Pasta does not sum up starchy foods, even if it is among the first, in quantity consumed, of this category of food, along with rice. In this family, we must add bread, cereals (wheat, barley, oats, rye…) and legumes (lentils, beans, chickpeas, dried beans…).
Starchy foods represent what are called “slow” sugars, as opposed to “simple or fast” sugars which, as their name suggests, pass quickly and massively into the blood. In the first rank of these fast sugars, the banal sugar, in powder and pieces, but also sugary drinks, confectionery, pastries or dairy desserts. These “fast” sugars will be the subject of a special step. These are, along with fat, the main enemies of the “fat”.
Slow sugars as a source of energy
On the other hand, “slow” sugars, starches, are fundamental for those who have decided to lose weight by trying to have increased and regular physical activity. They will need to receive energy, also regular, that the body will use gradually.
Eating starchy foods means consuming little fat, but a lot of slow sugars which are digested very slowly, releasing constant energy in our blood, without panicking our body like when we eat a piece of sugar.
Against the feeling of hunger
Another advantage: when we consume starchy foods, we have little or no desire to eat fatty or sweet foods. The sugar in starchy foods, which is released slowly and gradually, repels the feeling of hunger, which is in fact just a lack of sugar. They are, moreover, the best snacking parade.
So, if you want to lose weight, they are not an absolute ban like many diets would have you believe. You just have to consume them in reasonable quantities!
The richness of starchy foods makes it possible to vary their place throughout the meal, whether in the form of bread or as a garnish. Of course, you have to resist the temptation to cover them with cheese or cream … A drizzle of olive oil, a few basil leaves or a large swig of tomato sauce will do.
There is – and it is much less known – in some starchy foods, such as pasta, as much protein as in eggs, and almost as much as in meat, moreover, of better quality.
Finally, during cooking, the pasta becomes loaded with water. Twice their volume. Which, especially in elderly people who drink little, represents a significant fluid intake.
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