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VOL. 57 - N. 5/A Yearly issue 2006

ISSN0040-1862

CHIRIOTTI EDITORISupplemento al n° 1 del 2006 di Tecnica Molitoria - Sped. in A.P. - D.L. 353/2003 (Conv. in L. 27/02/2004 n.° 46) art. 1 comma 1 DCB TO - n. 1 anno 2006 - IP

Tecnica Molitoria International - Yearly issue 2006 93

Pasta

P asta is the stable food of the Mediterranean diet and for this reason its use has been the

object of numerous studies and repeated checks. Pasta can be characterised as be-ing the food which has appeared most frequently as the accused at the bar: it has been considered responsible for uncon-trollable weight increase, of favouring the onset of diabetes and lipid metabolism disorders, and has been eliminated or even prohibited in low-calorie diets or those for subjects suffering from metabolic disorders. Pasta has, however, always been totally and unconditionally absolved by scientific investigations.The human body uses carbohydrates as its main energy source: the nervous system, red blood cells and the surrenal glands (medullary) consume 150 g per day in women and 180 g per day in men (1); in the absense of glucose, stored fat cannot be completely oxidised for the efficient production of energy (ATP) and its catabo-lism produces ketonic bodies (metabolic

acidosis), whilst the oxidation of glucose does not produce metabolic waste prod-ucts (2); if the intake of carbohydrates is insufficient, the use of nitrogen for protein synthesis is compromised (100-150 kcal are necessary to use up 1 g of Nitrogen, but the intake of lipids must not exceed 30% of the daily calorie intake) (3). These are only a few of the reasons that justify advising a carbohydrate intake which cov-ers 55-65% of daily energy expenditure (1). However, foods such as pasta, bread, pulse vegetables, cakes, fruit, milk and simple sugar (saccharose) cannot be considered equivalent sources of carbohydrates (4).The first distinction must be made be-tween complex carbohydrates and sim-ple ones: the former, that is the starch present in cereals and their derivatives (including pasta), in pulse vegetables and in root vegetables, require a certain amount of digestive activity in order to be absorbed, while the latter are quickly ab-sorbed, rapidly raising glucaemia levels. This is why simple carbohydrates must

The nutritional value of pasta

Carlo Cannella - Alessandro PintoIstituto di Scienza dell’Alimentazione - Università di Roma “La Sapienza” - Città Universitaria -Piazzale A. Moro 5 - 00185 Roma - Italy

Key words: pasta, carbohydrates, starch, glycemic index, diet

Yearly issue 2006 - Tecnica Molitoria International94

Pasta

not exceed 1/6 of total dietary intake (10% of total daily calorie supply) (1,2).However, even foods with equivalent complex carbohydrate content (for exam-ple 100 g of bread = 80 g of pasta = 60 g of available glucose) can still determine different glucaemia increase rates. This difference is codified as the glucaemic index (IG) of food: the higher the IG, the greater the glucaemia increase (5). The IG depends on numerous factors: the quantity of glucides available, the type of glucide (glucose, fructose, saccharose, lactose, starch), the presence of fats and other non-nutrient substances (such as lectins, phytates, tannins), the combina-tion of starch with proteins and/or lipids, and finally, the composition of the whole meal.As far as starch is concerned, the relation-ship between amylose and amylopectin, the presence of resistant starch, the form and dimension of the starch particles and the degree of gelatinization are all impor-tant (6). Foods with a high IG determine an even higher increase in insulinaemia: which, according to certain authors, can fa-vour reactive hypoglycaemic phenomena, followed by the appearance of hunger and the stimulus to eat carbohydrates again, in a spiral which inevitably leads to being overweight and obesity (7,8).The IG of pasta is less than that of rice, po-tatoes or bread, and is, on average, similar to that of pulse vegetables (5,9). However, pulses, apart from being a dietary source of carbohydrate, contain a higher quantity of protein than pasta, which even though it is lacking in sulphurated aminoacids, still confers particular nutritional values to this class of food, which allows dried pulse

vegetables to be classed in the same food group as meat, fish and eggs.The bromatological composition of pasta (10.8% water, 10.9% protein, 1.4% fat, 79.1% carbohydrate) and its good IG make this food particularly suitable for the achievement of the daily quota of car-bohydrates.Pasta should, therefore, form the base of an infinite variety of dishes which are both healthy and quick to prepare, without increasing calorie intake and still respect-ing the undeniable and unrenouncable hedonistic value of food.

Paper presented at theIII Pasta World Congress of Barcelona, 23-26 October 2005

RefeRences1) Società Italiana di Nutrizione Umana (S.I.N.U.). Livelli di

Assunzione Raccomandati di Energia e Nutrienti per la Popolazione Italiana. LARN. Revisione 1996. Ed. EDRA, 2000, Milano.

2) Ministero delle Politiche Agricole e Forestali, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione (INRAN). Linee Guida per una sana alimentazione italiana. Revisione 2003.

3) Phillips et al. La nutrizione Enterale e Parenterale. Ed. Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore, 1991: 94.

4) Italian version of the pyramid of food consumption prepared by the work group of the Ministry of Health for the “Improvement of the State of Nutrition of the Population ... (Minister’s Decree of 01.09.2003)”.

5) Contaldo F. La dieta nella malnutrizione e patologie associate. In Mariani Costantini M., Cannella C., Tomassi G. (Eds): Fondamenti di Nutrizione Umana. Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore, Roma, 1999, 1ª ed.; pp. 506-7.

6) American Diabetes Association. Evidence-based nutrition principles and recommendation for the treatment and prevention of diabetes and related complication. Diabetes Care 2003; 26: S51-S61.

7) Ludwig D.S. The Glycemic Index. Physiological Mechanism Relating to Obesity, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease. Jama, May 8, 2002, Vol. 287, N. 18: 2414-2423.

8) Willett W. et al. La Nuova piramide degli alimenti. Le Scienze, 2003, 414: 46-53.

9) Foster-Powell K. et al. International table of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2002. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2002; 76: 5-56.