Is pasta al dente easier to digest?
According to experts, the best way to see if pasta is cooked properly is to cut a small piece and see if the centre is still white or not. The white part, called “animella” should have disappeared. Whereas personal taste influences the cooking, things change as digestion is concerned.
Cooking pasta or rice al dente does not completely cook the starch, that therefore is difficult to attack by digestive enzymes and the digestion becomes consequently slower. This has an important positive consequence: a longer rate of digestion releases slowly glucose – a basis product of starch molecule – and therefore the absorption rate of glucose is slower. In this way glucose is gradually released in blood, without causing insulin peak – as opposite to simple sugars – with many advantages for your health.
