Pass the PASTA!

Junior Abby Gibson is a self-proclaimed pastaphile. Whether it's fettuccine, linguini or rotini, she enjoys it all.\n"If I wasn't trying to be healthy, I'd eat pasta everyday," she said. \nBut Gibson, 20, is trying to watch what she eats. While pasta used to be a weekly staple in Gibson's vegetarian diet, it's now become just a twice-a-month treat.\n"I love pasta, but I eat it less because of carb control," she said.\nGibson is one of many Americans who have followed the advice of the popular Atkins Diet and have added foods high in carbohydrates -- pasta included -- to their list of eating no-nos. But many experts say the problem with pasta isn't the carbs; it's the portion sizes and the other ingredients mixed in that give this popular food a bad rap. Because October is recognized as National Pasta Month, celebrate and indulge in a bowl full of noodles, as long as you're smart about it. \nStacey Matavuli, a registered dietician and manager of the Bloomington Hospital nutrition therapy program, said carbohydrates are very necessary for a person's health. \n"Carbohydrates are a bare necessity for energy and proper fueling of your body," she said. "It's just what type you're selecting and how much you're selecting."\nKidan Hagos, owner of Puccini's La Dolce Vita, an Italian and Mediterranean restaurant on East Fourth Street in Bloomington, said when it comes to pasta, it's the quantity and quality of how you combine it with other foods that makes the difference in determining its health factor. \n"I've been eating pasta my whole life, and I've never had a problem," said Hagos, who grew up in Italy. "We don't think pasta is bad for you. It's just how much you eat." \nMatavuli said one serving of pasta equals one-half cup cooked, about the size of a tennis ball or one-fourth the area of a paper plate. At dinner, most people will need two servings to make a meal, she said. Even though pasta falls into the grain group at the bottom of the food pyramid, Matavuli said the loaded plates of pasta Americans often eat contain six or more servings. When combined with other food eaten during the day, the body is unable to use all of these carbohydrates.\nRecently, Hagos has noticed some of her customers becoming more wary of ordering pasta dishes for fear of what the carbohydrate content could do to their diet. At Rumblefish -- a newly opened restaurant -- at 254 N. Walnut St., executive chef Chris Harpel has noticed the same trend. \n"We've recently drawn back on the starch we're serving, and we've gotten a pretty good response on that," Harpel said. Though there are less pasta dishes remaining on Rumblefish's menu, some pasta dishes were just taken away for the summer season, when many customers find them too heavy to eat in the warm weather, Harpel said. \nBut pastaphiles, have no fear. Pasta is nowhere close to disappearing as a fundamental part of the American menu.\nJim Buckensdorf, owner of Grazie! Italian Eatery at 106 W. Sixth St., said he has not seen a decline in the popularity of pasta dishes at his restaurant. \n"It's Italian, so people expect pasta," he said. \nAlthough Italian flavor attracts many eaters, including Gibson, to pasta, that's not the only reason for its popularity.\nGibson's roommate, Mary Mulvey, eats pasta with almost every meal. Macaroni and cheese and boxed pasta salad mixes are some of her favorites. The 20-year-old IU junior said she really doesn't care about eating a no-carb diet and has actually eaten more pasta within the last year.\n"There are so many varieties that all taste different. It's incredibly easy and convenient to make, and it's good," she said. \nPeople just feel comfortable with pasta.\n"It's always been accepted as more of a comfort food," Harpel said. "Another attraction is familiarity. Pastas are a place people can always go and know they're going to be familiar with 90 percent of what they get."\nAccording to The National Pasta Report on the National Pasta Association's Web site, www.ilovepasta.org, pasta's popularity can be attributed to its nutritional value, taste and convenience. \nIn fact, pasta may not really be as bad for a person's diet as many people think. It may even be good. A study by the United States Department of Agriculture reported that pasta is not fattening. One-half cup serving of cooked spaghetti contains a mere 99 calories, less than half a gram of fat and less than five milligrams of sodium. It is also a good source of iron and components of the vitamin B complex, including folic acid, riboflavin, thiamine and niacin.\nThe report also found that people who describe themselves as health conscious are actually more likely than others to eat pasta three or more times a week and are eating more pasta than five years ago.\nTo reap even more health benefits out of pasta, dietician Matavuli recommends buying any type of pasta that is 100 percent whole wheat. \n"It may be 10 or 20 cents a box more, but if you're getting in your fiber, the long-term benefits outweigh the cost," she said. Among other things, the fiber in whole wheat helps prevent colon cancer and decreases cholesterol levels, Matavuli said.\nLocal grocery stores, including Bloomingfoods, Kroger and Marsh, all carry varieties of whole wheat pasta. At Marsh's Kinser Pike location, extra-wide noodles, rotini, elbows and thin spaghetti shapes are all available in whole wheat varieties next to the standard pastas. A box of whole wheat pasta contains the same amount of calories and carbohydrates as traditional pasta made from durum wheat, but it also contains more fiber, iron, thiamin and niacin. It costs 14.26 cents an ounce -- 6.2 cents more than the standard white bleached pasta. \n"We don't sell a lot here," said Spencer Armstrong, an employee at Kroger's Highland Village location. "By College Mall we sell a lot of it to college kids."\nBut most local restaurants serve only standard white bleach pasta, however. \n"We don't use any whole grain or whole wheat pastas," said Buckensdorf of Grazie! "There have been requests for that from customers, but we just haven't found a product that meets their demands and tastes good." \nWhole wheat pasta takes on a more robust and meaty flavor, said Harpel. \n"They're not very widely used at all in America. The flavor's not familiar to (pasta eaters). It's not what they're used to."\nBesides altering the type of pasta used in dishes, there are other things that can be done to make pasta into a healthier meal. \n"Think of pasta as a base for something," said Matavuli. "Mix veggies or low-fat cheese with it. Use marinara opposed to meat or cheese sauces. It has less fat."\nDishes made fresh or from scratch are usually healthier, said Harpel. \n"If you take some extra virgin olive oil and toss it with fresh tomatoes and fresh basil, that's a lot healthier than chicken alfredo, which is going to have a lot of fat."\nFor people who are still counting carbs, low-carb pastas are available on-line. \nLike all trends, Buckensdorf thinks society's fear of pasta and carbs can't last forever.\n"I think everything kind of goes through a cycle," he said. "We're just hoping they always eat pasta."\n— Contact staff writer Hannah Schroder at hschrode@indiana.edu.