Eating Pasta and Spaghetti......

[Maddog20/20]

We all hear how we should cut back on pasta and carbs because your body stores them etc. and to eat more protein. But are pasta and Spaghetti really that bad for you? I can remember hearing something about marathon runners loading up on pasta the night before a race. Anybody load up on pasta before a tourny or training and how bad is it for you while training and trying to slim down?

 

[chopperj]

If I eat pasta it is whole wheat pasta, I heard the same thing as you did, But I think its all carbs, Not completely sure. Sorry

 

[TJS]

lots of carbs so yea marathon runners would want that before a race.

as far eating pasta..dpends on your diet and how may carbs you are taking in and how active you are...if you are using them all then they wont get stored as fat.

 

[Terumo]

We all hear how we should cut back on pasta and carbs because your body stores them etc. and to eat more protein. But are pasta and Spaghetti really that bad for you? I can remember hearing something about marathon runners loading up on pasta the night before a race. Anybody load up on pasta before a tourny or training and how bad is it for you while training and trying to slim down?

It isn't inherently a good dietary staple if, as you said, your efforts are geared toward cutting. Traditional pasta has simply too high of an insulin index and glycemic index, and it could be replaced by a more effective, less refined carbohydrate source.

Marathoners and other endurance athletes load carbohydrates in order to completely maximize musculorskeletal and hepatic glycogen stores. This isn't really something that should be of too much concern outside of true endurance events. As for eating pasta or any other high-carb food prior to training, don't. Yes, it will case a temporary spike in blood glucose, which will be available for glycolysis. However, this spike will be very short-lived, much shorter than your actual workout will likely be. After the spike, you would probably feel the effects of insulin counterproduction to reduce blood sugar levels. In a training environment, insulin will counter glucose to below baseline.

Carbs in your pre-workout meal are fine, but be sure to consume them in an unrefined, fibrous form. Also, couple them with some protein to blunt the insulin response.

 

[Zeirhk]

Yes I eat pasta and 2-4 boiled eggs 2-3 hours before working out.

 

[Maddog20/20]

As for eating pasta or any other high-carb food prior to training, don't. Yes, it will case a temporary spike in blood glucose, which will be available for glycolysis. However, this spike will be very short-lived, much shorter than your actual workout will likely be. After the spike, you would probably feel the effects of insulin counterproduction to reduce blood sugar levels. In a training environment, insulin will counter glucose to below baseline

So in english then, does this mean that after the "spike" I'll basically gas a little quicker? Thanks for the post and info. BTW does this include noodles? Cause I love me some Mongolian BBQ for lunch before working out later in the afternoon.

 

[Brandinho]

I do lots of endurance events and couldn't live without pasta.

 

[neosamurai1979]

Nothing like a nice, hot plate of spaghetti...mmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

[AgentSmecker]

I usually feel lethargic after eating pasta so what would be a better option for the type of training we do?

 

[Sinister]

Spinach Pasta > all others.

 

[Leviathan333]

In english, high amounts of concentrated carbohydrates will store as energy called glycogen in the blood stream. This glycogen is countered by an insulin release in the blood, the more glycogen, the stronger the reaction. If you get to much of the 'enriched' carb food, like white bread and pasta, the body releases more than the ideal amount of insulin. this is bad because insulin will not only take this energy and store it as fat, but it will take a lot of it and just flush it out. So it makes you fat, AND tired.

Simple carbs, like that in fruits/veggies/whole grains is a lot better because the glycogen is used up rather than triggering the effect that flushes/stores it.

 

[LCDforMe]

I love pasta and I only eat it if it is whole wheat. It took me a few times to get used to it but now that I have switched, white pasta seems almost gummy and weird tasting.

Carbs aren't nessecarily a bad thing. If you run big races (marathon) then you will definitley need the carbs or if you work very hard during the day then no, it won't make you fat.

The posts above explain glycemic index pretty well. I reccomend reading the book "Sugar Busters" if you want a healthy diet and a good explanation of why it is so healthy. The book does a fantastic job talking about just what you're looking for.

 

[Sinister]

Simple carbs, like that in fruits/veggies/whole grains is a lot better because the glycogen is used up rather than triggering the effect that flushes/stores it.

Last time I checked vegetables and whole grains were complex carbs.

 

[Madmick]

Brown rice and pasta made from non-bleached, whole grains, or vegetable sources (without shortening)are two of the best sources of carbohydrates available to man.

Nevertheless, I have hope one day the aliens with arrive in a spaceship with super-carbs that lengthen my penis.

