1. Spaghetti Squash:
Scrape out the spaghetti-like strands from this squash and top with your favorite sauce. It looks and tastes just like the real deal! According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient database, 1 cup of cooked spaghetti squash provides 42 calories, 0.4 gram of fat, 1 g of protein, 10 g of carbohydrate (4 g as sugar) and 2.2 g of fiber. High water content and is not as dense in vitamins and minerals as other winter squash, such as acorn or butternut, but does provide 3 percent of the Daily Value for calcium, 5 percent of the DV for Vitamin A, 9 percent of the DV for Vitamin C and 8 percent of the DV for dietary fiber. Spaghetti squash supplies modest amounts of carotenoids, plant substances that the body turns into Vitamin A and that may help protect against some diseases. One cup of cooked enriched spaghetti yields 221 calories, 1.3 g of fat, 43 g of carbohydrate and 2.5 g of fiber. Pasta does provide more B vitamins. If you have diabetes or are watching your weight and carbohydrates, you can save 179 calories and 33 g of carbohydrate by eating a cup of spaghetti squash instead of a cup of pasta.
2. Zucchini:
Shredded, julienned, or cut into ribbons with a peeler, this low-cal alternative will give you a huge veggie boost when topped with tomato sauce. It offers carbohydrates and protein with very little fat and is also a good source of several vitamins and minerals. A medium-sized zucchini, weighing 200 g, or 7 oz., adds only 33 calories to your nutrition plan. Zucchini contributes digestible and indigestible carbohydrates to your diet. It provides no starch but nearly 5 g of sugars, as fructose, glucose and sucrose, in a medium fruit. The cells of your body readily derive energy from these sugars to fuel your activities and maintain your body’s basal energy needs. A medium zucchini offers 2 g of dietary fiber. This type of indigestible carbohydrate does not supply energy, but it improves your digestive health by adding bulk to waste products as they move through your gastrointestinal tract. The dietary fiber in zucchini can also decrease your chances of developing obesity and heart disease. Zucchini is rich in vitamin C, containing 35 mg in a medium fruit to supply nearly half your daily requirement. A medium zucchini also offers roughly 10 percent of the vitamin A you need each day. Approximately 10 percent of your recommended daily intake for potassium and magnesium is in a medium zucchini. A medium-sized zucchini, with its high seed content, contains more than 2 g of protein, not a significant amount but still adding to your dietary pool of amino acids.
3. Soba Noodles:
These Japanese noodles are packed with fiber and protein and have a nuttier taste than traditional pasta. The primary nutrients in soba noodles are manganese and protein, both of which are uncommon for noodles. Soba noodles are derive from buckwheat flour which is not a grain, but rather, an edible seed drawn from fruits similar to rhubarb. Soba noodles also contain minor proportions of iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and protactinium. Containing less calories than rice noodles and half the calories of egg noodles, soba noodles contain only 113 calories in a 114 g serving. This serving contains no sugars or dietary fiber, but a small amount of carbohydrates, owing to the starch existent in buckwheat.
4. Shirataki Noodles:
Made popular by Hungry Girl. These noodles are primarily made of fiber and contain virtually no fat or calories. They come in a package of liquid and are usually sold in the produce section alongside tofu. The only cooking required is draining the liquid and rinsing them off! Flour derived from the Asian konjac yam provides the base for shirataki noodles, with the tofu variety also having tofu added to its ingredients for additional protein. A 4-oz. serving contains only 20 calories to go along with 0.5 g fat, 3 g carbohydrates, 1 g protein and 2 g fiber. Since they have such few carbs and calories to go along with their fiber, shirataki noodles can even aid in achieving weight loss goals, providing a low-cal alternative to pasta. Shirataki noodles contain glucomannan, a form of water-soluble fiber found in the powdered yam root that serves as the noodles' foundation. According to a University of Connecticut study, published in October 2008 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," researchers found that glucomannan helps lower bad LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting blood sugar, while also aiding in weight loss.
