AN ALLIED HEALTH: THE PASTA

ANTONIETTA MESSINA^1,*, VINCENZO MONDA¹, ERSILIA NIGRO², ANNA A.VALENZANO³, INES VILLANO¹, MARIA RUBERTO⁵, GIUSEPPE MONDA¹, ANTONIO ASCIONE⁴, SERGIO CHIEFFI¹, GIUSEPPE CIBELLI¹, GIOVANNI MESSINA^1,2, MARCELLINO MONDA¹

¹Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology and Unit of Dietetic and Sport Medicine, Università degli Studi della Campania, Naples, Italy - ²CEINGE-Biotecnologie Avanzate Scarl, Naples, Italy - ³Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy - ⁴Department of Motor Sciences and Wellness, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy - ⁵Department of Medical-Surgical and Dental Specialties; Università degli Studi della Campania-Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy

The Mediterranean diet has been recognized historical and cultural heritage of great importance, nutritional and culinary excellence to scratch. In the Mediterranean diet 50-60% of kilocalories should come from carbohydrates, 25-30% from lipids and the remaining 10-15% from protein, the dough thus represents the main source of complex carbohydrates, ideal energy source is essential for the daily activities ensuring the good health state. The beneficial properties and the nutritional values of pasta are numerous Pasta is a ally of the diet: satiating has great power and is an excellent solution for stress. It also contains vitamins of the B group essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system, the starch paste is free glucose, which promotes the synthesis of serotonin, which gives well-being. Some studies have shown that, among the carbohydrates, the pasta has the lowest glycemic index not therefore increases the levels of C-reactive protein, which proved to be correlated with cardiovascular risk does not increase the risk of hypertension because it contains very little sodium and fiber, the latter fundamental in the prevention of cancer.