57 Million Italians Can’t Be Wrong

Defying Atkins: Italy’s Pasta Consumption High, Obesity Low

Several fad diet book authors have made a pretty penny in recent years by villainizing pasta and bread, blaming these and other carbohydrate foods for America’s overweight woes. What has changed since Italian divas Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren were famous for their hour-glass figures and their passion for pasta? Loren’s claim was “everything you see, I owe to spaghetti.”

These former stars of the movie screen and a host of other pasta-loving Italians still have a positive story to tell. Italy is the number one country for pasta consumption. Citizens there consume an estimated 62 pounds of pasta per capita versus an estimated 14 pounds in the United States. At the same time, Italy’s incidence of obesity is only 37% compared to 61% in the United States. Said differently, Italians eat four times as much pasta and are far less likely to be overweight.

Pasta is not fattening. On the contrary, a 1/2 cup serving of cooked pasta contains a mere 99 calories and less than a half gram of fat. If you eat a typical serving of cooked spaghetti, this will probably provide two or three of the recommended servings of complex carbohydrates and still contain less than 300 calories.

It’s the Calories, Not the Carbs
Calories, not carbohydrate foods, are to blame for America’s weight problem. Simply put, we eat too much and exercise too little. Since the 1950s, average daily consumption for an American adult has increased by 500 calories.

The average American consumes 2,750 calories per day, far beyond the 2,200 calories recommended for most children, teenage girls, active women and sedentary men. Bigger isn’t always better.

Super-sized portions and too much of the three “Ns” (Nickelodeon, Netscape and Nintendo) have expanded our waistlines. The surgeon general recommends moderate physical activity for children every day for at least 60 minutes, while only 25% of school-aged children get 30 minutes of daily exercise.

Most nutritionists agree the keys to healthy eating are balance, variety and moderation. There are no bad foods, only bad diets. Achieving fitness is possible (without the health risks associated with some carbo-phobic diets) by following the proven, sound principles of the Food Guide Pyramid and increasing physical activity.

Here are some supporting facts:

•  An analysis of 107 research studies reported in the April 9, 2003, Journal of the American Medical Association, “Efficacy and Safety of Low-Carbohydrate Diets,” concluded that “among published studies, participant weight loss while using low-carbohydrate diets was principally associated with decreased caloric intake and increased diet duration, but not with reduced carbohydrate content.” The analysis study did not answer the questions as to the safety or long-term success of low-carbohydrate diets.

•  A study of four diets published in Preventive Cardiology (2002) by Richard Fleming found a high carbohydrate diet to be most effective. The study included a total of 100 people over a year’s time. It was controlled for calories and exercise. Values for weight, total cholesterol, low-density cholesterol (LDL), high-density cholesterol (HDL), triglycerides, and homocysteine were take at the start of the study, at four months, at eight months and at one year. The caloric range was between 1,300 and 2,200 calories per day. Fat ranged from 10% of calories to 65%, carbohydrates from 10% to 75%, and protein from 15% to 30%. All four groups lost weight, with those on the highest carbohydrate diet (75%) having the greatest weight loss. Despite weight loss, the high-fat diet increased every cardiovascular risk factor monitored. The longer the diet was followed, the worse the effects became.

•  A June 2002 study by the USDA cataloged the advantages of a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet. The study is based on food intake data from just over 10,000 adults across the United States. Participants on high-carbohydrate diets consumed 300 fewer calories per day than those on very low-carbohydrate diets. Adults who ate high-carbohydrate diets were more likely to be in the normal weight range, with the lowest average body mass index. High-carbohydrate diets were indicated to be more nutritious than low-carbohydrate diets, providing greater intake of vitamins A, C, carotene and folate, and the minerals calcium, magnesium and iron.

•  A recent National Academy of Sciences Macronutrient Report recommended that 45 to 65% of calories be in the form of carbohydrates. A report from the World Health Organization last year recommended that over 55% of calories come from carbohydrates.

Even restaurants are joining the low-carb fad, including this diner with several locations in N.D. that has been known for its kuchen and other German flour dough favorites. However, many health experts point out that it’s inactivity and too many calories, not carbohydrate foods, that are to blame for America’s weight problem. (Photo: Tracy Sayler)