5. Quinoa:
Though it’s not shaped like pasta, this ancient grain can be a great pasta alternative, especially if you are looking to increase your protein — 1 cup has 32 grams! Read more about Quinoa: http://getfitbestrong.blogspot.com/2012/03/nutrition-103-quinoa.html
6. Brown Rice Pasta:
A great source of protein and magnesium, brown rice pasta is a way for people who are gluten-free to get their pasta fix. Brown rice is rice that has not had the brown-colored bran covering removed, so brown rice is considered a whole grain. Since brown rice still has the bran intact, it has more fiber than white rice. One cup of brown rice has 3 1/2 grams of fiber while the same amount of white rice has less than one gram of fiber. We all need from 25 to 38 grams of fiber in our diet everyday. Brown rice also contains nutrients like magnesium, manganese, and zinc.
7. Bean Sprouts:
Either raw or cooked mung bean sprouts may take the place of pasta. Bean sprouts contain 6 g of carbohydrates and 31 calories per 1-cup serving. For a low-carb version of lo mein, for example, mix sprouts with your favorite combination of stir-fried vegetables and meat. With their mild flavor, bean sprouts also go well with just about any kind of pasta sauce. You may be pleasantly surprised how good cooked sprouts taste with a red sauce. A sprout is the young growth, or shoot, from a seed. The taste and texture of sprouts vary depending on the bean. With only a few exceptions, all bean sprouts contain the same basic nutrients, but not in the same amounts.The caloric value of the three types ranges from mung sprouts with only 30 calories to lentil sprouts with 106 and soybean sprouts with 122. Their protein values range from three grams (mung sprouts) to 13 grams (soybean sprouts). This makes them a good source of protein because three grams represents 6 percent and 13 grams equals 26 percent of the recommended daily value (DV). They're all low in total fat and carbohydrates. Of the three, soybeans produce the only sprouts that have enough dietary fiber to be significant, providing 4 percent of DV. Bean sprouts are a great source of vitamin C, providing 22 percent to 28 percent of the daily value. They're also good sources of six of the eight B vitamins. They're especially high in folate, with mung beans providing 15 percent, lentils 25 percent and soybeans 43 percent of the daily value. Lentil and soybean sprouts are a good source of thiamine (15 and 23 percent of DV, respectively), with mung sprouts containing 6 percent of DV. They provide 4 percent to 9 percent of the daily value of riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid and B6.
8. Cabbage:
A 1-cup serving of thinly sliced boiled cabbage contains a little over 8 g of carbs and only 34 calories. You could also fry thin strands of cabbage in a bit of olive oil and garlic until wilted. Serve the cooked cabbage "noodles" with a pasta sauce of your choice.
9. Cauliflower:
A cup of boiled cauliflower cut into 1-inch pieces contains just 5 carbs and 28 calories. For an orzo or couscous substitute, shred cauliflower in a food processor and microwave it in a covered container for three to four minutes or until tender. Serve stewed meat or vegetables atop a plate of cooked chopped cauliflower. Or toss the cooked cauliflower with olive oil, crumbled gorgonzola or feta cheese and fresh minced tarragon.
10. Eggplant:
Contributing 9 carbs and 35 calories per 1-cup serving, boiled or baked eggplant offers a tasty pasta alternative. Try pan-fried sliced or diced eggplant served with your favorite pasta sauce for a satisfying entrée. Eggplant pairs well with sauces with Italian or Middle Eastern overtones. For an easy one-dish meal, pour the sauce of your choice over eggplant slices and bake until the eggplant is soft and fully cooked. Eggplant and zucchini strips are an ideal substitute for lasagna noodles.
11. Tofu Noodles:
Tofu is bean curd from curdled soybean milk. It can be shaped into any form and has an extremely mild flavor. It is a cheese like food popular in Asia for more than 2,000 years. It is rich in nutrients, easy to digest and helps reduces cholesterol. John Erdmand, University of Illinois professor of nutrition, noted in a 2000 advisory to the American Heart Association that consuming 25 to 50 g of soy protein daily helps reduce low-density lipoprotein, LDL, cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol. Three types of tofu are available: firm, soft and silken. The firm tofu comes in noodles and in cubes that can be cut or shaped into pasta like shapes. The noodles are a low carbohydrate substitute for spaghetti with only 6 g per cup.
