Heart healthy ‘super-spaghetti’ developed in medical breakthrough

RESEARCHERS have developed a super food version of a family favourite that might reduce the risk of suffering heart disease.

 

Scientists have developed a potentially healthy spaghetti

 

Lovers of Italian food can now rejoice now a team of scientists have developed a super-spaghetti intended to help reduce a person’s risk of cardiovascular illness.

The enriched pasta contains functional flours, extra fibre and protein.

Using a process called ‘air classification’ the researchers were able to obtain extra goodness from the whole grain of the barley flour and access the nutritious part of the grain.

 

Using a special process, researchers were able to make the most of the grain's nutritional value

 

One of the beneficial fractions obtained using air classification included antioxidant compounds.

Compared to many spaghetti brands on the market, the scientists also found their super-spaghetti concoction was especially rich in betaglucan - a soluble fibre.

Professor Gómez Caravaca, lead researcher, said: “The amount of betaglucans present in our functional spaghetti fulfilled the requirements of the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to be able to label it as “good source of fibre” and “might lessen the risk of suffering cardiovascular diseases’”.

 

High fibre diets have been linked to a reduction of heart disease risk

 

The results obtained so far have allowed two Italian companies to develop a new line of pasta using fractions obtained by air classification.

The researchers hope that shoppers might soon be seeing such a product in supermarket aisles. 

She added: “These products allow to reach, with a single dose (a dish of pasta), 70 per cent of the daily betaglucans dose recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).”

   

wo companies have looked in to using this method for making pasta

 

The research was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Previous studies have shown high-fibre diets can help prevent heart disease, diabetes, weight gain and some cancers. It can also improve digestive health.