Pasta so high in calories, any healthy ones?
petrinaradford
Posts: 77 Member
I knew pasta wasn’t the healthiest idea for weight loss. But just saw calories in “community co large shells pasta” for 125g which is the serving size (not sure if cooked or uncooked) but is 456 calories.
Any healthy pastas that anyone knows of?
Any healthy pastas that anyone knows of?
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Replies
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Low calorie, no. Healthy is a relative term. If you like it, fit it into your calorie budget. Many people spiralize veggies and use as pasta saving a lot of calories.6
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Most white pastas I have seen are around 310-340 calories per serving (about 85 grams raw). So 456 cals is for 125 grams raw has well.
I never get shell pasta so don't know what 125 grams raw looks like, but in penne, 85 grams is a decent serving size, especially paired with other foods.1 -
Agree with the above, 125g of uncooked large shell pasta will be a big serving once cooked. Add in sauce and some veggies and/or protein and it will be very voluminous and filling.
I'd recommend downsizing the pasta serving size so it doesn't have such a large impact on your daily intake, and adding lots of vegetables which have a low caloric value for their volume. You will feel satisfied without restricting your craving, which is a must in reaching long-term sustainable weight loss.9 -
try spaghetti squash as an alternative.3
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If you don't want to do vegetable based pastas, I hear the brand Fiber Gourmet is very good and only 130 calories per serving. You can only order it online at netrition.com as far as I can see (no stores near me carry it). They have penne, spaghetti, and rotini. I plan to order it soon.2
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Where did you see that?
Raw shells are usually stated at 2 ounces or 56g for a serving, so 125g uncooked is more than a double serving in my world anyway.
Could I eat 125g raw? Well, yeah, but I don't. I do buy whole grain pastas or vegetable based ones when I can. There is a Barilla Protein Plus Rotini I really like. If you use enough vegetables, it is plenty to have 56g.8 -
petrinaradford wrote: »I knew pasta wasn’t the healthiest idea for weight loss. But just saw calories in “community co large shells pasta” for 125g which is the serving size (not sure if cooked or uncooked) but is 456 calories.
Any healthy pastas that anyone knows of?
Most pasta I've ever seen is 100 calories per ounce. I eat pasta at least 3x a week and I'm always satisfied for 400-500 calorie dinner.3 -
You will find that fitting into your daily calorie goal means compromising. A 125g raw pasta serving is big even where I live--Rome. A normal size is 100g and I get by with 50g + veggies and fish or meat, depending on the day. I make pasta in hundreds of different ways. Yesterday was ragu and today was with white beans. Pasta substitutes don't do it for me, but you can decide for yourself. Good luck on your weight loss.1
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I don't like spiralized veg on its own as a pasta substitute because it doesn't have that chewy texture. However, I don't mind stretching pasta by replacing about a third with spiralized courgette or squash.11
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I used to think like that about pasta, that only a big serving would do, but I’ve recently learned that my love for pasta can be satisfied with much much less, if I combine it with full flavoured veg and low calorie sauce.
My standard serving is now down to 35g, weighed raw, with lots of peppers, courgette, onion, a handful of olives etc in a home made tomato sauce which I cook without any oil (so basically just the tomatoes herbs and garlic)
I also don’t like spiralised veg as total pasta replacement but it’s fine to bump up volume as acpgee says above. Also, I very much like using thinly sliced griddled courgette or aubergine as ‘pasta’ sheets in lasagne.
I decided I’d rather eat some pasta, with adjustments rather than no pasta, ever!6 -
petrinaradford wrote: »I knew pasta wasn’t the healthiest idea for weight loss. But just saw calories in “community co large shells pasta” for 125g which is the serving size (not sure if cooked or uncooked) but is 456 calories.
Any healthy pastas that anyone knows of?
125g dry is a big portion! Every pasta I've seen has a dry serving size in the neighborhood of 56g, which is usually around 200 cals or so. Mix that with a serving of veggies, a light marinara sauce, and a protein and for me that's a good sized, healthy, filling meal for 500 cals or so.7 -
When I really want pasta, I have a small portion with a big honkin' salad so I still feel satisfied.
Or I make pasta salad and use real pasta-- but only for about 1/4 of the total volume of the dish. I will use my spiralizer to create cucumber, zucchini and even squash 'noodle's, and cut carrot ribbons. Then big hunks of peppers and onion to fill in any gaps.2 -
As others have said, that's a lotta pasta! A serving per package is usually 56g. The first few times you make a single serving, it will seem tiny, but part of sustainable weight loss is reorienting our thinking about how much food we really need (spoiler alert, less than we normally eat, thus why we're overweight).
I tend to avoid pastas and breads, as they're lots of calories for not as much nutritional value as I'd like. I spiralized a lot a lot of zucchini and butternut squash and toss those in as noodle substitutes. They don't taste like noodles, but they do make a good dish. Spiralizing has been getting more popular and there are a lot of recipes online. I'm making something like this for dinner tomorrow, served alongside some kind of chicken.
When I'm craving actual pasta, I'll measure out a single serving of whole wheat pasta and fill up on other things.
Also, I've been trying noodles made from things other than wheat. Ones that I like include:- Trader Joe's lentil and brown rice spaghetti - same calorie count as whole wheat pasta, but twice the protein (14g vs. 7g)
- Simply Nature soybean spaghetti - same calorie count as whole wheat pasta, but a whole lot more protein (24g vs. 7g). These don't really taste as much like "normal" pasta, but I've found works really well in homemade ramen and in more asian-ish recipes vs. italian recipes
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If you're up for a challenge, try shirataki noodles instead of regular pasta. Less than 10 calories per serving.
