“Lumping all carbohydrates together into one category is a common mistake. Scientific evidence shows that eating pasta, a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet, is very different – and much healthier – than eating other processed carbohydrates such as white bread and white rice.
One of the most important ways to measure carbohydrate quality is according to the food’s impact on blood sugar levels. Better carbohydrate choices have a low glycemic index (GI) because they release energy gradually rather than causing blood sugar to spike then dip. Pasta, which is made from durum wheat semolina, has a low GI because of how it is made: when it’s extruded through dies, the grain in pasta becomes more compact and resistant to digestion.
That’s why pasta helps you feel fuller longer, and why – if eaten in moderate quantities, heaped with vegetables and other healthy add-ins – pasta can actually help you lose weight.
Spaghetti typically has a low GI of 45, while many processed grain foods have GI scores of 75-90. According to leading scientists, a diet made up of low-GI foods (such as pasta) reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease and reduces inflammation, a factor in many other diseases.
The development of resistant starch in cooled pasta further lowers the glycemic impact of pasta, but it’s important for lovers of good, traditional foods to understand that pasta is healthy the first time around, too – before it has the chance to become tomorrow’s leftovers!”
For more scientific evidence, please visit:
http://oldwayspt.org/programs/special-custom-programs/glycemic-index-scientific-consensus2013
Pasta – Healthy the first time around, too! (and can actually help you lose weight)
