Is pasta healthy? What about alternatives to regular pasta?

Traditionally pasta has been made with durum wheat, with the addition of water, although it is more common nowadays to find regular plain wheat pasta on the shelves of supermarkets. Some types of pasta, whether dry or fresh, are made using eggs as well. You can, of course, make your own, but the majority of households around the world buys the packaged dry pasta which tends to be the refined (white) variety.

Pasta has a reputation for not being healthy, and although the move in more recent times has been to replace refined white pasta for wholegrain pasta, this does not fully address the question of glycaemic index (GI) or indeed other dietary requirements including gluten intolerances linked to wheat. 

 

Wholegrain pasta vs white pasta

Why should wholegrain pasta be favoured over white? The answer to this is quite straightforward. To obtain the more refined white pasta, the wheat kernels are stripped of the bran and germ, which is where most of the nutrients are. This increases the GI, because by removing a lot of the fibre it can pass through the body more quickly (fibre slows down uptake of glucose) and also makes you feel hungrier faster due to the resulting insulin spike.

Interestingly though, according to recent research, both white and wholegrain pasta turned out to have a lower GI than commercially produced bread (both white or wholegrain bread!). The study did not take into account sourdough bread (of which you can read more here), but the results were unexpected nevertheless. It appears the food matrix (the form of the food you are consuming) does have an effect on this. Pasta, it seems, is digested more slowly than an equal amount of bread (which is not the case for sourdough).

The conclusions that can be drawn from this are that pasta is healthier, and that wholegrain pasta is the healthier choice. Want to make it even healthier? Allegedly acidic foods lower GI, although no significant differences were found in studies where the pasta was served alongside lemon juice.

White rice vs Pasta

Another myth in recent times has been to suggest that rice is healthier than pasta. This has been refuted by a study which showed that long grain white rice had a considerably higher GI level than white pasta. The difference between the GI of white and wholegrain pasta was much smaller. So wholegrain pasta has been recommended for people suffering from Type 1 Diabetes over white rice. As far as I know, no studies have been done comparing the different types of rice and pasta, and as outlined in an earlier blog post (read more here). Not all rice types have the same nutritional properties or GI, so it is possible these findings only hold true for (refined) white rice.

Interestingly, pasta is considered low GI (since it has levels of below 50 on the GI scale). White pasta comes in at 45, wholewheat pasta is 37, and white rice is 65 (brown rice and other types of rice are lower, see table below for more detailed information).

Not just wheat

Leaving aside the fact that wholegrain pasta is healthier than white wheat pasta or non-sourdough bread, what happens if you are gluten intolerant or suffer from coeliac disease? Until recently there were very few choices widely available (unless your Italian grandmother from the North made pasta with chestnuts, but that’s a different story). However, in the last 5 years in particular, all sorts of alternatives have come onto the market making it harder to make an informed choice as to “is pasta healthy?” or, more to the point “which pasta is healthier?”

Gluten free pastas widely available include those made from the flours of a variety of ingredients: green peas, red lentils, yellow lentils, chickpeas and mung beans, to name a few.

Other alternative dry pasta options without wheat include: black bean pasta, brown rice pasta as well as buckwheat pasta. Despite the name, Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is not wheat. Interestingly, botanically it is neither a grain nor a cereal, and as such it isn’t even related to wheat. In fact, it is a cousin of rhubarb and consequently 100% gluten free.

The advantages of protein-rich and fibre-rich pasta

In several studies conducted to check the glucose levels in the blood after consuming pasta, it clearly emerged that protein-rich pasta reached significantly lower GI levels at the top of the insulin curve. Similarly, foods rich in fibre lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Alternative dry pastas to choose from

There is one more added advantage to trying some of the alternative types of pasta. Green pea pasta or pasta made with legumes such as red or yellow lentils, are more likely to lift your mood (you can read all about it in an earlier blog post here).

Here are some of the alternative pastas that normally grace my table.

1.      Mung bean pasta

2.      Buckwheat pasta

3.      Chickpea pasta

4.      Red lentil pasta

5.      Green pea pasta

6.      Black bean pasta

7.      Yellow Lentil pasta

8.      Brown rice pasta

How to choose the “best” pasta

We are not all made equal, it follows then that the choice of which is the “best” pasta for our individual requirements will depend on many factors, not just whether we are on a low-carb, weight-loss diet, or whether we are insulin resistant, diabetic or simply want to increase the amount of fibre in our diet.

I have put together a comparative table of the basic nutritional values of 8 types of alternative pasta types. The last column being the nutritional profile of regular refined wheat pasta. I have highlighted what are, arguably, the healthiest choices in each category in terms of higher or lower carbohydrates, sugar, dietary fibre and so forth.

