"Pasta doesn't raise blood sugars" writes Reader's Digest

[Eric]

@cardamom

This thread is about as serious as the Reader’s Digest editors

It’s no longer serious, but it has become a lot of Funghini.

[Pianoplayer7008]

@Thomas

Have you tried the Red or Green Lentil Pasta?

I picked some up today to try when my sister is in town (also celiac), because she currently can’t have corn or rice flours. We’ll see how it goes! I’m still on MDI + Afrezza, so an extended bolus isn’t an option. I’ll admit I generally stick to the corn pastas because they’re cheaper. Eating as a celiac is expensive enough without throwing additional food issues + diabetes into the mix!

@Michel

I really shouldn’t write this because I created this tag - but I must say that every time I look at the main page I have to smile at the “horsecrap” tag under the “Pasta doesn’t raise blood sugars” thread title.

Sure you should write it. It makes me chuckle when I see it.

[jag1]

This is another case where the writer (or editor) has no idea what the scientific basis is, so a valid concept is turned into unintelligible garble.

First thing wrong is that this has nothing to do with being extruded - that is simply a red herring.

Second thing wrong is that they don’t distinguish between T1 and T2 diabetics. It is true that pasta will tend to have a lower glycemic index than other flour-based foods since it will be digested more slowly. For a T1 that makes little difference, since we will need to cover the same number of carbs with the same amount of injected insulin and our BG will eventually increase the same amount. On the other hand, for a T2 with poor phase 1 insulin response but otherwise good insulin production , eating a slower digesting carb can prevent the BG rise if it delays the rise enough that their secondary insulin production has time to respond. So for them, it may be possible that “Pasta doesn’t raise blood sugar” (if eaten in an appropriate amount). In the case of a LADA like PianoPlayer who presumably still produces some of her own insulin, a similar effect could cause her to require less injected insulin as her endogenous insulin takes more of the load.

Why is pasta digested more slowly? It has nothing to do with being extruded, but has to do with the fact that we swallow chunks of pasta that maintain shape for some time in our stomachs, and those chunks take longer to break down than do most other flour-based foods like bread, cake etc, which essentially turn into a paste when chewed and swallowed. If you look at glycemic index tables you will indeed see that pasta has a lower glycemic index than other flour-based foods (check out GI database here: http://www.glycemicindex.com/foodSearch.php

For the same reason, over-cooked pasta which falls apart and doesn’t stay in chunks will have a higher glycemic index.

[Chris]

@jag1

over-cooked pasta

The glycemic index not-withstanding, over cooked pasta is a mortal (as opposed to venial) sin.

[Pianoplayer7008]

So the lentil pasta was pretty good, though IMO not as good as the Barilla corn pasta we’ve been using (and it is quite a bit more expensive for the lentil pasta here!). The lentil noodles are thicker, which was kind of odd to me. It had my toddler telling me when I made (corn) pasta again this week, “Not the new pasta. The OLD pasta.” Soooo I guess we’ll keep eating corn pasta. Interestingly, I had a normal rise with the lentil pasta, but I stay flat or even drop when I eat the corn pasta, which is weird to me.