Q&A - The Whole Wheat Debate

I received a question about whole wheat versus “regular” pasta. Not being a dietitian, my quick answer is that you should incorporate whole grains into your diet as much as possible.

But I think that it’s also a matter of preference; if you incorporate whole grains into every other aspect of your diet, a bowl of regular pasta isn’t a bad thing. But if you eat white bread, white rice, instant oatmeal, and white pasta, maybe you should consider mixing it up a little.
When I wanted to move our pasta purchases to the whole grain variety, and because I have friends who are gluten-intolerant, I tried every pasta variety from whole wheat to brown rice and spelt to kamut. For my family, it came down to texture. Brown rice pasta seemed more paste-like while the spelt pasta was too gritty. So, we’ve settled on whole wheat or a whole wheat blend.

My other advice would be to look at the portion sizes. If your pasta package reads ‘6 servings’ and you devour the entire box yourself, if doesn’t really matter if it’s whole wheat or not!

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