The Best Pasta For Diabetes. I Finally Found It!

pasta such a versatile easy toake comforting meal that everybody loves unfortunately many pasta meals will spike your blood sugar too high and keep it there for a long time but what if I told you that it doesn't need to be that way as someone living with diabetes for 35 years I embarked on a journey to find the best blood sugar friendly pasta option I studied nutritional values on every package I could find and I tested hundreds of pasta meals both at home and in restaurants This research was a GameChanger for me that's why in this

video I want to rate 10 different types of pasta based on their taste and how they impact my blood sugar to help you decide which one is best for you and as a bonus at the end of this video I will teach you seven practical hacks that will help you keep your blood sugar in check no matter what kind of pasta you eat keep in mind I'm not a doctor I'm not a nutritionist I'm just someone who understands your diabetes struggle and wants to help let's start with the most popular pasta in the world I

bet you have a pack of barula spaghetti in your cupboard it's a classic Italian pasta made from semolina with which is a durm wheat flour and water now semolina is not the worst type of flour there is it's definitely better than the allpurpose white flour than white bread is made from but a small portion of this Barilla pasta has roughly 40 carbs only 7 g of protein and less than 2 G of fiber making it a high starch food that quickly breaks down into glucose and for those of us managing diabetes that's a challenge to

test it out I tried a small portion of Barilla spaghetti with a simple tomato sauce although I took my insulin with it my blood sugar spiked to about 200 Mig per deciliter so while this pasta gets a 9 out of 10 for its delicious taste I can only give it two out of 10 for its negative blood sugar impact a total of 11 points for this classic barula spaghetti now I want to make one thing clear it doesn't matter if you get spaghetti Linguini pen or fucili different shapes of pasta don't affect blood sugar differently

what matters are the ingredients and nutritional values so let's look at this egg Linguini next this one is a bit different from the classic pasta because the manufacturer adds three eggs in the dough per each package which gives the pasta slightly richer flavor a small portion of this egg Linguini has approximately 38 carbs 8 g of protein and 2 G of fiber so a bit less carbs and a bit more protein than the classic pasta the added egg might sound promising but when I tried a small serving my blood sugar Rose to nearly 19 190

not as high as the classic spaghetti but a lot higher than what I would want to see and that's why I would rate the pasta 9 out of 10 for Taste and three out of 10 for its major blood sugar impact a total of 12 points next up is one of my favorites this is a local organic whole grain pen from my local store the only difference between these and the traditional pasta is that they are made from whole grain semolina and as you will see this really matters when we look at the nutritional values

the small portion of this whole grain pasta has roughly 36 carbs 7 g of protein and almost 4 G of fiber so let's total carbs and double the fiber of traditional pasta and that's really important because fiber is the kind of carbohydrate that our body cannot digest plus it slows down digestion which results in a more gradual and more gentle spike in blood sugar levels when I tried a small portion with a simple tomato sauce my blood sugar Rose to around 160 that's not perfect but it's actually pretty good the whole grain version has a

slightly nutty favor and cheer texture than traditional pasta but I personally don't mind this this why I'm giving it A8 out of 10 for Taste and a six out of 10 for its blood sugar impact a total of 14 points so if we have a new leader something that tastes pretty good and doesn't Spike blood sugar too much now here I have another example of whole grain pasta this one is made from spelled flour which is an Asian cousant of a modern wheed flow the whole grain spelled pasta has slightly better nutritional values and blood

sugar friendly profile than the whole grain pasta made from semolina flower I just talked about but it is even more chewy and notti another advantage of spelled pasta is that it's easier to digest because the gluten in spelled is highly soluble but although it is a very blood sugar friendly pasta and gets a seven out of 10 for its blood sugar impact I'm not a big fan of how it tastes so I'm giving it only five out of 10 for its taste a total of 12 points now you might have noticed one thing the healthy

whole grain pastas typically have this brownish color but please be careful because brown color doesn't always mean good blood sugar friendly pasta some cheap pastas are brown too but they're only only Brown because of added coloring and specific processing techniques and you should definitely stay away from those I always read the ingredients and look at the nutritional value not just the color as a rule of thump I always go for those with less carbs more fiber and more protein to make sure I'm getting relatively blood sugar friendly pasta now speaking of protein I have something

very different for you both of these pastas are nutrients dense options packed with protein and they can control blood sugar levels better than traditional pasta this one here is chickpea fucili made solely from chickpea flour which is why it is nutritionally higher in protein and fiber and this can slow down digestion and provide a steadier release of energy a small serving of this chickpea pasta contains only about 29 G of carbs 12 gr of protein and 5 gr of fiber and the nutritional profile of this pasta makes it very appealing to those of us managing

