Eating pasta won’t make you obese – in fact, it makes obesity less likely, study finds
More evidence found of the benefits of Mediterranean diet, scientists say. Also in health news: if you want your kids to eat more vegetables, you need to give greens superhero status
Eating pasta doesn’t contribute to obesity, contrary to popular belief. In fact, a new study has found that consuming the traditional Italian carbohydrate is associated with a reduced likelihood of both general and abdominal obesity. The research, conducted by the Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed in Pozzilli, Italy and published in the journal Nutrition and Diabetes, examined over 23,000 people recruited in two large epidemiological studies, Moli-sani Project and INHES.
“By analysing anthropometric data of the participants and their eating habits, we have seen that consumption of pasta, contrary to what many think, is not associated with an increase in body weight, rather the opposite. Our data show that enjoying pasta according to individuals’ needs contributes to a healthy body mass index, lower waist circumference and better waist-hip ratio,” says George Pounis, first author of the paper.
Licia Iacoviello, head of the laboratory of molecular and nutritional epidemiology at Neuromed, says: “The message emerging from this study, as from other scientific analyses conducted in the context of the Moli-sani Project and INHES, is that Mediterranean diet, consumed in moderation and respecting the variety of all its elements (pasta in the first place), is good to your health.”
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