Italiano
How do you like your pasta cooked?
Ok, tastes are subjective, of course. Still…
Al dente has objective advantages. Just be careful not to cook it too shortly, having it to the nail!
First of all, although it may seem counterintuitive, but it is more easily digestible.
By cooking pasta al dente, the starch granules hydrate, without dispersing in the water (as they would with prolonged cooking). So the nutritional properties remain intact.
Al dente pasta has a lower glycemic index: starch can be assimilated gradually, avoiding a rise in blood sugar.
Furthermore, it needs to be chewed longer. This causes the salivary glands to secrete ptyalin, an enzyme which acts on the complex chains of starch (amylase action, to be fussy!), reducing them to less complex structures and facilitating the subsequent completion of digestion.
There is yet another bonus: the slow assimilation of starches also leads to an increase in our body’s production of those hormones that regulate the sense of satiety (above all, leptin and ghrelin ), which will therefore be more prolonged over time.
Thus distracting us from the irrepressible desire to open that damned fridge door!
Speaking of fridge, I sell them. As well as equipment for cooking pasta. Al dente, or any way you like it cooked!
