There’s no doubt that limiting portions of carbohydrate-heavy foods can be the key to losing or maintaining your weight.

But unless, of course, you have a health condition that requires it, cutting out carbs altogether is usually not the answer. Not only do carbohydrates provide energy to keep up with your busy, active lifestyle, but carbohydrate-rich foods also have a lot of nutritional value that you’ll lose if you exclude them completely.

Carbohydrates are your main source of energy.

The energy to complete a morning workout, perform at work and come home to prepare some healthy food in the evening? You can thank carbs for that. Carbohydrates are your body’s primary and preferred source of fuel. Your brain is the biggest consumer of glucose and your body needs the energy provided by carbohydrates in order to function more efficiently and effectively. Technically, you can get your energy by eating very few carbs a day, but that means your body has to seek out less efficient nutrients for “fuel,” which can affect how you feel.

2.-Carbohydrates help you to perform in your workouts

Since carbs help fuel your muscles, it’s no wonder that healthy carbs are also important for getting the most out of your workouts. Carbohydrates are very important for recovery because they help restore glycogen stores in the muscles that may have been depleted during exercise. Eating carbs before your workout also provides a quick energy boost, and studies show that eliminating carbs can actually decrease your endurance.

3.- Carbohydrates are a great source of fiber.

Healthy sources of carbohydrates, from whole grains to fruits and vegetables, have one important nutrient in common: fiber. Fiber is essential to help regulate hunger and satiety signals, provide long-lasting energy, and control stable blood glucose levels. Eliminating carbohydrates from your diet means restricting several fiber-rich foods, which makes consuming more fiber on a daily basis much more difficult. Too little fiber can cause constipation, and because high-fiber diets are linked to lower rates of heart disease, not getting enough could threaten your cardiovascular health.

4.- Carbohydrates provide B vitamins.

Carbohydrate-containing foods provide many essential nutrients, but many of the basic “carb” foods, such as pasta, bread, and other grains, are some of the best sources of B vitamins. B vitamins help your metabolism. Certain B vitamins also have other benefits. For example, folate (a B vitamin found in bread and rice) helps with red blood cell development, while thiamine (found in lentils and rice) is key to healthy cell growth.

5.-You’ll miss out on all the benefits of fruits

Eliminating carbohydrates from your diet means eliminating fruits, sweets from nature. And that would be a big mistake. Not only is the sugar in the fruit healthy and natural, but the fruit is loaded with dietary fiber and potassium for heart health. Eating fruit also facilitates the recommended daily intake of vitamin C, an antioxidant that increases metabolism and also nourishes skin and hair.

6.-Starchy vegetables offer high nutritional value.

While even very low-carb diets allow you to eat some vegetables, cutting out carbs means you’ll miss out on an important subset of vegetables – starchy vegetables – that happen to be great for you. Eliminating carbs means you’ll also have to eliminate protein-rich starchy vegetables like beans, peas, and legumes. They provide fiber, B vitamins, iron, zinc, magnesium and potassium.

7.-Cereals are loaded with phytonutrients.

You may not think of grains or cereals as antioxidant superstars, especially compared to fruits and vegetables, but they certainly can be. Black rice, for example, surpasses blueberries as a major source of anthocyanins, a family of phytonutrients that fights Alzheimer’s disease. Red quinoa is packed with powerful antioxidants that stay active even after cooking or baking, which means you’ll get serious benefits no matter how you serve them.

8.-Carbohydrates improve your mood

If you’ve ever experienced the dreaded “low-carb flu” and the fatigue and irritability that often accompany it, you already know that cutting out carbs can affect your mood. There’s a reason for that. There is evidence that carbohydrate consumption stimulates the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible for maintaining mood balance.

9.- Carbohydrates help you sleep better.

Researchers have found that carbohydrates improve sleep quality, and eating a carbohydrate-rich meal four hours before bedtime helped the tested subjects fall asleep faster.

10.-Help to maintain dietary balance

Completely eliminating carbs from your diet means eliminating food groups, including the ones that are incredibly healthy for you. Keep in mind that all vegetables, fruits, whole grains, bread and pasta are considered carbohydrates. Choose healthy carbohydrates more often than simple carbohydrates, and find a balanced diet that you can follow, and enjoy, to eat healthy for life.