Swap Your White Pasta For One Of These 6 Healthier Varieties

Pasta night is under fire. Whether you're following a low-carb, gluten-free, low-glycemic index or low-calorie diet, the pasta you know and love is probably on your do-not-eat list. And without getting into the merits of every anti-white-pasta diet out there (which is basically every diet known to man), white pasta is a no-no for some pretty good reasons: During the milling process, white flour is stripped down to remove the grain’s bran and germ, and with them, fiber, protein, iron and B vitamins, explains Florida-based registered dietitian Jaime Mass. What remains on your plate is a quick-acting carb, not altogether that different from pure sugar, spiking your blood sugar and resulting in an insulin rollercoaster that sets you up for cravings, weight gain and Type 2 diabetes, she says. And all waist measurements aside, research from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that refined carbohydrates may be worse for your heart than saturated fat is. Meanwhile, a 2015 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who eat refined grains face an increased risk of depression. So much for pasta’s comfort-food reputation. Even those white pastas that are “enriched” with added fibers and vitamins generally have less of the good-for-you nutrients than do their whole counterparts. Plus, research from the University of Minnesota shows that, while fiber from whole sources is linked with a longer lifespan, fiber from refined grai...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news