On Instagram, a French dietitian-nutritionist explains to us how to choose and cook our pasta so as to limit its impact on our blood sugar levels.
No, it’s not forbidden to eat pasta when you’re trying to take care of your health! However, a few good reflexes can help limit the impact of a dish of spaghetti or penne on blood sugar levels.
As a reminder, blood sugar refers to the sugar level present in the blood; when it is permanently too high, we speak of diabetes. The foods we consume on a daily basis cause blood sugar to rise more or less quickly: the glycemic index (GI) is the value that measures this rise – it is between 0 and 100.
The higher the glycemic index (GI) of a food, the more likely it is to cause a blood sugar spike, that is to say a sudden increase in blood sugar levels. With negative effects on health… including an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
On Instagram, dietician-nutritionist Charline Wirth (@charlinedieteticienne) explains how to choose and cook your pasta so as to have the lowest possible glycemic index.
A pasta salad, a low GI lunch!
First tip: cook your pasta al dente. “The longer the pasta is cooked, the more the starch will be deconstructed.develops Charline Wirth. The starch will therefore be easily cut by digestive enzymes, and the glucose molecules will pass more quickly into the blood..”
Second tip: choose wholemeal pasta rather than “classic” white pasta. “White pasta is almost devoid of fiber, unlike wholemeal pasta, explains the specialist. However, fibers have the capacity to form a gel which will retain glucose molecules, therefore slowing down their absorption, or even limiting it.“
Third tip: eat warm or cold pasta – in salad, for example! “When the starch cools, its structure will simply reorganize, it will return to its native state, which will make it resistant to digestion.” underlines the dietician-nutritionist, author of My low GI recipes (ed. Solar Cuisine).
Shall we recap? For a low GI pasta dish, choose wholemeal pasta, cook it al dente and let it cool for a few moments before eating. Your health and your figure will thank you!
Source : Instagram