Carbohydrates are an important part of a balanced diet, and pasta can be a great source.
Lisa Valente, a registered dietitian, shared five ways to make your pasta dishes even healthier.
These include adding protein and vegetables and choosing the least processed jarred sauces.
The myth that carbs are bad for you has been circulating for years, but a registered dietitian told Business Insider that pasta can actually be a delicious part of a healthy diet.
Thanks to the popularity of diets from Atkins to keto, which exclude carbohydrates in favor of protein and high-fat foods, carbs have been wrongly painted as the unhealthy cause of weight gain and insulin resistance. But most experts agree that carbs are an important part of a healthy diet, particularly nutrient-dense whole foods, and have benefits including providing energy.
“If you love pasta, it’s definitely OK to include it in your diet,” Lisa Valente, who practices out of Vermont and is also nutrition editor at Healthline.com, told BI.
Pasta is a staple food of the Mediterranean diet, widely considered one of the healthiest ways to eat, and is a great base for meals because it contains some protein and fiber as well as carbs. A 100g portion of dried white pasta carries 13g of protein and 3.2g of fiber, which are essential for muscle growth and digestive health, respectively. Pasta is thought to be even healthier the next day, as reheating it increases the levels of resistance starch.
But pasta can also be a tasty vehicle for other ingredients. “Think about what you can add to your pasta to make it more nutritious, to add a little more variety and round out your plate,” Valente said.
Valente shared five tips to make your pasta meals even healthier.
Add vegetables and protein to pasta
Two of the best things to add to pasta are vegetables and sources of protein, Valente said.
Making a healthy pasta meal could be as simple as throwing it together with leftover vegetables and meat, or some canned beans.
Valente also likes to combine pasta with green vegetables that can melt into it like spinach, kale, and escarole, or add some frozen vegetables in with the pasta water for a supercheap and easy option. Frying up some…