Food Scientist Welcomes Pasta’s Comeback

A Colorado State University food scientist laments the decline in popularity of pasta after some diet gurus demonized the word “carbohydrate” in the 1990s. Melissa Wdowik acknowledges there should have been some reduction in consumption of pasta: portion sizes had grown too large and unhealthful, especially when topped with fatty, salty sauces and gobs of Italian sausage. But pasta is inching its way back onto plates and menus, and that’s a good thing because it provides nutritionally rich, complex carbohydrates needed for brain and muscle health. Other benefits: enriched pasta is low in sodium, rich in iron and B vitamins; whole wheat pasta provides fiber and magnesium; bean-based noodles also offer fiber and minerals; and soba (buckwheat) noodles are a gluten-free source of antioxidants, carbs, fiber and minerals.