Slice open a spaghetti squash and you'll see what appears to be a full dish of pasta. Spaghetti squash, or Cucurbita pepo, is a pale yellow to orange winter squash that has a tough, inedible outer covering. It is oblong-shaped and typically weighs four to eight pounds. When cooked, the inner flesh of the spaghetti squash separates into thin strands resembling the pasta it's named for. It is low in calories and packed with important nutrients, including carbohydrates and dietary fiber. Spaghetti squash can be used as a replacement for lo mein or pasta in almost any dish.
The Importance Of Carbohydrates
The carbohydrates in your diet come from the starches, sugars and dietary fiber in the foods you eat. Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose during digestion, providing your body with its main source of energy. There are two types of carbohydrates, simple sugars, which break down fast and raise your blood sugar very quickly, and complex carbohydrates, which are digested slowly, thus having less of an impact on your blood sugar and helping to keep it more stable. The Harvard School of Public Health states that the best sources of carbohydrates include fruits, beans, whole grains and vegetables such as spaghetti squash.
Total Carbohydrates
Spaghetti squash is an excellent source of nutrition. According to the MyFitnessPal website, 1 cup, or 55 g, of spaghetti squash contains 10 g of total carbohydrates. The carbohydrates in spaghetti squash are complex carbohydrates, which provide not only calories, but dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, as well. MedlinePlus states that 40 to 60 percent of your diet each day should be carbohydrates, with the emphasis on complex carbohydrates, natural sugars and dietary fiber.
Sugars
There are two classes of simple sugars, naturally occurring sugars found in many fruits and vegetables, and refined sugar, which is added to processed foods to sweeten them. The difference between naturally occurring sugars and refined sugars is that refined sugar has little nutritional value other than the addition of calories. Spaghetti squash contains naturally occurring sugar in the amount of 4 g per one cup of squash. To get the most nutrition from your diet, consume carbohydrates in their natural form as found in vegetables, fruits and whole grains.
Dietary Fiber
Spaghetti squash also provides you with some insoluble dietary fiber, which is needed to provide bulk to the stool to keeps things moving through your digestive system, preventing constipation. Eating a diet with plenty of fiber can also aid with weight loss and may help to prevent colorectal cancer. One cup of spaghetti squash has 2 g of dietary fiber. According to MayoClinic.com, adult men require 30 g to 38 g of dietary fiber each day, and adult women need 21 g to 25 g daily.
References
- AllWoodWork.com: "Spaghetti Squash: A Squash with a Surprise Inside"; Liz Roberts; 2004
- MyFitnessPal: Spaghetti Squash Nutrition Facts
- Harvard School of Public Health: Crabohydrates: Good Carbs Guide the Way: What Should I Eat?
- MedlinePlus: Carbohydrates; May 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Dietary Fiber: Essential for a Healthy Diet; November 2009
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