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Pasta: how to read labels to buy the healthiest one
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It is important to check if the ingredients are whole, as well as the type of flours and the amount of additives they have
There are few foods that generate as much consensus as pasta does: it is difficult to find someone who does not like it, even if it is one of its variants. From the typical macaroni and cheese, to the most elaborate artisan pasta, the world that this food covers is so wide that it is difficult to list. There is many types of pasta, as well as many ways to prepare it. But, as with most foods, not all varieties of pasta have the same nutritional values and benefits, so it is very important to learn their differences, and what to look at in the packages to end up taking us home. the best kind of pasta possible.
To begin with,
The main advice of the nutritionist Fran Sabal is that, when looking at the label, we choose the pasta with the fewer ingredients on its labeling since, the fewer ingredients it has, the more natural the pasta is. “It should have mainly flour and water, avoiding preservatives and preservatives,” he says. Going further into the matter, the dietician-nutritionist Laura I. Arranz explains that, apart from the list of ingredients, we must look at the description of the product that we normally find on the back of the package. In these indications we find what type of pasta we have in our hands. The most commons are:
Types of pasta
- Food pasta
- Superior quality pasta
- Wholemeal pasta
- Egg pasta
- Spinach compound pasta
- Tomato pasta
- Pasta stuffed with meat
- Fresh pasta
What does this all mean? Laura I. Arranz explains that, when the indication simply says “pasta”, it is a pasta made with durum or semi-hard or soft wheat flour. “When it indicates” of superior quality “, it is that it has only been made with semolina or durum wheat semolina ”, he points out.
“When pasta is composed, it means that in addition to wheat they have other ingredients and in that case we have to look for the% of those extra ingredients in the ingredient list,” he explains, and continues: “If we talk about fresh pastaThis can be like any of the dry ones, but in this case I have not applied a drying process and therefore it has less expiration margin ».
The healthiest pasta
If we talk about which pasta is the healthiest, both nutritionists agree that our choice should be that of a wheat pasta. “As it is whole wheat pasta, it is digested more slowly, which means that the release of the natural sugar from the pasta in our blood is much slower. This helps to have a better regulation of insulin and thus we do not activate our fat tissue », explains Fran Sabal, and adds Laura I. Arranz that in addition,« another benefit is that whole wheat pasta provides a vitamin content than normal does not have”.
To make sure that the pasta we buy is integral, Laura I. Arranz explains that it must have as single ingredient semolina and / or whole wheat flour durum wheat. “What would not be really integral is a pasta that in its list of ingredients what it contains is semolina and / or wheat flour and also added wheat bran or wheat germ”, he says and comments that, in the latter case, the The label should indicate the percentage, but still “we would not be in front of a true whole wheat pasta.”
Benefits of colored paste
One of the most common pasta we find in supermarkets is the pasta «colored». These have added foods that in themselves provide that color, such as spinach, tomato or turmeric. «The percentages that are usually put on these foods are low, so it cannot be considered that they provide a great benefit; By eating colored pasta with vegetables, it does not mean that we are eating vegetables since the amount is insignificant », warns Laura I. Arranz. Fran Sabal repeats the idea that, although the pasta is “colored”, if it is not integral, we are faced with a refined pasta. “Anything that is refined, be it white pasta, white rice or white bread, are foods that are poor in nutrients because when they are refined they lose a large part of their nutritional properties.”
On the other hand, we find both egg and stuffed pasta. The former, says Laura I. Arranz “are just as healthy, although a little more nutritious since they incorporate a certain percentage of eggs with all their nutritional qualities, although the difference in general is not very significant”. In the case of stuffed ones, he also points out that they can be healthy, consumed in the context of a balanced and varied diet. Fran Sabal’s recommendation is that we prepare the stuffed pasta ourselves, as well as, in general, to make the pasta dish a healthier option, prepare sauces based on healthy ingredients, to add more flavor to our meals and continue eating nutritiously .
Is Legume Pasta Healthy?
Nutritionist Laura I. Arranz comments that legume pasta is an option for many people, «especially for those intolerant to gluten or allergic to wheat protein, but also for others who want to have a pasta dish with a nutritional composition similar to legume ». Explain that, normally, they are made 100% with the corresponding legume flour, so their consumption can replace some of the legume rations that we should take a week.
For her part, the nutritionist Fran Sabal points out the importance of looking at the labeling and seeing what the percentage of legumes it provides, because, if it is a low percentage, we are eating flour, so we would need to include more legumes in our diet to benefit from all its properties.