The Healthiest Way To Eat Pasta If You’re 50 Or Older – Health Digest

Pasta has a GI of 50, which is considered low, but that doesn’t mean it has little impact on your blood sugar. Glycemic load (GL) considers how much carbohydrate is in a portion of the food, so a larger serving of a low GI food can still cause your blood sugar to rise. Pasta has a moderate glycemic load of 15.4. Rather than eat two cups of pasta, you can reduce the glycemic load of your meal by adding a cup of diced chicken. Chicken and most unprocessed proteins have a GL of 0.

Many refined grains made from white flour don’t have the same nutrients and fiber as whole-grain pasta. Whole wheat pasta’s GL is 10.6 and has more than 4 grams of fiber. How long you cook your pasta also affects its GI and ultimately the GL. Cooking your pasta al dente so it still has a bit of a bite reduces the GI to 34. If you boil your pasta too long, you’re bumping it to 64.