Nutritional Pearls: Whole Grain Pasta Is More Satisfying
Anthony is a 46-year-old man trying to improve his diet. He tells you that a significant portion of his diet consists of bread and refined grain pasta, and asks if there are any changes he can make to improve his health without giving up his favorite foods.
How would you advise your patient?
(Answer and discussion on next page)
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Answer: Whole-grain pasta is not just better for you: It's more satisfying.
We know that more fiber in your diet is great for you: It helps improve cholesterol scores, reduces your risk of colorectal cancer, and helps reduce your risk of diabetes. More than its physical benefits, I often tell my patients about how higher-fiber foods are more satisfying. Yet most of existing research focuses on whole-grain breads, not pastas. A team in Copenhagen recently published an article that investigates just how satisfying whole-grain pasta might be.
The Research
Fifteen overweight men and women participated in 2 studies for which they visited the research lab on 4 separate occasions. For both studies, the researchers asked that the participants avoid all high-fiber and fermentable foods (such as yogurt) for the 24 hours prior to the 4 study appointments, as well as avoid any prebiotic or probiotic supplements. On each of the 4 test days, the participants were provided with a standardized breakfast to be consumed at 8 am along with up to 500 mL of water, of which one cup might be coffee or tea.
For the first feeding study, the participants visited the lab on 2 separate occasions. They first consumed the standardized breakfast and then ate a lunch meal consisting of pasta and tomato sauce. On one occasion, the pasta was made of refined grains (white pasta), and on the other occasion the pasta was made of whole grains. The researchers asked the participants to eat their lunch meal until they were "comfortably full," and measured the participants' appetite with a questionnaire before and after the meal.
The second feeding study also required 2 visits to the lab and entailed the same standard breakfast. The lunch meal was again the same: On one occasion, refined-grain pasta and on the other whole-grain pasta, both with tomato sauce. For this study, however, the authors served a standard volume for lunch, then tested the participants' appetite before lunch as well as at half-hour intervals until 4 pm, at which time they served another meal, this time a hearty salad.
The Results
In the first study, the authors measured how much each participant ate and compared how much of the refined-grain pasta they ate with how much of the whole-grain pasta they ate. They found that the participants ate about 10% less of the whole-grain pasta than the refined-grain pasta—though the authors pointed out that this is not considered statistically significant. For the second study, the authors analyzed how much of the afternoon salad the participants ate (participants were again instructed to eat as much as they wanted). Interestingly, the participants reported feeling more satisfied and less hungry after eating the whole-grain pasta meal than they did after eating the refined-grain pasta meal, although the amount the participants ate at the subsequent meal was about the same regardless of whether they had whole-grain or refined-grain pasta at lunch.
What’s The “Take-Home”?
It's as simple as that: Whole-grain pasta is not just better for you, it's more satisfying. Switching to whole-grain pasta is one of the easiest things your patients can do to up their fiber intake. If they're used to refined-grain pasta, suggest that they try quinoa pasta at first, which has more fiber than refined-grain pasta.
Reference:
Cioffi I, Ibrugger S, Bache J, et al. Effects on satiation, satiety and food intake of wholegrain and refined grain pasta. Appetite. 2016;107:152-158.