Avoid Eating Pasta If This Is Happening To Your Body
According to the Mayo Clinic, constipation means that you are having problems with pooping. More specifically, if you go to the toilet less than three times per week or it's hard to go, you can be considered as being constipated.
Constipation happens to us all at one time or another and it can attributed to a variety of things, including a lack of fiber in our diets, dehydration, being sedentary, and even taking certain types of medications.
Going back to the topic of fiber, some foods are naturally low in fiber, such as meats and eggs. Yet others are low in fiber because of the fact that they have been heavily processed and the fiber has been removed. If you eat these foods quite frequently, then you may struggle to keep your bowels moving regularly. One such food that may be low on fiber due to processing is pasta.
Highly processed pasta can cause constipation
While whole wheat pasta is technically processed, it is only minimally processed so it is still quite nutritious. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, a cup of cooked whole wheat spaghetti is very low in fat and sugar. It also contains a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. Additionally, it contains 6.3 grams of fiber. To put this in perspective, the American Heart Association (via UCSF Health) recommends that adults need about 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day so one cup of whole wheat spaghetti can make a significant contribution to keeping you regular. And if you add vegetables to your pasta, this will boost the fiber content of your meal even further.
On the other hand, spaghetti that's undergone further processing to give it that familiar yellowish-white color loses quite a bit of its fiber content in the process. A cup of cooked spaghetti of this variety now only contains 2.5 grams of fiber. You'll have to consume a lot more calories just to match how much fiber is in whole-wheat spaghetti.
Eating more fiber-rich foods can help you avoid constipation
Fiber is essentially the part of plants that we aren't able to digest. It comes in two forms: soluble (can be dissolved in water) and insoluble (can't be dissolved in water.) It is the insoluble form of fiber that helps make us poop. It gives our stool bulk and softness, which allows our digestive tract to move it out of our bodies much easier.
To get more fiber, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases says that in addition to opting for whole grain pasta, bread, oatmeal, and bran flake cereals, you should consume other plant foods, which are naturally rich in fiber. Among these are beans, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
As you increase your fiber intake, however, you want to do so slowly. As you begin to eat more fiber it can cause the number of fiber-consuming bacteria in your gut to increase, yielding more gas as a byproduct. This can leave you feeling more bloated and uncomfortable than usual. Gradually bumping up your intake will allow you to minimize the bloat you get from fiber.