Generality
Spaghetti is a typical food of Italian culture, a symbol of the Bel Paese all over the world. On the other hand, the origin of this food speaks oriental, since the very first types of spaghetti (which were based on millet) appeared in China 2,000 years before the birth of Christ.
However, there are various types of spaghetti on the market, which often - apart from the shape (elongated and thin), the section (more or less round) and intended for consumption as a first course - have little in common; in addition to those properly called (durum wheat), there are also egg noodles, wholemeal, kamut, rice, corn, soy, gluten-free, with fiber for diabetics, etc. Some are based on legumes, while others fall into the category of diet foods.
Spaghetti represent the (stereotyped) symbol of our gastronomic tradition, but this does not do justice to the greatness of Italian cuisine, nor to the ingenuity of those peoples who first discovered spaghetti. Probably, this association derives from the fact that it is of the longest dried pasta most consumed in Italy for almost 3 centuries and which, as such, has frequently been the subject of literary quotations and film performances.
Gastronomic use
Spaghetti is a basic ingredient for first courses, both dry and sautéed (e.g. spaghetti with tomato sauce, spaghetti with cacio e pepe, spaghetti allo scoglio, etc.), and au gratin (e.g. spaghetti nests with béchamel and truffle ).
The primary cooking of the spaghetti takes place in water, by boiling; must be immersed in boiling liquid (in a quantity 10 times greater than the mass of the pasta to be cooked), which tends to be salty (10g of salt per liter of water, but it is NOT a fundamental ingredient !!!), for a sufficient time to reach the cooking (which depends on the thickness and personal tastes). In some regions it is customary to "break" spaghetti in half to facilitate total immersion in the water contained inside a pot (tall and narrow pan suitable for boiling / boiling ).
Spaghetti alla chitarra with zucchini and stracchino
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Homemade Soy Noodles
Spaghetti allo Scoglio
Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Cream, Lemon and Walnuts
Nutritional Characteristics
Spaghetti perfectly follows the chemical composition of dry food pasta, but they seem to have a DIFFERENT impact on "insulinemia; later we will try to understand" why ".
They are very energetic and the calories come largely from complex carbohydrates, or from starch. However, it should be remembered that the glycemic load and the energy amount of spaghetti, after cooking and due to hydration, are halved: 100g of dried spaghetti, once cooked, weigh about DOUBLE (that is, they absorb 100g of water). They do not contain significant doses of lipids and those few are mostly unsaturated (good fats). The amino acid profile is poor, both from a quantitative and a qualitative point of view (Biological value of medium entity). Being a vegetable food, spaghetti does not contain cholesterol and provide a significant portion of dietary fiber. Among the mineral salts, the most present are potassium and phosphorus (however subject to dilution during cooking), while, for what concerns the vitaminic aspect, mediocre quantities of water-soluble vitamins of group B are highlighted (some damaged in cooking) .
We now come to the "metabolic aspect of spaghetti. As can be easily deduced, being rich in carbohydrates, spaghetti is able to significantly raise blood sugar. The amount of glucose that enters the blood is a parameter called glycemic LOAD and is proportional to" amount of carbohydrates taken with spaghetti (the same as for other dry food pasta). On the contrary, the speed of increase in blood sugar is called the glycemic INDEX and is subject to many other factors, including: structure of starch, level of hydrolysis with cooking, coexistence of dietary fiber, water, proteins, lipids, capacity for digestion, absorption, etc. Both of these parameters influence the release of insulin by the pancreas, the hormone capable of penetrating glucose into most tissues and promoting indiscriminate anabolism. An excess of energy nutrients (in this case glucose) and insulin promotes the synthesis of fatty acids by the liver and their deposition in the form of triglycerides (mainly) in the adipose tissue.
If it is true that spaghetti have the same nutritional composition as other dry food pasta (same glycemic load), it is equally true that the various formats are distinguished by their specific glycemic index (even if the real reasons are not entirely clear). According to what was cited by the various research sources (never completely agree), spaghetti would be the type of pasta with the lowest glycemic index. It is probable that this characteristic is due to the industrial extrusion process of the same. , taking place hot, creates a sort of barrier that hinders the internal hydration of the starch (not surprisingly, the glycemic index of the pasta changes considerably also according to the cooking level). This also happens in the drawing of other dry pasta even if, for their part, they have a less favorable ratio between surface and total volume. A reduced speed of entry of glucose into the blood determines the slower stimulus of insu lina, even if this characteristic ALWAYS subordinates the total glycemic load (ie the portion).
In conclusion, despite being more suitable than other dry pasta, large portions of spaghetti are not suitable for diet against diabetes, overweight and hypertriglyceridemia.
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