts and energy were ****, I was eating a high fat, high protein diet ( LOTS of meat and eggs) with veggies and an apple a day as my carbs.

P.S I dropped below 180 lbs. at just under 6' 5".

[GentlemanLifter]

It might also be worth noting that rice of all sorts is free of gluten, which is important to some people, less important to others.

Also it's really really cheap.

Also sometimes you just want to eat a THOUSAND of something, you know?

[rhadam]

Carbs are unessential? You need fiber to go to the bathroom lol, just eat protein and fat no carbs at all and see what happens, no veggies nothing....just take a vitamin your health will be fine. I know you mentioned consuming carbs would give provide your body the nutrients it needs but to say they are unessential?

Wonderpug...you have left 45k posts in just under 3 1/2 years, you have no life. Also, do you even workout? I want you to consume enough calories to maintain your weight, eat under 50 grams of carbs everyday while following a rigorous workout routine (boxing, swimming, hard running, cycling, lifting whatever)...do this for 6 months without deviating away from that diet and let me know what happens. You seem to be an advocate of the paleo/ketogenic diet, I followed something along those lines for about 4 months and my workouts and energy were ****, I was eating a high fat, high protein diet ( LOTS of meat and eggs) with veggies and an apple a day as my carbs.

P.S I dropped below 180 lbs. at just under 6' 5".

Science, not even once.

[BroWhoLifts150]

Rice is one of the most calorie dense foods outside of pure fat. A half cup serving of rice (dry) is 336 calories. Add a tablespoon of butter (120kcal) and you have a 456 calorie side dish. The reason it's good to eat for bulking is it's calorie dense and a quick digesting carb that will give you energy. But remember the most important thing is just to eat above maintenance. And it doesn't hurt to do it in a healthy way. Eat vegetables and fruit along with rice, potatoes and meat.

This. Loads of carbs=plenty of cals.
Also, its super simple

[ironwill2008]

Carbs are unessential? .

Yes.

Ever heard of keto?

[necon76]

Carbs are unessential? You need fiber to go to the bathroom lol, just eat protein and fat no carbs at all and see what happens, no veggies nothing....just take a vitamin your health will be fine. I know you mentioned consuming carbs would give provide your body the nutrients it needs but to say they are unessential?

Wonderpug...you have left 45k posts in just under 3 1/2 years, you have no life. Also, do you even workout? I want you to consume enough calories to maintain your weight, eat under 50 grams of carbs everyday while following a rigorous workout routine (boxing, swimming, hard running, cycling, lifting whatever)...do this for 6 months without deviating away from that diet and let me know what happens. You seem to be an advocate of the paleo/ketogenic diet, I followed something along those lines for about 4 months and my workouts and energy were ****, I was eating a high fat, high protein diet ( LOTS of meat and eggs) with veggies and an apple a day as my carbs.

P.S I dropped below 180 lbs. at just under 6' 5".

You're a dingus.

[Gxp23]

Carbs are unessential? You need fiber to go to the bathroom lol, just eat protein and fat no carbs at all and see what happens, no veggies nothing....just take a vitamin your health will be fine. I know you mentioned consuming carbs would give provide your body the nutrients it needs but to say they are unessential?

Wonderpug...you have left 45k posts in just under 3 1/2 years, you have no life. Also, do you even workout? I want you to consume enough calories to maintain your weight, eat under 50 grams of carbs everyday while following a rigorous workout routine (boxing, swimming, hard running, cycling, lifting whatever)...do this for 6 months without deviating away from that diet and let me know what happens. You seem to be an advocate of the paleo/ketogenic diet, I followed something along those lines for about 4 months and my workouts and energy were ****, I was eating a high fat, high protein diet ( LOTS of meat and eggs) with veggies and an apple a day as my carbs.

P.S I dropped below 180 lbs. at just under 6' 5".

[AlwaysTryin]

Carbs are unessential? You need fiber to go to the bathroom lol, just eat protein and fat no carbs at all and see what happens, no veggies nothing....just take a vitamin your health will be fine. I know you mentioned consuming carbs would give provide your body the nutrients it needs but to say they are unessential?

Wonderpug...you have left 45k posts in just under 3 1/2 years, you have no life. Also, do you even workout? I want you to consume enough calories to maintain your weight, eat under 50 grams of carbs everyday while following a rigorous workout routine (boxing, swimming, hard running, cycling, lifting whatever)...do this for 6 months without deviating away from that diet and let me know what happens. You seem to be an advocate of the paleo/ketogenic diet, I followed something along those lines for about 4 months and my workouts and energy were ****, I was eating a high fat, high protein diet ( LOTS of meat and eggs) with veggies and an apple a day as my carbs.

P.S I dropped below 180 lbs. at just under 6' 5".

Advocate of paleo?

[StuffofDreams]

This article gets quoted a lot for why clean eating is a myth.

http://evidencemag.com/clean-eating/

[Ripper908]

White rice is awesome bulking food. It's my go to carb source on bulks with fatty cuts of beef for my protein and fats

Bulking without carbs didnt work me. No carbs makes me look flat and tiny and I didnt gain any mass at all

[Manc33]

I tend to have basmati. Cooks in literally 8-12 minutes.

[Webbie93]

I agree carbs aren't essential, but I will say carbs are essential to make me not look like a skinny b****. OP as for rice it's cheap quick and easy. Plus its a whole food so that's always a plus. Not that processed is necessarily bad you just need some whole foods in your diet and rice is a great option.

[BkLYnD]

I am fairly new to this. I know that rice is a staple for probably 99% of a bodybuilder's diet. Now I just made some white rice and I ate a cup of that. I am small and am bulking up, but COOKED white rice is not very dense in calories. There are about 200 calories in cooked white rice. Is it just because it is high in carbohydrates? I know that carbohydrates will help facilitate protein you consume to build muscle. Can someone help educate me on this? I am not looking for a white rice vs brown rice contrast. Just rice in general.

Read Nutrient Timing by John Ivy, Ph.D, and Robert Portman, Ph.D. The first chapter will give you a better understanding of carbs.

[AlwaysTryin]

Read Nutrient Timing by John Ivy, Ph.D, and Robert Portman, Ph.D. The first chapter will give you a better understanding of carbs.

99% of the forum do not need to worry about nutrient timing for performance in that aspect , only personal preference (and how they feel). They are not elite athletes competing

[BkLYnD]

99% of the forum do not need to worry about nutrient timing for performance in that aspect , only personal preference (and how they feel). They are not elite athletes competing

It can be used as a reference. The book breaks everything down to why and what nutrients the body uses not just timing. You do not need to be an athlete but should have an understanding to why you are doing something.

[AlwaysTryin]

It can be used as a reference. The book breaks everything down to why and what nutrients the body uses not just timing. You do not need to be an athlete but should have an understanding to why you are doing something.

Like how you think we all should be having Vitargo etc PWO?