References:
Readers Digest - 6 Healthy Alternatives to Pasta:
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/6-healthy-alternatives-to-pasta/
LiveStrong.com - A low carb pasta alternative:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/244225-low-carb-pasta-alternatives/
LiveStrong.com - Low carb pasta substitutes:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/283878-low-carb-pasta-substitutes/
Scrape out the spaghetti-like strands from this squash and top with your favorite sauce. It looks and tastes just like the real deal! According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient database, 1 cup of cooked spaghetti squash provides 42 calories, 0.4 gram of fat, 1 g of protein, 10 g of carbohydrate (4 g as sugar) and 2.2 g of fiber. High water content and is not as dense in vitamins and minerals as other winter squash, such as acorn or butternut, but does provide 3 percent of the Daily Value for calcium, 5 percent of the DV for Vitamin A, 9 percent of the DV for Vitamin C and 8 percent of the DV for dietary fiber. Spaghetti squash supplies modest amounts of carotenoids, plant substances that the body turns into Vitamin A and that may help protect against some diseases. One cup of cooked enriched spaghetti yields 221 calories, 1.3 g of fat, 43 g of carbohydrate and 2.5 g of fiber. Pasta does provide more B vitamins. If you have diabetes or are watching your weight and carbohydrates, you can save 179 calories and 33 g of carbohydrate by eating a cup of spaghetti squash instead of a cup of pasta.
2. Zucchini:
Shredded, julienned, or cut into ribbons with a peeler, this low-cal alternative will give you a huge veggie boost when topped with tomato sauce. It offers carbohydrates and protein with very little fat and is also a good source of several vitamins and minerals. A medium-sized zucchini, weighing 200 g, or 7 oz., adds only 33 calories to your nutrition plan. Zucchini contributes digestible and indigestible carbohydrates to your diet. It provides no starch but nearly 5 g of sugars, as fructose, glucose and sucrose, in a medium fruit. The cells of your body readily derive energy from these sugars to fuel your activities and maintain your body’s basal energy needs. A medium zucchini offers 2 g of dietary fiber. This type of indigestible carbohydrate does not supply energy, but it improves your digestive health by adding bulk to waste products as they move through your gastrointestinal tract. The dietary fiber in zucchini can also decrease your chances of developing obesity and heart disease. Zucchini is rich in vitamin C, containing 35 mg in a medium fruit to supply nearly half your daily requirement. A medium zucchini also offers roughly 10 percent of the vitamin A you need each day. Approximately 10 percent of your recommended daily intake for potassium and magnesium is in a medium zucchini. A medium-sized zucchini, with its high seed content, contains more than 2 g of protein, not a significant amount but still adding to your dietary pool of amino acids.
3. Soba Noodles:
These Japanese noodles are packed with fiber and protein and have a nuttier taste than traditional pasta. The primary nutrients in soba noodles are manganese and protein, both of which are uncommon for noodles. Soba noodles are derive from buckwheat flour which is not a grain, but rather, an edible seed drawn from fruits similar to rhubarb. Soba noodles also contain minor proportions of iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and protactinium. Containing less calories than rice noodles and half the calories of egg noodles, soba noodles contain only 113 calories in a 114 g serving. This serving contains no sugars or dietary fiber, but a small amount of carbohydrates, owing to the starch existent in buckwheat.
4. Shirataki Noodles:
Made popular by Hungry Girl. These noodles are primarily made of fiber and contain virtually no fat or calories. They come in a package of liquid and are usually sold in the produce section alongside tofu. The only cooking required is draining the liquid and rinsing them off! Flour derived from the Asian konjac yam provides the base for shirataki noodles, with the tofu variety also having tofu added to its ingredients for additional protein. A 4-oz. serving contains only 20 calories to go along with 0.5 g fat, 3 g carbohydrates, 1 g protein and 2 g fiber. Since they have such few carbs and calories to go along with their fiber, shirataki noodles can even aid in achieving weight loss goals, providing a low-cal alternative to pasta. Shirataki noodles contain glucomannan, a form of water-soluble fiber found in the powdered yam root that serves as the noodles' foundation. According to a University of Connecticut study, published in October 2008 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," researchers found that glucomannan helps lower bad LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting blood sugar, while also aiding in weight loss.