diabetes because they just won't Spike blood sugar very much after eating this chickpea pasta with a simple tomato sauce my blood sug sugar was noticeably more stable and it stayed under 140 the whole time this pasta has a bit of a chickpea flavor and firmer texture than traditional version so I can give it more than five out of 10 for Taste but I rated a solid eight out of 10 for its positive blood sugar impact a total of 13 points the other package I was showing you just a minute ago is full of red lentil

fucili made solely from red lentil flour with 31 G of carbs 15 g of protein and 3 G of fiber the red lentil pasta is is also very high in both protein and very nutrient dense option when I ate the red lentil pasta my blood sugar went up only to about 140 mg per deciliter which is totally fine for me but the taste is not amazing so although this lentil pasta gets eight out of 10 for its positive blood sugar impact I can only give it four out of 10 due to its strong taste a

total of 12 points by the way if you like me and don't love the taste of lentil pasta you might want to try one of the Fortified pasta brand something like the barula plus series it's a blend of semolina and red lentil flour so its taste is closer to real pasta just be prepared that it will spike your blood sugar more than a solely legume based pasta now we still have four more pasta versions to look at and two of them will get it 10 out of 10 so don't go anywhere next up is another

fantastic plant-based Choice loaded with the good stuff this is the black bean spaghetti this pasta has just two ingredients organic black bean flour and water and its nutritional profile is impressive a small portion has only 19 G of carbs 11 G of fiber and an incredible 25 g of protein the high fiber and protein content is really promising because it indicates that this pasta will digest slower that anything we talked about so far when I tried it with my simple sauce my blood sugar started Rising very slowly only about an hour after I finished my

meal but it never went above 120 mg per dcil that's excellent the only drawback of this pass pasta is that it is a strong earthy flavor that can easily overpower a mild sauce that's why I prefer to eat any Bean based pasta with Bolder sauces that have Rich and robust taste for blood sugar impact it's a nine out of 10 but for Taste I'd give it only three out of 10 bringing it to a total of 12 points next I want to introduce you to a little brother of the black bean spaghetti actually this might

even be big brother because it's scored a lot higher than the black bean spaghetti I'm talking about the mama Bean spaghetti made from organic soybean flour and water a small portion of this plant-based gluten-free pasta contains only 20 carbs of which 13 G is fiber plus it also packs 24 g of protein these are similar values to black bean pasta and as you can see my blood sugar response was nearly identical which is fantastic but here is the best part the adame pasta has a mild flavor with a hint of green vegetables and a smoother

texture than some other legum options I was pleasantly surp rised how well this complemented the sauce without overpowering it and that's why I'm giving the adame pasta a solid 6 out of 10 for Taste and an excellent 9 out of 10 for blood sugar impact a total of 15 points which is the highest score so far but next I want to talk about something very special I saved this one for later in the video because it's unlike any other pasta on the list and it has practically zero blood sugar impact let me introduce you to

Shirataki AKA Cojack noodles although these aren't technically pass they deserve a spot on the list especially if you're looking for a super low carb option these translucent jelly-like noodles are made from the Kack plant which is mostly water and soluble fiber a small portion of these noodles is only two carbs but nearly all of it is fiber with hardly any protein or fat so they're about as close to zero calories and zero carbs as you can get when I tried Shirataki I was impressed although I ate a big bowl my blood sugar didn't Spike at

all so what's the catch well the texture of kjac noodles is very different from traditional pasta they have a slightly slippery feel and a mild almost neutral flavor they might not fit well into traditional pasta meal but I really like the taste especially in Asian style dishes that's why I'm giving shirataki noodles six out of 10 for Taste and 10 out of 10 for their non-existing blood sugar impact a total of 17 points we have a new leader again now I'm sure some of you might be thinking Tom stop this cheekpiece and Shirataki n nonsense