Warning, it's an acquired taste. 😁1 -
just_Tomek wrote: »
I respectfully disagree. I use shirataki fettuccine instead of pasta fettuccine and also use a tomato based sauce with it.4 -
I eat pasta and rice almost every day. Depending on how I cook my pasta determines how much that I eat. If I include veggies and meat in the recipe I find that 1 to 1 1/2 oz. is plenty(100 to 150 calories). If it is mainly a pasta dish then I go with a full serving of 2oz of pasta(200 calories).
Eating pasta has never caused me to not lose weight.3 -
Zero Noodle is bean base and actually is very high in fibre and will balance out the carb quantity. For each gram of fiber you minus that from the carb content. Shirataki makes me vomit as it feels like rubber, Zero Noodles has benefit nutritionally and the taste is easier to swallow.1
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You can either reduce your portion size, save up calories for the amount you want, or find alternatives (zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash, shirataki etc). I usually have a large serving of pasta once a week then have zucchini noodles the rest of the time. Just because something is more calorie dense does not mean it's unhealthy, but it is something you might want to pay attention to especially if you do not have a lot of calories to play with.2
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"not sure if cooked or uncooked" - first step would be to make sure!
Pasta is healthy - what ingredients in it do you believe are actively unhealthy?7 -
If you eat whole grain pasta you get a fairly large portion of your daily fiber requirement.2
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BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »I used to think like that about pasta, that only a big serving would do, but I’ve recently learned that my love for pasta can be satisfied with much much less, if I combine it with full flavoured veg and low calorie sauce.
My standard serving is now down to 35g, weighed raw, with lots of peppers, courgette, onion, a handful of olives etc in a home made tomato sauce which I cook without any oil (so basically just the tomatoes herbs and garlic)
I also don’t like spiralised veg as total pasta replacement but it’s fine to bump up volume as acpgee says above. Also, I very much like using thinly sliced griddled courgette or aubergine as ‘pasta’ sheets in lasagne.
I decided I’d rather eat some pasta, with adjustments rather than no pasta, ever!
Yes, I too now eat less pasta, with more veggies (and protein.)2 -
For large flat noodles such as those, I like to stretch them using mushrooms or mushroom slices. Ordinary button mushrooms work but if you want to be fancy, there are some varieties of dried mushrooms found in Asian groceries which have a very al dente texture and minimal flavor, and hardly any calories.
In addition to spiralized zucchini you can make slices of zucchini or other vegetables using a peeler. Winter squash can work well this way.0 -
When I eat pasta - I weigh it out dry and cook my portion apart from the family's. 2-3 oz dry (200-300 cals approximately) is plenty for a dinner portion. Factor in sauce, veggies on the side or a salad, and some protein: its a pretty big meal in terms of bulk so I don't feel like I'm restricting myself by only eating '2-3 oz'.
But lately I've been on a spaghetti squash kick. I'll buy the smallest one I can find, and it make 2 meals for me. I like spaghetti squash. It is a different texture than actual pasta but with sauce, crumbled turkey sausage, a very generous dash of garlic salt and some paremsan cheese: I am eating a big plate of yumminess for about 240 calories.4 -
just_Tomek wrote: »just_Tomek wrote: »
I respectfully disagree. I use shirataki fettuccine instead of pasta fettuccine and also use a tomato based sauce with it.
I know you can use it. You can also spiralize veggies and call it spaghetti. But you and I both know that neither of those are real pasta made of semolina and water. What I have posted at least feels and tastes just like real pasta.
The difference is just like it VS just good enough.
Now throw that shiratake into a curry or soup, no problem.
I have to agree. If I want pasta then it needs to be pasta. I tried the "zoodles". It didn't taste bad but it didn't fool me...it wasn't pasta. I do this one dish where I use half pasta and half zoodles. I tastes good but I wouldn't say that it tastes as good as if I had of used all pasta.
I just don't like fake stuff.2 -
I enjoy chickpea or pea pasta in some uses, which has about twice as much protein as wheat pasta for the same calories. I find that it has a slightly flatter taste, so I prefer it with a hearty sauce. Someone here suggested cooked lentils mixed with powdered dried mushrooms (pulverize dehydrated mushrooms in a blender or food processor) plus tomato sauce and seasonings, as a vegetarian option. A hearty meat sauce would also be good.
There are also soy or edamame pastas. They tend to have 3-4 times as much protein as wheat pasta, for the same calories. To me, these have a chewier texture than wheat pasta, so I don't really enjoy them with tomato sauce or creamy sauces. However, I find them quite tasty in pseudo-Asian dishes. A favorite is one of these pastas plus stir-fried veggies with a peanut sauce made from peanut butter powder, chile paste, and rice vinegar plus other seasonings of choice (could add a suitable meat or seafood, of course). If you don't like spicy things, omit the chile paste, and use miso or soy sauce.2 -
2oz. Edamame spaghetti = 24g protein, 20g carb (of which 13g is fiber), and 3.5g fat. 180 calories. It's a spongier texture than regular pasta but not bad. There are other "pastas" like black bean but they tend to have a stronger flavor and coarser texture.1
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Miracle noodles... 0 calories pastas2
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Thanks everyone, I see I will measure way less than 125g.1
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This is 2.01 oz of gluten free pasta-one serving. Sigh. It’s pitifully small, but when I added Italian sausage, 5 oz of leftover green beans and some homemade sauce, it made for a nice filling dinner!
When I do eat pasta, I normally just plan around the fact that I’m having a double serving of pasta and plan my other meals accordingly.
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