by Samantha Biderman

Created on: February 21, 2009   Last Updated: February 23, 2009

I guess in this debate it really is dependent on the terminology. The real question should be processed or natural. Regular pasta when made by a decent brand ie. Barilla is made from ground semolina which is more readily digestible as it is in its pure form before being processed into white flour.

Whole wheat flour however is generally overly processed and lacks the fiber and nutrients of unrefined flours and therefore is not beneficiall to the body. So what you really should be looking for is unrefined whole grains, flax seed, omega infused, rye and multi-grain pastas as opposed to whole wheat which has just become a fancy word for brown white flour.

As for regular pasta as long as it is made from semolina flour, unrefined, it is just as digestible as whole grain pasta. In my family there are two type one diabetics. As part of their daily diet they must have less refined grains because the white starches cause spikes in their blood glucose levels.

However most whole wheat pastas also cause this effect as they too are refined. Semolina pasta and whole grain pastas do not have this effect on their glucose levels and in fact the constant eating of pasta while in Italy caused both family members to have normal blood sugars which they had attributed to the unrefined grains in both the pastas and breads.

Heart healthy starts by being head wise, read labels and look for unrefined and less to unprocessed products to include in your daily consumption.

Learn more about this author, Samantha Biderman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.