Good news, pasta lovers! While carbohydrates are often one of the first things people eliminate or reduce in their diets when they're trying to slim down, new research has found that pasta can actually help you to lose weight as part of a healthy diet.
The study, published in BMJ Open, assessed the impact of pasta consumption on the body weight and BMI of 2,488 participants from 30 randomised control trials. The people who took part in the study typically ate 3.3 servings of pasta a week instead of other carbohydrates, and maintained a low-GI (low-glycaemic) diet.
Pasta could actually help weight loss, according to a new study
Although it is typically thought of as a refined carbohydrate, pasta has a low-GI, which means it affects your blood sugar levels at a lower spike compared to other carbohydrate such as white bread. And researchers from St Michael's Hospital in Toronto discovered that the participants who ate pasta along with a low-GI diet actually lost a small amount of weight.
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Dr John Sievenpiper, consultant physician at St Michael's Hospital and lead author of the study, concluded: "The study found that pasta didn't contribute to weight gain or increase in body fat. In fact, analysis actually showed a small weight loss. So contrary to concerns, we can now say with some confidence that pasta does not have an adverse effect on body weight outcomes when it is consumed as part of a healthy dietary pattern."
Pasta can be enjoyed as part of a low-GI diet
But, before you overindulge in pasta, it's worth noting that further research needs to be carried out to determine whether eating pasta can have the same effect when combined with other healthy diets.
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While many people believe it is necessary to eliminate carbohydrates in order to lose weight, it is actually an essential food group that can be enjoyed as part of a healthy, balanced diet. As celebrity trainer Kayla Itsines explained to HELLO!: "It's important to have a balanced diet. It's not necessarily about restricting certain ingredients or cutting things out, it's more important to have a healthy balanced diet, and a healthy balanced mind as well."