If you love pasta, but you’re on a diet, then boy, do we have good news for you! Maybe it has been off the menu for a while, but science has finally proven that you can eat pasta and lose weight. It is not fattening and it decreases the chances of becoming obese, according to a new scientific study. It’s true, it was an Italian study, so take it with a grain of salt, but we like to believe it is true.
Italian scientists reached the conclusion that you can eat pasta and lose weight, after a survey of more than 23.000 people, according to Telegraph.co.uk. The research team found that people who ate more pasta had a lower body mass and waist-to-hip ratio.
This comes as good news for anyone who’s in love with the Mediterranean diet but had completely eliminated carbohydrates from their menu.
George Pounis, the lead author of the paper, said: “We have seen that consumption of pasta, contrary to what many think, is not associated with an increase in body weight, rather the opposite. Our data shows that enjoying pasta according to individuals’ needs contributes to a healthy body mass index, lower waist circumference, and better waist-hip ratio.”
Eat pasta and lose weight? The results are still up for debate
Attention, there is also a context for the consumption of pasta. According to the study published in the journal Nutrition and Diabetes, pasta helps you have better weight management especially if it is part of a balanced Mediterranean diet. The topic of carbohydrates and their place in the diet is still a controversial one. Nutritionists involved in the debate are split into one of two extremes. One side believes that carbs are bad, but fat is actually good for you, while the other side thinks the exact opposite. Still, the Italian researchers found that there is a correlation between pasta intake and lower obesity rates and that it doesn’t matter what overall diet you’re on!
A large number of studies has proven the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet, which is widely believed to be one of the most beneficial nutritional regimes in the world. The diet focuses on fruit, vegetables, fish and whole grains.
This was, however, the first study that analyzed the role pasta has to play in your weight.
Is it wrong to dismiss carbs from your diet?
Dr. Gunter Kuhnle, Associate Professor in Nutrition and Health at the University of Reading, stated that the methodology used by the Italian researchers seemed in order.
“In this context, it is however important to understand that pasta intake cannot be seen in isolation but that it is part of a dietary pattern. In this study, people who consumed a lot of pasta also followed a traditional Mediterranean diet, which is not surprising as the study was conducted in a Mediterranean population. Pasta intake could, therefore, be mainly a marker for adherence to this kind of diet. What is interesting, however, is that these results clearly show that it is wrong to demonize carbohydrates as the data clearly show that consumption of a carbohydrate-rich food such as pasta does not have an adverse effect on body weight.”
