Good News! Pasta Doesn't Make You Fat, It Helps You Lose Weight, Italian Study Says

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By Beatrice Walters , Parent Herald Jul 06, 10:55 am

Here's a discovery that would make you less guilty everytime you crave for pasta. A new study debunks popular opinion and claims that the well-loved Italian staple doesn't make you fat; in fact it even helps you lose weight.

An Italian study published in the Nutrition and Diabetes journal found no association between eating large amounts of pasta and increasing body mass index (BMI). The researchers from IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed discovered pasta intake is negatively associated with BMI (via CNBC).

The research team studied 23,000 people with a group coming from the Molise region of Italy and another from the rest of Italy (via CNBC). After studying the participants, the researchers found that pasta partly helps weight management as part of a healthy Mediterranean diet by helping achieve a healthy BMI, lower waist circumference and better waist-hip ratio (via The Telegraph).

University of Reading Associate Professor in Nutrition and Health, Dr. Gunter Kuhnle noted that the remarkable results of pasta consumption in the study may be looked at as part of a dietary pattern. In short, if a person wants to have a healthy BMI, one should take pasta along with a diet, in this case, the Mediterranean kind.

"In this study, people who consumed a lot of pasta also followed a traditional "Meditterranean 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," University of Reading Associate Professor in Nutrition and Health, Dr. Gunter Kuhnle told The Telegraph.

According to Live Strong, pasta is a complex carbohydrate which means it's made of starch. A third of a healthy diet should be filled with starchy carbohydrates. The best kind of pasta is whole-wheat which contains a lot of fiber to energize the body.

Are you a pasta lover but on a diet and decided to lessen your pasta intake? Now is your time to eat a lot without feeling like your cheating yourself. Share to us your favorite pasta dishes on the Comments section below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.