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answers to your food questions
Grain-Free, Lower-Carb Pasta? You Bet!
To lose or control weight—or just add extra nutrition and variety to your diet—use these healthy alternatives to cut the carbs in your favorite noodle dishes. BY MELISSA DIANE SMITH
Q
: I grew up eating a lot of pasta, which has kept me about 30 pounds overweight for most of my life! A few years ago, I found out I was gluten-sensitive and made the switch to rice, quinoa, and lentil pastas. That helped my digestive issues, but I haven’t lost any weight. In fact, I’ve gained a few pounds. Are there other types of grain-free, low-carb pastas I can try?
With a registered tagline of “Simple but Twisted,” Cece’s Veggie Co. sells noodled veggie varieties that you can find in the produce section in natural food stores.
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Noodled Organic Butternut and Organic
Beets both contain about 7 grams of carbs and 35 calories per serving, but the Butternut Spirals add
160 percent of the Daily Value of vitamin A and 25 percent of the Daily Value of vitamin C, and the Organic Beets are a good source of iron and vitamin C. Cece’s also produces Zucchini Marinara and Zucchini Pesto Veggie Meals, ready-to-make, vitamin-packed dishes that are substantially lower in carbs and calories than what you find in typical on-the-go packaged products.
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6/22/21 7:03 PM
Photo: (Bottom left) Getty Images
Spiralized Vegetable Noodles
They’re super-easy to prepare: simply sauté them in oil for a few minutes. Cece’s Noodled Organic Zucchini is the lowest in carbs, with only 3 grams of carbs and 15 calories per serving. Its Cece’s
Photo: (Top right) Adobe Stock
A:
I’m happy to say that there are more options than ever that fit your needs. The key to reducing the carbs and calories in pasta is to ditch those made from high-carb grains and legumes and substitute grain-free, legume-free alternatives. Most of the lower-carb substitutes that follow are made from non-starchy vegetables, which provide a high amount of essential vitamins and minerals relative to the carbs and calories they supply—so they’re a healthy addition to any diet.