The values shown are all for 100g of pasta, even though the recommended healthy dose is between 60 to 80 grams of dry pasta per adult person (per serving, once a day and preferably not at night!). The rest of your plate/meal should be made up of vegetables (more of which later).

	Brown Rice	Mung Bean	Buckwheat	Chickpea	Red Lentil	Green Pea	Black Bean	Yellow Lentil	Wheat
Calories	350g	327kcal	347kcal	359g	334g	335g	329kcal	334kcal	359kcal
total fat	2.8g	1.5g	2.9g	6.1g	1.7g	1.8g	2.1g	1.7g	2g
total carbs	72g	51g	67g	52g	50g	55g	48.5g	50g	71.2g
fibre	3.2g	10g	4.5g	8.5g	7.6g	8.8g	13.8g	7.6g	3g
sugar	0.8g	1.2g	0.9g	2.9g	1.2g	2.6g	2.3g	1.2g	3.5g
protein	7.5g	23g	11g	20g	26g	20g	22g	26g	12.5g
phosphorus	n.a.	466mg	11g	362mg	310mg	n.a.	n.a	310mg	n.a
iron	n.a.	4.8mg	4.1mg	4.6mg	5.2g	3.2mg	n.a	5.2mg	n.a.
manganese	n.a.	1.2mg	1.4g	1.7mg	1mg	n.a.	n.a	1mg	n.a
zinc	n.a.	3mg	n.a.	3.5mg	3.2mg	n.a.	n.a.	3.2mg	n.a.

It is also worth noting that Buckwheat pasta has a whopping 173g of magnesium per 100grams, and that chickpea flour pasta has as much as 1075mg of potassium per 100grams, which is the equivalent of 54% of the Recommended Daily Amount based on a 2000kcal/day diet according to EC guidelines.

Al dente or well cooked?

Purists and Italians will generally baulk at the idea that you should overcook pasta. God forbid! It is considered sacrilege to even say you prefer it more cooked than “al dente”. It turns out, that taste buds and the ability to chew aside, they might be onto something. It seems that the longer that pasta is cooked, the higher the GI!

As a point of interest, you often see there is a range of cooking times provided on the pack. The lowest number is to cook the pasta “al dente”, although most Italians will not be totally dependent on the timer and will prefer to check for doneness. In my experience pasta made out of legumes can become rubbery if overcooked, so keep checking.

The choice of sauce is just as important

There is no point poring over all the nutritional information to choose the healthiest option, only to undo all that by using the wrong sauce. By this I don’t mean the wrong sauce in terms of what sauces should be used with which pasta shapes (oh yes, there are rules about this in Italy that some people would have you die for!). What I mean is, you may well think that 60grams will have you starving. The fact is, as we saw above, the more fibre you eat the lower the insulin spike and the less glucose will be absorbed by your body. Want to keep eating pasta and not put on weight? Grill or steam some vegetables to make your sauce! Not only will they bulk up your plate, they will keep you fuller longer.

In the study mentioned above, where they tested the peak glucose levels in the participants, they were all served pasta, with or without lemon, followed by a green leafy salad.  The single healthiest thing you can do when eating pasta, is to follow it with a large portion of green salad or vegetables.

Some of my favourite sauces are wild salmon and rocket salad, tofu and green peas, broccoli and lots of parmesan, or grilled mixed vegetables (prepared in a manner similar to ratatouille). Sprinkle liberally with genuine parmesan cheese (none of the Grana Padano, think more along the lines of 24month-old Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano) grated directly over it and serve hot. Another hot favourite is Spinach Pesto (recipe here).

Another point of etiquette. Parmesan is not to be served when you have a fish sauce, not unless you’re prepared to lose your friendship with your best Italian buddy over it!

Finally, read the labels!

Now that you know that pasta is not the bad kid on the block we have been led to believe, and you know how to make more healthier and informed choices for you and your family, there is one more thing that needs to be said. Read the label! Just because it is written that it is quinoa or chickpea flour pasta on the front of the packet, doesn’t mean it is 100% chickpea flour that has been used to produce it. More often than not the chickpea flour content will be 20 or 30% (or less) and the rest will be a mixture of other flours. All the information in the table above is based on 100% the individual ingredient mentioned (not mixed with regular white wheat, rice or other flours). Similarly, dry pasta doesn’t require a long list of ingredients either to make it or in order to preserve it. The longer the list the less likely it is the healthy option you are intending on purchasing.

And while we are on the subject of misleading marketing… Stay away from pasta made from ingredients such as chlorella and spirulina. They might spell “trendy” and “cool” but have you considered what happens to all the nutrients of these seaweeds when cooked at high temperatures? Don’t waste your money on these, save it to buy better quality fresh ingredients instead.

All that remains now, is to learn the art of rolling spaghetti on a fork without the need for a spoon to help you. If a two year old Italian child can do it, so can you!

Buon appetito!