In 2002, The New York Times Sunday Magazine cover featured a huge T-bone steak with the headline, “What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?”  The story wasn’t really about steak, it was about carbs, and this story led the world down the sad road of fear of carbohydrates.

We at Oldways, along with many nutrition scientists, understood this didn’t make good sense, good science or good policy. This started us on the happy path of the Healthy Pasta Meal.  

Throughout Oldways’ history, we’ve had the pleasure of traveling all over the globe to speak with nutrition scientists, pasta makers and chefs, to learn about pasta’s history in the Mediterranean Diet. To help stand up against the low-carb fads that threaten long-term health and traditional diets, we organized a scientific and media conference in Rome to develop a Scientific Consensus Statement about pasta and health. On World Pasta Day in 2010 and 2015, the Consensus Statement was updated to reflect new science, and scientists from countries around the world have signed onto it.  

Enough history!  Here’s what you need to know—the takeaways—the truth about pasta and why the Healthy Pasta Meal is a great choice for everyone.  

1. Pasta is Good for You and Good for the Earth

Optimal health and good nutrition don’t come from supplements or fad diets—they come from balanced meals prepared with nutritious, traditional ingredients. Pasta, a slowly digesting carbohydrate food, is the perfect place to start when building a healthy diet, as it offers your body a steady source of energy and pairs wonderfully with vegetables, olive oil and other foods that nourish our bodies. Traditional diets based on whole grains, pasta, beans, seeds and seasonal produce nurture both healthy people and a healthy planet, and real-world data backs this up. Food lifecycle assessments indicate that the carbon footprint of pasta is much lower than many other foods, especially meat. 

2. Pasta is a Pillar of the Mediterranean Diet & Heritage Diets around the World

The scientifically proven and much-loved Mediterranean Diet is characterized by a rich variety of seasonal plant foods and regional specialties, but at the foundation of this cuisine are dependable, shelf-stable grain foods like pasta. Highlighting the importance of this traditional dietary pattern, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognizes the Mediterranean Diet as an element of intangible cultural heritage. Health experts affirm the role of pasta in nutritious, Mediterranean-inspired eating patterns. 

But pasta is not only found in the Mediterranean Diet—it features in all traditional heritage diets and is a beloved staple food around the world…One of the best ways to jazz up your pasta meals is to look for inspiration from around the globe.

In Egypt, koshari is a dish made with elbow macaroni, lentils, chickpeas, crispy onions and more. In Mexico, sopa de fideos is a delicious, warming noodle soup. In Greece, orzo dishes are found throughout the country, served as a side dish, in casseroles, and in soups and stews. In Japan, buckwheat soba noodles are delicious, served warm, chilled or in a soup. And these ideas only scratch the surface of all the wonderful pasta meals around the world.

Here are a few global recipes we love:

Moroccan Pasta

Greek-Style Vegetarian Lasagna

Perfect Peanut Whole Wheat Pasta with Chicken and Veggies

3. Pasta is Energy That Keeps You Fuller for Longer

Pasta is known as a complex carbohydrate food, because its starch structure digests slowly, keeping you fuller for longer. This is because pasta is low on the glycemic index, meaning that it has a better effect on blood sugar, offering the body a slow and steady source of energy. This is also one of the reasons why pasta is a popular pre-race meal for competitive athletes.

4. Pasta Does Not Make You Fat

Weight problems are almost never the fault of one food; it’s total diet and lifestyle that matter. And, because pasta is traditionally served with other wholesome foods, including vegetables, beans and olive oil, healthy pasta meals are perfect for those concerned about their weight. 

5. Pasta is Tasty and Brings People Together

Sumptuous enough to grace the cover of luxury food magazines, yet accessible enough to be used in nutrition assistance programs and budget recipes, pasta is truly a food that brings people together. Now that pasta is being celebrated nationally and internationally (National Pasta Day was Saturday, October 17th and World Pasta Day is October 25th), it is the season to recognize the qualities that make pasta universally loved and scientifically healthy.  

Pasta is a versatile food that pairs beautifully with vegetables, fresh herbs, olive oil and other nourishing ingredients. It’s no surprise then, that a new study finds that people who eat pasta also tend to have an overall healthier diet compared with people who don’t eat pasta, including eating more fiber, iron, magnesium, and other important nutrients.

This certainly squares with what David Katz, MD, MPH, founder of the True Health Initiative and a Preventive Medicine specialist and globally recognized authority on lifestyle medicine, said at a 2017 conference in Milan, celebrating World Pasta Day: “If what we mean by best diet is a basic dietary pattern, then, yes, absolutely we can say what’s best—a plant-based diet, real food, close to nature,” said Katz. “You don’t have to eat pasta to have an optimal diet and optimal health, but you can. And since you can, why wouldn’t you?”

Or take the word of an Italian physician and nutrition researcher, Dr. Gabriele Riccardi of Federico II University in Naples: “All carbohydrates are not alike and do not have equal metabolic effects. Pasta, for instance, is a complex carbohydrate with a low glycemic index that promotes good health. Low glycemic foods reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, improve blood lipids and inflammatory markers and reduce the risk of diabetes and overweight.”

For more information about pasta and health, Oldways has a number of resources and recipes. 

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