Does Pasta Make You Fat?
Pasta is one of the staples of the Italian diet and, in recent times, one of the main defendants for the obesity epidemic that has also hit our country.
Does pasta make you fat ? According to what we read in the latest para-scientific publications, one could cut the bull’s head and answer yes: after all, pasta is a highly caloric food , with which it is very difficult to control ourselves and which we eat too often.
In truth, however, and we will see it later in our guide, the fury against pasta and more generally against carbohydrates has no reason to exist .
Let’s answer together the question that haunts all Italian pasta lovers: can we eat it on a diet or should it be completely eliminated?
Many types of pasta: choose the right one for your diet
There are many types of pasta currently on the market, and some of these are suitable for the diet while others are a little less so.
Traditional pasta made with water and durum wheat semolina is perhaps the least interesting for those who are trying to follow a low-calorie and slimming diet. It does not have good nutritional qualities, has a very low fiber content and has a high glycemic index.
The situation is different for wholemeal pastas , which by increasing the amount of dietary fiber included are absolutely interesting for those on a diet (even if they slightly change the caloric profile of the product).
Furthermore, special pastas, those for coeliacs or those that use special grains, are often characterized by a cloud of para-scientific beliefs , which enhance properties that these products, unfortunately, cannot have.
Let’s see together, type of pasta by type of pasta, which products can really make their way into our dietary food plan.
Traditional water and semolina pasta: it makes you fat, but..
Traditional pasta, the one we find on all supermarket shelves, is not an excellent product in terms of dietary profile. It has almost 400 calories per 100 grams of product (dry), a bad glycemic profile and an unbalanced macronutrient content in favor of carbohydrates.
An 80 gram plate of pasta with a very light sauce easily exceeds 500 calories , an amount that many cannot afford to dedicate to a single dish, and often not even to a single meal.
Wholemeal pasta: certainly better than the traditional one
Wholemeal pasta has about 5-8% fewer calories than the traditional version, even if this is not the aspect that should most interest those on a diet.
Wholemeal pasta is in fact rich in fiber , a non-nutrient that can contribute to:
- regularize the intestines : a particularly difficult operation while on a diet and you end up eating much less than normal;
- normalize cholesterol levels;
- strongly lower the glycemic index of pasta, which is one of the major problems for those who follow a diet and would like to consume this food.
Why should the glycemic index matter to dieters?
The glycemic index of pasta (as well as that of other foods that contain many carbohydrates) must necessarily be of interest to those on a diet. The glycemic index in fact indicates the speed with which the sugar peak is reached after eating a certain food.
The faster you reach the peak, the faster you’ll get hungry again following the descent.
Pasta therefore ends up being both caloric and hardly able to keep us full until the next meal .
Wholemeal pasta, which has a lower glycemic index than the traditional one, is therefore also preferable to avoid feeling hungry immediately after eating.
We repeat: wholemeal pasta is much superior to traditional pasta for those on a diet.
Stuffed pasta makes you fat: best avoided
Stuffed pasta, especially if of industrial origin, is a food not suitable for the diet. Stuffed pasta (tortellini, ravioli, agnolotti) makes you fat, because the calories of pasta are added to those of foods that are not exactly dietetic .
Very fatty ingredients end up inside the fillings, as well as preservatives and correctors which, although they shouldn’t concern us relatively when it comes to diet, still have a bad effect on our body.
No: gluten-free pasta doesn’t make you lose weight
Does gluten-free pasta make you fat ? does it make you lose weight? In recent months we have been witnessing an incredible rise in gluten-free products, but not for those suffering from celiac disease, but for those who seem to be convinced of the slimming power of these foods.
This is absolutely not the case: gluten-free pasta (as well as other products for celiacs) has no slimming power whatsoever and cannot be considered in any way as a superior product compared to traditional pasta.
Does pasta at dinner make you fat?
Let’s dispel another myth. There is no scientific evidence that consuming pasta only for lunch is preferable for weight loss. A source of carbohydrates should be consumed, perhaps in small quantities, even at dinner, and little changes between consuming bread, rice, pasta or potatoes.
Of course, it’s always preferable to avoid overeating at dinner, but this applies to all foods and not just pasta.
Yes, we can eat pasta even on a diet, with two small “buts”…
Pasta can certainly also be eaten on a diet, even if we will necessarily have to take into account at least two aspects.
The first is that of quantities : pasta cannot be eaten with impunity in the quantities one prefers. It must be taken into account that it is still a very caloric food and therefore calibrate the portions accordingly.
The second is that of the condiments : it is often the sauce/condiment, and not the pasta itself, that makes a dish of pasta unhealthy. Regardless of the diet you are following, sauces that are too greasy, cream and other condiments that are too fat or too caloric should be avoided, perhaps preferring plain pasta .
The secret, as always and almost for every food, lies in the measure . You shouldn’t overdo it, even and above all with pasta, a borderline food for those who are trying to lose weight and want to choose satiating foods with a low calorie profile.
Finally, here is a text dedicated to the eating habits to be adopted during the diet : it is good, however, to always consult a nutritionist before adopting any drastic intervention on one’s diet.
She defines herself as curious by nature. In 2006 she graduated with honors in Biotechnology at the Sapienza University of Rome. Between 2005 and 2009, she carried out a university internship and research activity in the field of tumor immunotherapy. She is a co-author of three scientific publications. Since 2007 you have associated your passion for science with that for the web, starting the management of the FitnessEquilibrium.com project.