 

[Madmick]

In english, high amounts of concentrated carbohydrates will store as energy called glycogen in the blood stream. This glycogen is countered by an insulin release in the blood, the more glycogen, the stronger the reaction. If you get to much of the 'enriched' carb food, like white bread and pasta, the body releases more than the ideal amount of insulin. this is bad because insulin will not only take this energy and store it as fat, but it will take a lot of it and just flush it out. So it makes you fat, AND tired.

Simple carbs, like that in fruits/veggies/whole grains is a lot better because the glycogen is used up rather than triggering the effect that flushes/stores it.

God, this is so WRONG. It's true in general that you don't want the majority of your carbs to be hyigh-gly, but sometimes that serves a specific purpose (mainly, increasing your body's uptake of glycogen pre or post workout). Check your designer creatine (if it's non-esterified); do you see dextrose? Dextrose (corn sugar, a simple carbohydrate) has one of the highest glycemic indices of any food. Check your designer post-workout powder. Does it have maltodextrin (corn starch, a complex carbohydrate)? I believe it contains the highest glycemic index of any food, period.

 

[Madmick]

It isn't inherently a good dietary staple if, as you said, your efforts are geared toward cutting. Traditional pasta has simply too high of an insulin index and glycemic index, and it could be replaced by a more effective, less refined carbohydrate source.

Marathoners and other endurance athletes load carbohydrates in order to completely maximize musculorskeletal and hepatic glycogen stores. This isn't really something that should be of too much concern outside of true endurance events. As for eating pasta or any other high-carb food prior to training, don't. Yes, it will case a temporary spike in blood glucose, which will be available for glycolysis. However, this spike will be very short-lived, much shorter than your actual workout will likely be. After the spike, you would probably feel the effects of insulin counterproduction to reduce blood sugar levels. In a training environment, insulin will counter glucose to below baseline.

Carbs in your pre-workout meal are fine, but be sure to consume them in an unrefined, fibrous form. Also, couple them with some protein to blunt the insulin response.

You bastard, where have you been?

 

[Lusst]

I always kick myself when I go eat like 4 or 5 homemade flower tortillas at gramma's house...I feel like shit after I eat them, but damnit, are they good!

 

[Leviathan333]

God, this is so WRONG. It's true in general that you don't want the majority of your carbs to be hyigh-gly, but sometimes that serves a specific purpose (mainly, increasing your body's uptake of glycogen pre or post workout). Check your designer creatine (if it's non-esterified); do you see dextrose? Dextrose (corn sugar, a simple carbohydrate) has one of the highest glycemic indices of any food. Check your designer post-workout powder. Does it have maltodextrin (corn starch, a complex carbohydrate)? I believe it contains the highest glycemic index of any food, period.

I was referring to pasta as a staple question.

Just because a few supplements have high glycemic index ingredients, doesn't mean pasta doesn't cause an insulin reaction.

What exactly are you disagreeing with?

 

[Madmick]

I was referring to pasta as a staple question.

Just because a few supplements have high glycemic index ingredients, doesn't mean pasta doesn't cause an insulin reaction.

What exactly are you disagreeing with?

I was being a dick. I reread everything, and I couldn't even see what got me so worked up.

I'm guessing it was because you didn't specify in your paraphrasal (as Terumo did in his original post) that high-gly carbs are only poor as a pre-workout meal. Personally, I don't recommend taking designer creatines pre-workout, either, so I don't know what I was smoking that day.

Also, you seemed to imply that "enriched" foods like white bread and pasta are bad, but this isn't the case. The enrichment process simply adds vitamins and minerals to bleached grains deficient in these nutrients (due to the bleaching process). Enrichment isn't the reason these breads and grains tend to have a higher glycemic level, it's due to milling. A whole wheat kernel may be milled to form cracked wheat, fine granular wheat, or even finer whole wheat flour; some of the nutritious value and fiber is lost, but not much, and not nearly as much as when they abrade and polish the rice or barley, because these layers are the richest in nutrients such as fiber, unsaturated fat, protein, iron, and B vitamins. The enrichment process was instituted by the FDA, I believe, to restore many of these nutrients, because people were becoming deficient without it.

Just because something is whole grain or wheat, and isn't bleached, doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't have a high glycemic index (more important to consider, actually, is the GI Load). So check the web on your pre-workout carbs. This website, by a co-author of "The Low-GI Revolution", includes most of a list published by one of his co-authors in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm


I apologize for my harsh words.