Whole grain pasta is a nutritious alternative to traditional pasta made with refined semolina or durum flour. Whole grain pasta is higher in protein, fiber and nutrients than traditional pasta, and has an equal number of calories per serving. The American Heart Association recommends that half of all the grains you eat each day be whole.
Benefits of Whole Grains
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration defines whole grains as "cereal grains including corn, rice, oats and wheat that are intact, ground, cracked or flaked." Food made from whole grains have optimal nutrition because all three parts of the grain are represented: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. The bran and germ contain the unsaturated fats, fiber, protein and B vitamins that support a healthy cardiovascular system, immune function, growth and development. The endosperm contains the starchy carbohydrates that give you energy. When processors refine grains, they remove the bran and germ, therefore taking away these nutrients, leaving only the starchy endosperm. They do this to extend the shelf-life of the flour, give it a finer texture and help it cook faster, while sacrificing its nutritional value.
Identification
You can determine whether a pasta is whole grain by looking at the ingredient list. Some products are advertised as "whole grain" that actually contain a blend of whole grain and refined flour. Barilla, for example, uses a recipe for its "Whole Grain" line of pastas that is 51 percent whole grain flour and 49 percent enriched flour. Other manufacturers may use a higher ratio of whole grain flour. The only way to determine whether the pasta is made with 100 percent whole grain is to look at the ingredient list. Whole grain pastas are made with whole-wheat flour, durum whole wheat, or brown rice. Enriched wheat flour, durum flour and semolina flour are not made with whole grains.
Calories, Carbohydrates and Fiber
Whole grain pasta is higher in fiber compared with regular pasta. A 2 oz. serving of whole wheat pasta has 210 calories, including 41 g carbohydrates and 5 g fiber. By comparison, a 2 oz. serving of pasta made from refined flour contains 200 calories, includes 42 g carbohydrates and 2 g fiber. Fiber helps remove cholesterol from your body, improves digestion, and a high-fiber diet is shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer.
Protein And Fats
Whole grain pasta is also a better source of protein and "healthy" fats. One 2 oz. serving of whole grain pasta includes 8 g protein and 1.5 g fat. By comparison, the same amount of regular pasta includes 7 g protein and 1 g fat.
Vitamins And Minerals
American-made pasta is often enriched with B vitamins and folic acid to restore the vitamins lost when the germ and bran were removed. A 100 percent whole grain pasta contains these vitamins, naturally, and does not need to be enriched. It also provides just as much dietary iron as regular, iron-fortified pasta. A 2 oz. serving of 100 percent whole wheat pasta contains 10 percent of the recommended daily allowance for iron. However, up to 25 percent may be lost upon cooking, which also happens to regular pasta made from enriched flour.
Considerations
Whole grain pasta takes longer to cook than regular pasta. Whole grain and regular pasta lose a proportion of their vitamins and minerals through leaching into the cooking water. Some minerals are more delicate than others, such as riboflavin. Furthermore, pasta is an energy-dense food, packing 200 calories into the equivalent of 1 cup cooked pasta. Accordingly, consumers should be watchful of their portion sizes as even a low-fat food like pasta can lead to excess calories and weight gain.
References
- Barilla U.S. Blue Box Pasta: Nutritional Information for Angel Hair
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrient Data Laboratory: National Nutrient Database
- U.S. Department of Agriculture My Pyramid: Grains
- "Journal of Food Science": Influence of Initial Riboflavin Content on Retention in Pasta During Photodegradation and Cooking; 1984
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