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There pasta it is one of the most loved foods in the world, certainly the favorite among Italians. Yet “carbophobia” – the fear of consuming carbohydrates – has helped create many false myths, including what pasta should not be consumed during a Slimming diet.
A mistake, because this food – as well as other low foods glycemic index – can help control blood glucose levels and weight, especially in overweight people.
Confirmation from a scientific study
In particular, one research of the University of Parma, published in the scientific journal “Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases”, has shown that losing weight is more effective when there is pasta in the center. The subjects of the study, overweight or obese, subjected to a low-calorie and Mediterranean “high pasta” diet, not only lost more weight, maintaining it even after the end of treatment, but also reported further benefits on life quality and perceived physical health.
Pasta, in all its variants (traditional or wholemeal), in fact, has a bass glycemic index, and the “right” cooking can further reduce the peak insulin. Digestion becomes slower, as does the absorption of glucose that makes up starch: the result is a lower glycemic index. For this reason it is recommended in many low-calorie diets and ai diabetics.
A full of nutrients
Pasta is also a nutrient mix important for health: it is rich in starch (70-75%) and has an average of 12-13% proteins. In addition, it also contains B vitamins (in particular B1, which contributes to the process of converting glucose into energy) and mineral salts, among which the potassium, and minimal amounts of fat (between 0.3 and 2 grams).
A plate of pasta makes us happy
And if you are wondering why its consumption is like this rewarding, the reason is soon said: its consumption promotes the synthesis of insulin, which, in turn, facilitates the absorption of tryptophan, the amino acid precursor of serotonin, which regulates the feeling of well-being. In short, pasta turns on mechanisms that act on our mood, making us happier.
“There relationship between food and mood it is complex and depends on many variables – explains the Dr. Elisabetta Bernardi, scientific popularizer and nutritionist at the University of Bari. It is true that tryptophan is also contained in other foods richer in proteins, but when we eat steak or fish tryptophan competes with other large amino acids to be absorbed by the brain. When instead we choose a plate of pasta, rich in carbohydrates, tryptophan can go quickly to the brain thanks to the action of insulin, while the ‘rival’ amino acids are absorbed by the tissue cells ”.
She is a friend of the intestinal mircobiota
And to like pasta is also those who “live” in our intestine, the microbiota, a real ecosystem of bacterial flora whose health is directly proportional to the lifestyle and a varied and healthy diet. The state of the microbiota, the prevalence of “good” or “bad” bacteria, is closely linked to good humor or, if “badly treated”, to states of anxiety, stress, depression.
“Our body loves pasta because it favors the growth of the ‘good population’ of the microbiota, especially if associated with other key foods of Mediterranean eating, such as vegetables, which, together with pasta, contribute to fibers in our intestines, ”says La Dr. Maria Rescigno, Immunologist and Professor of General Pathology at Humanitas University. “The healthy microbiota affects our mood because it participates in the transformation of an amino acid (tryptophan) into melatonin is serotonin. It also controls intestinal permeability by blocking the passage of certain molecules that they can generate a systemic inflammation until it reaches the brain. “
If then the pasta is inserted in a food model Mediterranean the happiness of the microbiota grows exponentially: a recent research published in the magazine BMJ Gut studied 612 subjects between 65 and 79 years of age from France, Italy, Holland, Poland and the United Kingdom, subjecting half of the sample to a diet based on the Mediterranean diet for one year.
At the end of the study, their gut microbiome was changed for the better, by inhibiting the production of inflammatory chemicals that can lead to the loss of cognitive function and the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and atherosclerosis. In other words, the Mediterranean diet improves cognitive function and promotes healthy aging.
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