Live data from Hacker News

Anti-Pasta: When Italian Futurists Tried to Ban Pasta in Italy

mentalfloss.com

41–50 of 112 posts

Re: Anti-Pasta: When Italian Futurists Tried to Ban Pasta in Italy

#41

I recently used the Libre Sense continuous glucose sensor as an experiment (I don't have diabetes). I noticed that after eating pasta, my blood sugar stayed elevated for 4-5 hours. It looks like calling pasta and bread "slow carbs" is appropriate. One of my conclusions from the experiment is that I will probably never buy wheat again (but I'll eat it if I get it served).

> I noticed that after eating pasta, my blood sugar stayed elevated for 4-5 hours. But how long your blood sugar stayed high after eating "fast carbs"?

My meals without slow carbs usually had a "rounded" elevation that last for about 1 hour and converges do my baseline after about 3 hours.

I never tried only carbs/fruits in a meal. I always add fat and some protein. I should try it for my next experiment.

The glucose response also appears to be affected by physical activity before or after a meal. You can "walk-off" a heavy meal.

Re: Anti-Pasta: When Italian Futurists Tried to Ban Pasta in Italy

#42
post #32

I recently used the Libre Sense continuous glucose sensor as an experiment (I don't have diabetes). I noticed that after eating pasta, my blood sugar stayed elevated for 4-5 hours. It looks like calling pasta and bread "slow carbs" is appropriate. One of my conclusions from the experiment is that I will probably never buy wheat again (but I'll eat it if I get it served).

Do you mean that in a negative way? A food with carbs that release over 4-5 hours seems ideal for lunch.

Practitioners of intermittent fasting and keto diet claim we have more mental clarity when we are in ketosis.

During the experiment I made a homemade pizza with about 300 g of flour. After eating it I experienced brain-fog and I was not able to focus on reading a book that evening.

Re: Anti-Pasta: When Italian Futurists Tried to Ban Pasta in Italy

#43
post #38
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, this is diet advice from Italian Fascists.

Well, without seeing the original Italian, it's hard to know whether "possessing her" is a faithful translation of how it termed having sex.

Ah, found it:

"E la pastasciutta è antivirile perchè lo stomaco appesantito ed ingombro non è mai favorevole all’entusiasmo fisico per la donna e alla possibilità di possederla dirittamente."

So it's indeed saying "possessing her", though a more idiomatic translation would probably be to say "taking her", since "possess" is rarely used as a term for sex at least in modern English.

Re: Anti-Pasta: When Italian Futurists Tried to Ban Pasta in Italy

#44

Futurists were the most punk rock artistic movement before punk rock happened in the 70s. They even invented Industrial noise before Throbbing Gristle with Russolo's "Art of Noises" and orchestra of noise makers. The interesting thing about them is while they enjoyed shocking people and beating up their artistic rivals, they weren't nihilists like punks were: they were punk rock for technological progress rather than…

Futurists, though, were by and large fascists.

Punk is strong anti-fascist.

Re: Anti-Pasta: When Italian Futurists Tried to Ban Pasta in Italy

#46
Popularity of pasta in Italy is part of nation's accumulated wisdom. Pasta is popular simply because it _works_. It gradually releases water over time. This makes it very popular among marathon runners for example. Pasta's dietary properties make it very popular in notoriously sunny Italy, where activity slows down during midday.

Re: Anti-Pasta: When Italian Futurists Tried to Ban Pasta in Italy

#47
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your mention of guanciale reminded me of this delicious video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AAdKl1UYZs The serving seems gigantic though.

Cool video! It's very easy to do (provided you have the ingredients). The serving in the video seems to be for 3 people. It's a really greasy dish, there's no way you can eat all of that alone.

While cutting the guanciale he says "quite a lot for two people" and later while adding eggs he says "for two people you take two eggs" so it must be intended as a portion for two.

Re: Anti-Pasta: When Italian Futurists Tried to Ban Pasta in Italy

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That reminds me of this meme: https://mk0dietvsdiseascuno2.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/upload...

That's amusing on one level, but I do know that many struggle to create a caloric deficit, and some foods do seem to make it easier to feel full with less.

That’s a very fair point, I had not considered that.

Re: Anti-Pasta: When Italian Futurists Tried to Ban Pasta in Italy

#50
post #6

> the popular 21st-century view that heavy pasta meals leave diners feeling equally heavy and lethargic. Pasta gets a bad rap unfairly, I think. A few years ago over the course of ~18 months, I lost 100 lbs. I ate pasta almost every day when I did this. One problem, particularly in the US, is that portion sizes are so large. This affects much more than just pasta. But in the American mind, a serving of pasta is often…

As an Italian, my experience is that I can’t have any satisfaction with less than 180g of pasta. Therefore I only eat it like once a week and make it a little event. Growing up I had similar portions almost on a daily basis and I was never overweight. Trick: do sports. A lot.

As an Italian, that's really a lot of pasta.

I eat 80gr of pasta, a bit more at the restaurant (they make larger portions), I hate big bowls of pasta and have it no more than 2/3 times a week, usually less.

Pasta is a kind of food you have to eat and then wait that gastric acids kick in to take the hunger away

If you're trying to eat pasta until it makes you feel full, you're having too much of it.

Pasta releases water over time and too much of it will also make you very sleepy, especially after lunch.

That's why there is a tradition in Italy of not working too much after lunch and shops used to reopen in the afternoon at 16. People had too much pasta (they had not much more to eat, until they had it)

But if you eat it once a week I guess it's ok, my grandma used to eat pasta with bread everyday and she lived 96 years...

I did a lot of sport in the past, it doesn't really keep your weight down, to lose weight doing sport, while also eating a lot without limits, you should do it 12 hours a day.

I was luck enough to be born genetically skinny, but now that we are older many of my friends are fighting against weight daily, despite being professional players on a strict diet until their 30s.

Post reply on HN