Love pasta? Here’s why you should eat it more often

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“The study shows that pasta eaters have better quality diets than those who don’t eat pasta,” said Diane Welland, dietitian and Nutrition Communications Manager for the National Pasta Association — a US based organisation.

The findings showed that pasta eaters had a greater intake of nutrients and minerals that most people lack in their diets such as folate — that helps the body form red blood cells and reduces the risk of defects during foetal growth —; iron — used to carry oxygen in the blood and aids in reducing anemia — ;magnesium — a mineral used in building bones and releasing energy from muscles — and dietary fiber — which helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and lower risk of heart disease, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

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In addition, eating pasta also led to less intake of saturated fat — which can help lower the level of cholesterol in your blood to decrease the risk of heart disease and stroke — and less added sugar — like sucrose and high fructose corn syrup that contain a whole bunch of calories with no essential nutrients.

“Pasta can be an effective building block for good nutrition, as it serves as a perfect delivery system for fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish and legumes,” Welland added.

For the study, presented at The Obesity Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans, the team conducted a survey to examine the associations between pasta consumption, shortfall nutrient intakes as defined by the 2015 Dietary Guidelines (2015 DG) and diet quality in comparison to non-pasta consumption in the US adults.