5. Quinoa:
Though it’s not shaped like pasta, this ancient grain can be a great pasta alternative, especially if you are looking to increase your protein — 1 cup has 32 grams! Read more about Quinoa: http://getfitbestrong.blogspot.com/2012/03/nutrition-103-quinoa.html
6. Brown Rice Pasta:
A great source of protein and magnesium, brown rice pasta is a way for people who are gluten-free to get their pasta fix. Brown rice is rice that has not had the brown-colored bran covering removed, so brown rice is considered a whole grain. Since brown rice still has the bran intact, it has more fiber than white rice. One cup of brown rice has 3 1/2 grams of fiber while the same amount of white rice has less than one gram of fiber. We all need from 25 to 38 grams of fiber in our diet everyday. Brown rice also contains nutrients like magnesium, manganese, and zinc.
7. Bean Sprouts:
Either raw or cooked mung bean sprouts may take the place of pasta. Bean sprouts contain 6 g of carbohydrates and 31 calories per 1-cup serving. For a low-carb version of lo mein, for example, mix sprouts with your favorite combination of stir-fried vegetables and meat. With their mild flavor, bean sprouts also go well with just about any kind of pasta sauce. You may be pleasantly surprised how good cooked sprouts taste with a red sauce. A sprout is the young growth, or shoot, from a seed. The taste and texture of sprouts vary depending on the bean. With only a few exceptions, all bean sprouts contain the same basic nutrients, but not in the same amounts.The caloric value of the three types ranges from mung sprouts with only 30 calories to lentil sprouts with 106 and soybean sprouts with 122. Their protein values range from three grams (mung sprouts) to 13 grams (soybean sprouts). This makes them a good source of protein because three grams represents 6 percent and 13 grams equals 26 percent of the recommended daily value (DV). They're all low in total fat and carbohydrates. Of the three, soybeans produce the only sprouts that have enough dietary fiber to be significant, providing 4 percent of DV. Bean sprouts are a great source of vitamin C, providing 22 percent to 28 percent of the daily value. They're also good sources of six of the eight B vitamins. They're especially high in folate, with mung beans providing 15 percent, lentils 25 percent and soybeans 43 percent of the daily value. Lentil and soybean sprouts are a good source of thiamine (15 and 23 percent of DV, respectively), with mung sprouts containing 6 percent of DV. They provide 4 percent to 9 percent of the daily value of riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid and B6.
8. Cabbage:
A 1-cup serving of thinly sliced boiled cabbage contains a little over 8 g of carbs and only 34 calories. You could also fry thin strands of cabbage in a bit of olive oil and garlic until wilted. Serve the cooked cabbage "noodles" with a pasta sauce of your choice.
9. Cauliflower:
A cup of boiled cauliflower cut into 1-inch pieces contains just 5 carbs and 28 calories. For an orzo or couscous substitute, shred cauliflower in a food processor and microwave it in a covered container for three to four minutes or until tender. Serve stewed meat or vegetables atop a plate of cooked chopped cauliflower. Or toss the cooked cauliflower with olive oil, crumbled gorgonzola or feta cheese and fresh minced tarragon.
10. Eggplant:
Contributing 9 carbs and 35 calories per 1-cup serving, boiled or baked eggplant offers a tasty pasta alternative. Try pan-fried sliced or diced eggplant served with your favorite pasta sauce for a satisfying entrée. Eggplant pairs well with sauces with Italian or Middle Eastern overtones. For an easy one-dish meal, pour the sauce of your choice over eggplant slices and bake until the eggplant is soft and fully cooked. Eggplant and zucchini strips are an ideal substitute for lasagna noodles.
11. Tofu Noodles:
Tofu is bean curd from curdled soybean milk. It can be shaped into any form and has an extremely mild flavor. It is a cheese like food popular in Asia for more than 2,000 years. It is rich in nutrients, easy to digest and helps reduces cholesterol. John Erdmand, University of Illinois professor of nutrition, noted in a 2000 advisory to the American Heart Association that consuming 25 to 50 g of soy protein daily helps reduce low-density lipoprotein, LDL, cholesterol, which is the bad cholesterol. Three types of tofu are available: firm, soft and silken. The firm tofu comes in noodles and in cubes that can be cut or shaped into pasta like shapes. The noodles are a low carbohydrate substitute for spaghetti with only 6 g per cup.
References:
Readers Digest - 6 Healthy Alternatives to Pasta:
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/6-healthy-alternatives-to-pasta/
LiveStrong.com - A low carb pasta alternative:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/244225-low-carb-pasta-alternatives/
LiveStrong.com - Low carb pasta substitutes:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/283878-low-carb-pasta-substitutes/
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