Weight loss is rarely straightforward, but dieters finally have some good news.
It turns out eating pasta could help you lose weight, according a major study.
While low carb diet plans have proved popular in recent years, this news turns the trend on its head.
The research found eating three servings of pasta every week could lower your body weight.
The serving size was calculated as around half a cup of cooked pasta.
A half cup of cooked pasta equates to around 100 grams, which contains 131 calories.
In a trial of almost 2,500 people, those who ate pasta instead of other carbohydrates lost an average of half a kilogram over 12 weeks.
This was because pasta was found to have a low glycemic index, releasing its energy slowly.
This quality makes it unlike other refined carbohydrates, which release their sugars quickly into your blood which makes you pack on the pounds.
“The study found that pasta didn’t contribute to weight gain or increase in body fat,” said Dr. John Sievenpiper, an author of the study, in a press release.
“In fact analysis actually showed a small weight loss,” he continued.
“So contrary to concerns, perhaps pasta can be part of a healthy diet such as a low GI diet.”
“In weighing the evidence, we can now say with some confidence that pasta does not have an adverse effect on body weight outcomes when it is consumed as part of a healthy dietary pattern.”
Yesterday, scientists revealed that individuals wishing to shed pounds should quit smoking for weight loss.
While it was once thought that smoking could help dieters stay slim by dulling down their appetite, smokers actually have far worse diets that former-smokers or non-smokers.
Those who smoke eat around 200 more calories a day. It seems that while they eat smaller portions, smokers are opting for more calorie dense foods.
Those who smoke everyday eat around 2.02 calories per gram of food they consume.
One the other hand those who smoke, but not everyday, eat around 1.89 calories per gram. People who have never smoked consume 1.79 calories per gram of food.
Scientists believed that those who smoked were choosing a lower calorie diet that those who didn’t.
