Every Friday, find on Le Point.fr, the nutrition chronicle of Professor Boris Hansel, endocrinologist and nutritionist at the Bichat hospital in Paris.
Bot often, the pasta is not very good in the canteen, because it is overcooked… or so our children say! But beyond the question of taste, when pasta is overcooked, it can also affect our health. Pasta, like all starches, contains glucose which, after digestion, enters the bloodstream and raises blood sugar, that is, the level of glucose in the blood. The ideal is to avoid having too high blood sugar, to guard against diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Not all starches raise blood sugar the same way. Foods can be classified according to their impact on blood sugar. For this, we use a numerical indicator: the glycemic index (GI). We measure in the laboratory, under very specific conditions, the blood sugar level over time after having ingested a food. This curve (see the video) thus shows that white bread has a high glycemic index – around 70 – and that lentils are at 30. But the type of starch is not the only determining criterion. It is also necessary to take into account the methods of transformation and in particular the method of cooking of the food.
Overcooked pasta has a higher glycemic index
Back to pasta! Cooking the pasta will help the glucose to be absorbed and pass from the intestine to the blood. This is why overcooked pasta has a higher GI – 60 – than al dente pasta (which is crunchy) with a GI of 40. In addition, other processing methods modify the glycemic index. For example, puffed foods such as rice or corn cakes, or grilled foods such as rusks as well as cereal flakes have a high glycemic index.
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As you have understood, consuming pasta al dente is therefore highly recommended, but if you find yourself faced with a plate of overcooked pasta, you can still take action to reduce the entry of glucose into the blood. All you need to do is toss them with a little good fat like olive oil and veggies! For our children who have lunch in the canteen, we can only advise the cooks to cook the pasta a little less, better for your health… and for the taste!