October 25 is recognized as World Pasta Day. You’re probably thinking, wait, wasn’t that last week? Not to be confused with National Pasta Day, which was October 17, 2017, World Pasta Day celebrates this particular food on an international level.
World Pasta Day was officially established in Rome, Italy on October 25, 1995 by 40 international pasta producers that were a part of the World Pasta Congress. Experts from all over the world came together to talk about spaghetti and spread knowledge of it. The World Pasta Congress uses International Pasta Day to promote the eating of this Italian food, along with its culinary and cultural importance.
Many restaurants and chefs celebrate this day by sharing knowledge, recipes and eating pasta. Many pasta lovers have already taken to social media to promote their love for it, with hastags such as #WorldPastaDay and naming their favorite pasta with the hashtag #Spaghetti.
Many restaurants are celebrating this international celebration of pasta with discounts and deals for customers. For example, Carrabba’s began a deal on October 17th (National Pasta Day) through October 25, 2017 (World Pasta Day), offering a free Spaghetti & Meatball entrée to take home for free with the order of any Spaghetti entrée.
Aside from being a beloved meal, there are also many good health benefits to eating pasta. It is a misconception that carbohydrates are responsible for health problems, such as obesity. Excess calories, not carbohydrates, are the leading cause for obesity.
There are many health benefits to pasta
Pasta provides you with energy, along with nutrients in the form of fibers, minerals and vitamins.
It is also a great carbohydrate and carbs are a main fuel for your body. Whole wheat pasta also gives your body dietary fiber, which helps fight chronic diseases.
Pasta also contains selenium, a mineral that activates enzymes that protect your cells from molecular damage and manganese, a mineral that helps your body metabolize carbohydrates and regulates your blood sugar.
According to an article by the Food Journal for Food, Nutrition and Science, Kathy McManus, Director of the Department of Nutrition at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said, “There is a prevalent myth that eating carbohydrates makes people fat, but scientific evidence shows that excess calories and not carbohydrates cause obesity. It is important to know that healthy pasta meals and other low glycemic foods can be part of successful weight loss diets and support long-term weight maintenance.”
[divider style=”solid” top=”3″ bottom=”-10″]
Fun Facts about pasta:
- Did you know Italians produce over 1, 432, 990 tons of pasta each year?
- There are over 600 types of pastas
- The first reference of pasta in a book was in 1154
- Americans consume 6 billion pounds of pasta each year
- 24% of the global consumption of pasta is by Americans, which is the largest of any country in the world
- The first pasta industry in America was built in Brooklyn in 1848, by a Frenchmen who spread his spaghetti strands on the roof to dry in the sunshine.
[divider style=”solid” top=”0″ bottom=”20″]
There will be an official World Pasta Day celebration in Sao Palo, Brazil full of nutritional, cultural and economic workshops. Among the VIP members will be Kantha Shelke, researcher expert on food and nutrition, founder of Corvus Blue in Chicago. The proceeds of this event will be donated to Gastromotiva, an NGO (non-governmental organization) in Brazil and in several Latin American countries, using food for growth and transformation.
With information from Livestrong.com