The right amount of pasta is not that indicated on the packaging, this simple gesture is enough to get it right according to a doctor.
Ah, pasta! While it is a staple of Italian cuisine, the French have also fallen in love with it for its simplicity and deliciousness. In addition to being economical, they are quick to cook, easy to cook, and take on endless creative shapes, from spaghetti to macaroni to orecchiette. The taste pleasure provided, associated with sauces like bolognese, carbonara or pesto, makes us want to consume large quantities. But faced with all this enthusiasm, nutritionists are warning about the quantity to put on the plate so that they do not represent a health risk.
Faïza Bossy, general practitioner and nutritionist, told Le Figaro the right dosage to adopt, and it is not what you think. Although it is often indicated on pasta packets to cook 100 grams per person, this is advice not to be taken literally because “it is suitable for a person weighing 70 kilos, but below this weight, we need to revise the quantities downwards,” she warns. But then how to do it? The nutritionist recommends using your hand and not the scale to weigh the pasta. “A small handful is more than enough,” she told Le Figaro.
What we add to the pasta will obviously be just as important. We will favor sauces made from fresh products and we will occasionally consume industrial sauces. “They are too fatty, too sweet and too salty. Which can lead, in the event of excess and lack of physical activity, to high blood pressure, weight gain and digestive problems,” warns Faïza Bossy. If it is possible to consume this starchy food rich in vitamin B and magnesium every day, it is preferable to accompany it with proteins and vegetables, in reasonable portions (a third of a quantity of each).
Finally, if you want to achieve the perfect combo to take care of your health, we cannot recommend enough that you consume wholemeal to semi-wholemeal pasta which promotes better transit, and favor al dente cooking which releases the sugars more slowly in blood, and finally, to combine your pasta with tomato or herb-based sauces, rather than cheese or cream… A word to the wise!