Bariatric peeps, we know you love your pasta, and we want you to love your life and not give up your fave foods now that you’ve had bariatric surgery. Remember at Weight Zen we don’t believe in diets, we believe in eating – do’s so you can think of all the post-surgery food options available to you.

WHITE = WAIT
First, why you love pasta? Pasta is broken down quickly in your body, which means it spikes your blood sugar giving you a mental high right after you eat it. Think of it as a food that makes your brain laugh. The problem is that after the high, comes a low. Blood sugar spikes, then crashes. Your brain gets that high, and to avoid the crash, you do what? You eat more pasta. Pasta impacts your blood sugar because it is a carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are turned into sugar in our body. In fact if you thought of white spaghetti like a bowl full of sugar strands, our guess is you wouldn’t eat so much of it so fast!

Why Brown Turns that Frown Upside Down
OK So WHY are nutritionists and doctors always saying to eat whole wheat pasta? There is fiber in whole wheat pasta. Whole wheat, means the whole entire part of the grain is used, it’s not stripped and processed. White bread, is stripped and processed, which is why it is white. There is “WHITE” whole wheat on the market, but it’s really just fiber enhanced white pasta. Listen, if you like your pasta white, try it. At Weight Zen we’re fiber fans, because the more roughage the more time take it takes to digest. Plus, fiber helps fill your tummy so you feel fuller longer.

PASTA DO’s

1. WHOLE WHEAT – c’mon you know it’s good for you. It stays in your stomach longer(this helps you feel fuller longer), it stabilizes your blood sugar, and helps you “go” more smoothly. Not potty humor jokes at Weight Zen.

2. BEAN BASED PASTA – They are rich in PROTEIN and FIBER. Double hello, thank you very much our lovely bariatric nutrition Megan swears by them. We asked her if they tasted funny and she said “They don’t, but their texture is a little bit different. They are a little chewier than regular pasta.” What do we LIKE about chewing longer? After surgery your stomach is smaller, which means you have reduced absorptive capacity. Chewing more helps your body starts the digestion process IN YOUR MOUTH, and that has been scientifically proven to help your body absorb more nutrients. We want you to have a nutrient, vitamin rich life!

3. BROWN RICE PASTA – First the taste: tastes like brown rice. No fix for that, but you can try our brown rice/white rice mix trick. If you aren’t super accustomed to the flavor, rather than even bothering to make the leap mix the brown rice pasta with regular white pasta. There is nothing wrong in the world with baby stepping your tastebuds to a healthier future. Benefits of brown rice pasta is again it helps regulate spikes in blood sugar, and it’s GREAT for people with gluten issues.

4. QUINOA – Let’s teach the world how to say the word. It’s pronounced keen-wa. Now you can sound fancy when you cook or order it. No one can spell quinoa without spellcheck, but it’s just as easy to cook as regular pasta. There’s no processing issues with quinoa, even though there are different colors, all quinoa is packing a major nutritious punch. Like sushi, it’s an acquired taste. For you sweet tooth lovers, here’s an interesting fact, this pasta-like goodness you can prepare either sweet or savory. To sweeten it up you can use some cinnamon and honey. To keep it savory use regular pasta sauce.

Finally, if you are totally saying to us, but WAIT white pasta is my favorite food ever, we don’t want you to give it up. Really. Just eat it with protein, load up on veggies, and Keep that white pasta portion small. Petite jeans on the way!