Pasta has long been a temptation against healthy eating because of all the carbohydrates and carbs, not to mention all those carbohydrates.
But a new Italian study says pasta is, in fact, not fattening, and could actually decrease your chances of becoming obese.
Which is, uh, interesting. If not entirely true.
The study surveyed a little more than 14,000 participants in Italy and found not only is there no direct correlation between carb-loading and obesity, but also that — when comparing how much pasta participants ate with their waist-to-hip ratio — there’s actually a link between eating pasta and an overall lower body mass index.
Hold on breaking out the pasta maker, though. Because caveats? There are a few.
Right off the bat, the study was done in Italy. Not the United States. Moreover, the study was done in Molise, a small mountainous region in South-Central Italy, where no doubt portions are smaller and exercise is a part of normal day life.
Number two: analytical trends and observational studies of this nature are far from being scientific. Variables are lost. They rely on the memory of its participants. They’re loose. Casual. Not unlike your neighborhood trattoria.
And finally, the study by no means says eating more pasta will make you thinner. If anything, it says pasta is okay; not as bad as bad as you think, and shouldn’t be regulated as a taboo dish for anyone trying to shed a few pounds.
Now you may break out the pasta maker.
Bon appètit.
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