Pasta alternatives for us in the diabeetus crowd?

[K5_489]

The ONE single thing that I REALLY miss having since I got the diabeetus diagnosis is pasta.  Everything else I used to like I've been able to come up with low carb alternatives, some of which I've found I actually like better.  Such as swapping out the common flour tortillas I used for wraps for the low carb/keto versions.  I like those things so much a regular flour tortilla is borderline disgusting to me now. 

I've been experimenting with mung bean noodles, specifically the saifun variety, and have found they work pretty well as a spaghetti substitute, though the angel hair size of them makes it a real pain to hold sauce.  I've been looking for other varieties of thicker shapes, like macaroni or rotini, but it seems everything I'm finding has stupid high carbs compared to these noodles. 

I tried shirataki once, and just couldn't do the texture of the noodles...it was like eating boiled snot to me.  Flavor, or lack thereof wasn't the issue...just the texture.  3 bites, and I was done   

Curious if there's other stuff out there that I haven't found yet?

[ZenHombre]

I would have said try chickpea pasta, but if you're looking for less carbs it's not that much less.  I used chickpea when I was calorie counting to lose weight and it didn't hurt any.  Not entirely sure of how low in carbs you're looking to go, but the chickpea pasta tastes good especially with some pesto.

[BrianHG]

You would need to double check on the packaging, but for my weight issues related to the refined carbs in pasta, I switched to stone ground sprouted whole-wheat pasta.  Usually found in the organic isle of your grocery stores, this pasta is usually a really dark brown color.  It has a bit of flavor, but a well seasoned strong sauce covers it up and you accept is as normal pasta within a 2 to 3 meals.

Note that I also exclusively use sprouted whole wheat bread in place of whole wheat bread.  The difference in carbs VS protein between the 2 bread types may be as much 5:1.  Note that this bread is not free of gluten and in some cases you will only find it in the organic freezer section of your grocery store.  The bread will last ~4 weeks in the fridge, but out of the fridge, it may spoil in a few days since there are no preservatives in these organic breads.

[Bryn]

You can try wholegrain pasta or zucchini pasta, but there's also cauliflower rice (as it's traditionally used as a pasta replacement). The choice is yours

[Marco]

Shiritaki/konjac is also laxative.

It's a pity that there is so much overlap between low carb and anti gluten. Most alternative proteins are just not suited to noodles and having it be bulk fibre also has problems, whether digestible or non digestible. The only real alternative to gluten is collagen, ie. pork rinds.

I'd look for high protein keto pasta, this will avoid most of the Konjac stuff. Google gave me this for instance.

[Halcyon]

There's an increasing number of "pulse pastas" on the market now made from beans and peas instead of wheat, for example: https://sanremo.com.au/ranges/pulse-pasta/
Whilst there are still carbohydrates, it's quite a bit less than regular pasta.

You might also want to try wholegrain pasta, or cous cous (which comes in regular and wholemeal). Stir fry using rice noodles might also be a good option and also a good excuse to sneak in all kinds of vegetables.

I guess it depends on how "low carb" you need to be.

[Bryn]

I guess it depends on how "low carb" you need to be.

And maybe depending on what type of diabetes one would have as well...

[TimNJ]

My mom had been doing lots of personal experimentation with her continuous glucose monitor, on top of a lot of other research. It seems that barley does not have the same impact as other comparable starches/grains. One of the few starches she can eat without majorly spiking glucose levels. I don’t think barley pasta is really available from the grocery store, but it might be something interesting to try making.

Also, some interesting things happen when you let starches cool down after cooking them. Look up “resistant starch” and “retrogradation”. So, simply letting starches cool may have some positive effects on glucose response.

Goes without saying, but I am certainly no expert.