The Benefits of Eating Whole Wheat Pasta
Do you know the benefits of eating whole wheat pasta? Pasta is one of the most popular foods around the world. It has good organoleptic qualities and provides significant doses of energy. Also, it’s incredibly versatile.
Nevertheless, it’s preferable to use whole wheat pasta, as it has several health benefits compared to refined or white pasta. In this article, we explain its properties and why you should choose it.
Whole wheat pasta is a source of fiber
Contrary to white pasta, the whole wheat variety contains a significant amount of fiber. This nutrient is essential for gastrointestinal tract health. In fact, the consumption of this substance is linked to microbiota health, according to an article published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.
Also, this nutrient helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases in the medium and long term. In fact, several studies relate the consumption of fiber to reduced cardiovascular risk.
On the other hand, this substance helps to slightly modify the lipid profile, by partially blocking intestinal cholesterol uptake.
Read on to learn more: Replacing Commercial Cereals with Whole Grain Cereals
It produces a greater feeling of fullness
Whole wheat pasta has the advantage of promoting lower blood glucose and insulin peaks than its refined variety. This reduces the likelihood of suffering from reactive hypoglycemia and increased appetite soon after eating. Therefore, it’s definitely a better food than its white variety when it comes to inducing fullness.
Good management of the satiety mechanism is crucial for all those who want to lose weight. One of the reasons why people quit diets is food anxiety. This is mainly due to poor food choices, which leads to a constant appetite.
Choosing foods rich in fiber and with a low glycemic index helps induce satiety. Therefore, it can help you avoid snacking between meals. This translates into a lower number of ingested calories per day, which positively impacts body weight.
Whole wheat pasta is better for your health
Another advantage of whole wheat pasta is its lower pancreatic impact. Eating this food stresses the pancreas less than white pasta does. This has multiple health benefits, including a reduced risk of insulin resistance.
This condition is a perfect breeding ground for the development of type 2 diabetes. Today, experts are aware of the need to prevent pancreatic pathologies. Diabetes is often associated with obesity and the development of heart disease.
For this reason, replacing your consumption of white cereals and flours with their whole-wheat variants is a step towards health.
Make sure you read: Non-Fattening Carbohydrates You Should Eat
It’s a better option for athletes
Many athletes are used to eating pasta before training or competing. However, whole wheat pasta is beneficial in these situations. This food allows blood sugar to remain stable, rather than inducing steeper and shorter-lasting peaks.
The main consequence of this fact is a delay in the onset of fatigue. Furthermore, reducing the risk of reactive hypoglycemia can also translate into improved performance.
For this reason, athletes should avoid simple sugars and refined flours right before a competition. Whole wheat rice or pasta are foods that guarantee a correct and safe energy supply.
Why you should choose whole wheat pasta
Whole wheat pasta has certain benefits over its white counterpart. Most of them are associated with a higher fiber content. This increases produced satiety and modulates blood insulin peaks, reducing complications associated with reactive hypoglycemia.
However, it’s a food rich in carbohydrates that you shouldn’t overeat. Remember that brown rice or whole wheat quinoa are better sources of this nutrient. On the other hand, we should highlight that the foundation of a good diet is variety. Therefore, it’s important for you to include different types of foods in your diet.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Hartley L., May MD., Loveman E., Colquitt JL., Rees K., Dietary fibre for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2016.
- Makki K., Deehan EC., Walter J., Backhed F., The impact of dietary fiber on gut microbiota in host health and disease. Cell Host Microbe, 2018. 23 (6): 705-715.
