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nutrition
There's no reason to worry about your spaghetti.
Carbs are generally frowned upon when it comes to weight loss and diet culture, and pasta, in particular, takes a lot of heat.
But dietitian Shayla Cadogan of StudyFinds argues that pasta isn't inherently unhealthy — but the way you're eating it might be.
According to Barilla, the world's largest pasta producer, the recommended amount for pasta is 2 ounces of raw pasta, which is equal to about 1 cup of cooked pasta.
A typical serving contains about 200 calories, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of protein and 1 to 2 grams of fiber.
Because pasta is primarily composed of carbs, people tend to view it as “empty calories,” Cadogan wrote, but carbs are the human body's “preferred energy source,” so it actually provides nutrition.
Whole grain pasta especially has more fiber and protein, two things that keep you satiated longer and less likely to overeat.
When it comes to how it is prepared it becomes tricky.
Adding sauces, butter, cream, meat and/or cheese can add calories and essentially throw the entire dish out of balance with beneficial nutrients.
People tend to eat pasta as their main dish rather than a side dish, Cadogan said, so they're likely to eat more than the recommended amount.
“Virtually any food eaten in excess or as part of an overall unbalanced diet can become unhealthy quite quickly,” he said. “It comes down to balancing your plate.”
It is often advised that a plate should have foods of different colors and the same applies to pasta dishes.
For example, Cadogan suggests making a marinara-based pasta dish with vegetables for a fiber and protein source.
Another way to balance your pasta dish is to make it a small part of your entire meal as a side dish.
Nowadays, there are plenty of high-fiber and high-protein alternatives to wheat pasta, such as chickpea pasta, protein pasta, edamame pasta, and black bean pasta.
Just because low-carb diets are one of the more popular diets for weight loss doesn't mean pasta should be excluded from family dinners.
“Pasta is not inherently unhealthy. It doesn't deserve this much disrespect,” Cadogan wrote.
Not only can pasta provide fiber and protein, but it can also make you happy.
A previous study conducted by the Behavioral and Brain Lab at the Free University of Languages and Communication (IULM) in Milan, Italy, found that eating pasta can improve your mood – and it can make you as happy as listening to your favorite song. Is.
Food & Wine reported that 40 participants between the ages of 25 and 55 ate pasta as researchers analyzed their physical and neurological changes. Those responses were then compared to the changes participants experienced while listening to their favorite songs or watching a sporting event.
According to the researchers, when it comes to evoking positive emotions and “activating cognitive memory processes”, eating pasta beats both music and sports.
“We've always known that a good plate of pasta makes people happy, but we didn't know why and to what extent,” Riccardo Felicetti, president of Italian pasta makers Union Italiana Food, said in a statement.
“Now, official confirmation comes from research that we commissioned from IULM, in which pasta is chosen as the happiness food, or as we pasta makers like to say, the one with the best happiness/price ratio. “
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