I want the real thing the real pasta all right let me tell you about the most delicious pasta I ever tried these artisanal spaghetti are made in small batches with traditional slower methods that's why they retaining more nutrients have a richer taste and a rougher texture that hold sauces better and they are delicious it's a completely different level of pasta a little downside of this artisanal pasta is usually only available in specialized stores and they cost a lot they're about three times as expensive expensive as Barilla spaghetti for my test I used the manini classic

line although they also have a whole meal version which would probably be better for my blood sugar but I wanted the real thing but a small portion of this manini spaghetti contains a whopping 42 carves which is the most of all the pasta we talked about so far although I took my insulin my blood sugar specked to over 220 after I ate a small portion with a simple tomato sauce this was the highest blood sugar of all the pastas I tried in the test but I'm telling you is it was completely worth it because this

spaghetti tastes really good so I'm giving it 10 out of 10 for Taste but only one out of 10 for its negative blood sugar impact a total of 11 points now I want to make one thing clear it is very possible to eat these high carb pastas like artisanal pastas without such a crazy blood sugar Spike but you need to do it right so let me explain the obvious problem with the traditional pasta is that it is a high starch Carby food which causes our blood sugar to spike rapidly and stay elevated for longer periods

of time but here are a few ways to get around it number one it all starts with preparation the best way to cook pasta is Al Dente which literally means to the tooth firm and chewy Al Dente pasta has a lower glycemic index and from my experience it spikes my blood sugar a bit slower and a bit less compared to an overcooked mushy pasta number two another thing you can do to lower the glycemic index is to rinse cooked pasta with cold water and cool it down when I do that I'm basically transforming some of

that starch into resistant starch which has similar characteristics to fiber and it doesn't Spike my blood sugar that much although I'm not a big fan of cold pasta salads I do realize that it's a much more blood sugar friendly meal compared to a hot pasta dish here is another practical tip for you number three see in Italy pasta is traditionally eaten as a first course Bry Piti a traditional portion in an Italian restaurant is quite small just 2 ounces of dry or about 4 ounces of cooked pasta unfortunately outside Italy is quite common to get

a huge bowl of pasta which is two or even three times bigger than the traditional portion what I'm trying to say is you don't need to avoid pasta completely if you have diabetes but try to keep an eye on the portion sizes because it's really important it makes a difference it will help you keep your blood sugar under control in fact another thing that Italians do and that's number four is that before eating the first course they eat pasty an appetizer the appetizer gives you an awesome opportunity to load up on fiber and protein even

before you get any carbs in now when I say appetizer I don't mean the white bread they often put on the table right in front of you when you sit down in a restaurant don't touch that crap I'm talking about a green leafy salad a kpacho any other vegetables lean meat or seafood based appetizers these are typically a great source of fiber and protein which will make your blood sugar more stable even after eating that pasta later on moving on to tip number five during my testing I learned that picking the right kind of sauce

to go with my pasta is equally important as picking the right pasta here you can see what my blood sugar did after eating a small portion of pasta with a tomato based marinara sauce it went up slightly but then it came down within a few hours on the other hand when I ate the exact same portion of pasta with alfredo sauce which is loaded with heavy cream and butter my blood sugar stayed elevated for a lot longer in my experience more diabetes friendly sauces are marinara pesto Sugo Pomodoro or Al arabiata which are typically lower

in carbs and saturated fats on the other hand sauces like Alfredo quatro fori or carbonara don't work too well for my blood sugar obviously I also try to avoid any sauces with added sugar because these are the worst and here is another tip number six see the most simple and often the most effective way to avoid a huge blood sugar Spike after eating a plate of pasta is going for a walk and get moving when you do that your muscles will start soaking glucose from your blood and your blood sugar will not Spike that high

it might actually start coming down if you walk long enough now there is one more traditional thing Italians do when they eat pasta that we need to talk about but before we do that I have another tip for you number seven I mean this one might be only interesting for you if you inject insulin like I do but I'll mention it anyway see during my test I learned that different type of pasta meal require different insulin dose often injected at different time for a high carb pasta meal I need lots of insulin and I need

to inject it about 15 minutes before I start eating the more fiber and the more protein I can add on my plate the more gradual my blood sugar Spike will be that's why with those more blood sugar friendly pasta versions I can inject the insulin and eat right away now when I eat pasta with a creamy sauce or lots of cheese I might not only need more insulin but I might also need to split my dose take half of it before the meal and half of it about an hour after finishing the meal or even

later see I'm doing all of this to align the dose and the timing of insulin action with the timing and the amount of glucose Spike caused by the meal which is not always the same but here is the thing that Italians do when they finish eating pasta they take a slice of bread to soak up the leftover sauce on their plate because no sauce should be left behind it's a delicious way to finish the meal but the thing is bread is another item on the menu that we need to be careful about because it can

Spike blood sugar a lot but thankfully there are some blood sugar friendly Alternatives if you want to know what they are if you want to know what the best bread for diabetes is click on this video and to watch it next I will see you there ciao