3 Healthy Alternatives to Eating Regular Pasta

Most people love pasta. The problem with pasta is that most of us eat the white pasta, and we eat way too much of it. An actual serving of spaghetti is only 1 cup, and it contains 221 calories. Most of us eat two or three times that much in a single serving. If we go out to an Italian restaurant, we usually get a huge platter filled to the brim...enough for 2 or 3 meals.

The good news is that there are healthy ways to enjoy your pasta by making a few substitutions in what you eat. You can diet and still have your pasta.

Eat whole wheat pasta. Whole wheat pasta is not only lower in calories, it is also more nutritious as well as more filling. A cup of whole wheat spaghetti has only 174 calories. It also contains 6.3 grams of fiber as opposed to regular spaghetti's 2.5 grams of fiber. If you find it difficult to switch from white pasta to whole wheat pasta, do it a little at a time. Mix it half and half until you get used to the difference.

When I began to eat whole wheat pasta, it seemed a bit strange in the beginning. Now I love it, and find that it is much more flavorful than the regular white pasta.

Another very nutritious substitute for spaghetti is spaghetti squash. This unique vegetable is perfect to use as a substitute. It is a pale yellow winter squash and has very little flavor of its own. When cooked, the pulp of the squash resembles actual spaghetti noodles. It is perfect to ladle pasta sauce over, and contains only 42 calories in a 1 cup serving.

If you have never cooked spaghetti squash before, it is quite simple. Wash it, and scoop out the seedy center. Lay face down on a baking sheet that you have sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour or until the pulp can be easily forked out. When you fork the pulp out, you will see that it come out in strands like spaghetti noodles.

Try pasta-less lasagna. If you love lasagna but hate the calories that the pasta provides, why not substitute eggplant? Just slice then into uniform slices and use in the place of your regular lasagna noodles. Rachel Ray has a great recipe for lasagna using this very method. Great news for dieters is that eggplant has only 20 calories per cup, is high is fiber and is chock full of vitamins.

The next time you are craving pasta, don't deprive yourself just because you are on a diet. Try some of these healthy alternatives. You'll be glad that you did.