Italian Pasta

Perfect 👍let’s go deeper into the starch structure part — that’s really the hidden key to why Italian pasta often feels better.

🧬How starch works in pasta
• Wheat flour is mostly starch granules, made of amylose and amylopectin (two types of carbohydrate chains).
• When pasta dough is extruded and dried, the starch interacts with proteins (mainly gluten). The way it’s dried changes how tightly this network is locked in.

⚡ High-heat, fast-dried pasta (common in mass production)
• Pasta is dried at very high temps (80–120 °C) in just a few hours.
• This partially pre-gelatinizes the starch → making it easier to break down quickly in your gut.
• End result: higher glycemic index, faster sugar release, more energy spikes → can feel like a crash after.
• The texture is smoother, but digestion is faster and sometimes rougher.

🕐Low-heat, slow-dried pasta (common in traditional Italian brands)
• Pasta is dried gently (30–50 °C), often for 24–48 hours.
• Starches stay mostly raw and crystalline → they don’t gelatinize until you cook them in boiling water.
• During cooking (al dente), only the outer starch partially gelatinizes, while the core stays more intact.
• Result: slower breakdown in digestion, lower glycemic impact, steadier energy → feels lighter.

🍝Why you feel better
1. Starch-protein matrix stays intact → digestion is gradual.
2. Al dente cooking further prevents full starch breakdown.
3. Less insulin spike → more stable energy, less bloating.
4. Gut bacteria may also prefer slower-digesting starch (resistant starch).