It
could only have happened in Italy, the land of linguine, vermicelli and
tagliatelle - scientists in Tuscany have developed a new type of pasta
that can help ward off heart attacks.
While health experts might frown on people gorging on too much spaghetti carbonara or creamy linguine, the new pasta is being touted as beneficial to well-being.
Those blood vessels then form “natural bypasses” in the event of a heart attack, according to the researchers in Pisa.Scientists tested their theory on laboratory mice, feeding them the newly-developed pasta and then inducing cardiac arrest.
Mice which had been fed the barley pasta survived in greater numbers than a control group of mice which had eaten ordinary durum wheat pasta.
While health experts might frown on people gorging on too much spaghetti carbonara or creamy linguine, the new pasta is being touted as beneficial to well-being.
It is made from a
mixture of standard durum wheat flour mixed with whole-grain barley
flour, which is rich in a fibre called beta-glucan which enchances the
growth of new blood vessels.
Mice which had been fed the barley pasta survived in greater numbers than a control group of mice which had eaten ordinary durum wheat pasta.
The barley-munching mice also sustained less damage to their hearts, examination revealed.
The researchers, from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced
Studies in Pisa, revealed the results of their research on the website
Scientific Reports.
They said the new pasta “makes the body more resistant to stress and to coronary artery disease.”
They said the new pasta “makes the body more resistant to stress and to coronary artery disease.”
“It’s the first time that the formation of natural bypasses
was encouraged via functional food, [in this case] pasta with barley
beta-glucan,” said Prof Vincenzo Lionetti, who led the study.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show that a sustained dietary intake of pasta enriched with [beta-glucan] safely increases coronary collaterals…and reduces mortality.”
But the barley-enriched pasta had the effect of creating a “biological bypass” that naturally enhanced heart health.(Teleraph UK/Independant)
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show that a sustained dietary intake of pasta enriched with [beta-glucan] safely increases coronary collaterals…and reduces mortality.”
In 2014, a study discovered that pasta is less fattening if cooled down and then reheated before it is served.
doctors fed freshly cooked and reheated pasta separately to
volunteers, taking blood samples every 15 minutes for two hours to
compare the effects.
They found the reheated pasta was significantly healthier and acted more like bananas, beans or raw oats when absorbed in the gut.
They found the reheated pasta was significantly healthier and acted more like bananas, beans or raw oats when absorbed in the gut.
But the barley-enriched pasta had the effect of creating a “biological bypass” that naturally enhanced heart health.(Teleraph UK/Independant)