Healthy Living

Scientists Confirm Healthfulness of Pasta as Good Carbohydrate

In Response to Low-Carb Diet Fad, Leading Health and Food Authorities Update and Confirm Health Benefits of Pasta Meals

Rome, Italy (February 18, 2004) - A committee of scientists and food authorities today released a consensus statement concluding that pasta is a healthy carbohydrate that provides solid nutritional benefits when eaten as part of a balanced meal. The consensus is the outcome of “Healthy Pasta Meals,” a three-day conference that dispelled confusion about pasta, carbohydrates, and weight loss; examined the health risks of high-fat, low-carb diets; and identified the healthiest pasta meals.

“Confused by the low-carb diet craze, people are avoiding some of their favorite foods – like pasta – and moving away from healthy, balanced diets,” said K. Dun Gifford, Founder and President of Oldways Preservation Trust, a Boston-based nonprofit food issues think tank and organizer of the conference. “The good news of this conference is what high-level scientists have always said: A balanced diet is key to maintaining a healthy weight -- not extreme fad diets that pose dangerous health risks.” Key findings and conclusions include:

Pasta is a healthy food and a good carbohydrate.

Pasta has a low glycemic index of 41. Pasta does not cause sugar in the blood to rise quickly, so consumers receive the benefits of prolonged carbohydrate absorption. Slow-release carbohydrates/low glycemic index (GI) foods may have benefits for healthy longevity and physical and cognitive performance, and may play a key role in preventing chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease and certain cancers. (GI measures how rapidly a carbohydrate triggers a rise in blood sugar -- the higher the number, the greater the blood sugar response.)

Pasta meals are efficient “delivery systems” for healthy foods. Pasta is not eaten alone, but with “partners,” such as vegetables, fish, olive oil, tomato sauce, legumes, and lean cuts of poultry and meat. By combining multiple healthy ingredients, the pasta meal slows digestion and absorption of glucose in the blood and provides essential nutrients such as fiber, protein and vitamins.

Pasta is a “good” carbohydrate. Most pasta is made from semolina flour, which is ground from durum wheat. White flour used to make white bread is ground from common wheat, which is not digested as slowly as durum wheat and, as a result, has a higher GI. o Pasta does not promote weight gain. Weight gain is not caused by one particular food – it is caused by consuming more calories than you burn. When eaten in the proper portions and in combination with healthy foods, pasta does not cause weight gain. A healthy portion of pasta is one to two cups cooked.

High-fat/low-carb diets are dangerous. High-fat/low-carb diets pose dangerous health risks and can increase the risk of contracting serious chronic disease such as obesity; diabetes; coronary heart disease; Alzheimer disease and some forms of cancer.
Carbohydrates are essential in healthy, balanced diets. Carbohydrates are the source of most of the body's glucose, which is the crucial fuel energy source for the brain, red blood cells, muscle and organs. Without carbohydrates, a diet is not balanced or complete. There is worldwide consensus among high-level nutrition scientists and international dietary guidelines that carbohydrates are a key ingredient in an eating pattern that promotes healthy longevity: 45-60 percent carbohydrates, 25-30 percent fat, and 15-20 percent protein.

The Mediterranean diet is recommended. The Mediterranean diet offers greater health benefits than current Western diets. It is characterized by abundant variety of plant foods (fruits, vegetables, breads, pasta, other forms of cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts, and seeds), olive oil as the principal source of fat, dairy products (mostly cheese and yogurt), fish and poultry consumed in low to moderate amounts, zero to four eggs consumed weekly, red meat consumed in low amounts, and wine consumed in low to moderate amounts.

“One of the factors consumers should consider when making healthy choices is the glycemic index of the food,” said consensus committee co-chair David Jenkins, MD, PhD, ScD, Professor, Canada Research Chair in Nutrition and Metabolism, University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital. “A pasta meal that combines healthy ingredients like vegetables, beans and olive oil contributes to a low-glycemic index diet, which may play a key role in preventing chronic diseases.”

“Pasta has been wrongly injected into the good carb/bad carb debate, and we want to dispel the notion that it should be avoided,” said John Foreyt, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, and one of the co-chairs of the Scientific Consensus Committee. “The people of Italy and other Mediterranean countries have known about the health benefits of the pasta meal for more than a thousand years, and their long life-spans and vibrant health are testaments to pasta’s role in a healthy, balanced diet.”

The consensus committee is made up of scientists and food authorities from around the world, including obesity experts, endocrinologists, nutritionists, food technologists and chemical engineers. Conference presenters also included notable chefs, food historians and food writers.

The conference is supported by Unione Industriali Pastai Italiani and the National Pasta Association, and sponsored by Barilla, AIPC American Italian Pasta Company, and the Consorzio Parmigiano-Reggiano.

About Oldways Preservation Trust
Oldways is the widely-respected nonprofit "food issues think tank" praised for translating the complex details of nutrition science into the familiar language of food. This synthesis converts high-level science into consumer-friendly health-promotion tools for a wide array of interested players. Best known for developing the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, Oldways develops and organizes a wide variety of programs and materials about healthy, traditional and sustainable food choices for consumers, scientists, the food industry, health professionals, chefs, journalists and policy makers, and its effectiveness is well known.