Anyone’s who’s ever wanted to lose a few pounds knows that staving off carbs is the cardinal rule — until now. Pasta’s always had a bad rep for years, but according to a recent study in Italy, it’s actually not as fattening as everyone thinks it is.
Over 23,000 people from different parts of Italy participated in the new study, all of whom were required to eat a regulated amount of pasta on a daily basis. Each participant’s BMI, waist and hip measurements were recorded. They were also asked to keep a diary of their daily food intake and were quizzed about their diet via telephone.
Researchers found that there was no link to eating pasta and gaining a few pounds, rather it was the opposite — participants had reportedly slimmed down!
Lead author of the paper, George Pounis, said that “by analyzing anthropometric data of the participants and their eating habits we have seen that consumption of pasta, contrary to what many think, is not associated with an increase in body weight, rather the opposite.”
Now before you go buying Spaghetti-O’s and Kraft boxes in bulk, there’s still a catch. This study isn’t saying that all pasta is good pasta, rather it emphasizes pasta in a particular diet.
If you think about it, losing weight from a Mediterranean pasta diet actually makes sense. The ingredients in a typical Mediterranean dish are almost always fresh: fatty fish, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and the big winner– olive oil.
Licia Iacoviello of the Neuromed Institute in Pozzilli, Italy, added: “In popular views, pasta is often considered not adequate when you want to lose weight. And some people completely ban it from their meals. In light of this research, we can say that this is not a correct attitude.”
Licia further makes her point: “The message emerging from this study is that a Mediterranean diet, consumed in moderation and respecting the variety of all its elements (pasta in the first place), is good to your health.”