Too bad for PASTA.... You see, "One impassioned speaker called for a swift
death to the Atkins Diet."  A third speaker recalled Sophia Loren's remark:
"Everything you see, I owe to pasta."

PASTA... YUK!!

Tom Rachman said, "Whatever the debate, no one can deny the low-carb diets'
success."

Pasta Fights Back Amid Low-Carb Trend
Wed Feb 18, 8:54 PM ET

By TOM RACHMAN, Associated Press Writer

ROME - At a recent point in dining history, pasta perception spun around
like spaghetti on a fork. Suddenly, noodles transformed from the diner's
saucy delight to carb villains bound for the hips, buttocks and belly.

America's battle against pudginess - inspired of late by the low-carb ethics
of the Atkins, Zone and South Beach diets - has trashed pasta. But defenders
of macaroni and its floppy kin rebelled in Rome this week at a conference
promoted as "Pasta Fights Back."

Their weapons at the three-day meeting that ended Wednesday were science,
lectures and delectable plates of pasta handed out free to attendees.
Another popular dish was denunciation of the latest American diet trend.

"How is it that it can be called a low-carb diet when in fact it is a
dangerous high-fat diet? How can that happen in our culture?" railed K. Dun
Gifford, president of the Oldways Preservation Trust, the Boston-based food
issues think tank that organized the event.

One impassioned speaker called for a swift death to the Atkins Diet. Another
skeptically cited 28 eating fads of recent years, among them the Caveman
Diet, the Sex Diet and the Russian Air Force Diet. A third speaker recalled
Sophia Loren's remark: "Everything you see, I owe to pasta."

The conference, officially titled "Healthy Pasta Meals," included numerous
eminent scientists and was sponsored by Italian government ministries, pasta
giant Barilla and the makers of Parmesan cheese, among others.

The executive chef of New York's Union Square Cafe, Michael Romano, flew in
to cook. Prepping vegetables at the luxury hotel where the conference was
held, Romano worried about the way Americans eat ... and eat.

"People want to eat from the time they get up till the time they go to
sleep. And by the way, no exercise, please," Romano said. "It's all about
proportion, it's all about balance."

The conference offered multi-course lunches - wetted with appropriate
Italian wines, of course - featuring pasta specialties from all over Italy.
A gala dinner, titled "The Glorious Healthy Pasta Meal," included spaghetti
with tomatoes and air-dried tuna, flaked Parmesan drizzled with balsamic
vinegar, lentil soup with scampi, and roast lamb with fava beans and egg
lemon sauce.

Oldways argues that eating must be balanced - not overloaded with fat and
protein, nor heavy with carbohydrates. The Mediterranean diet, including
fish, fruit, vegetables, breads, rice and pasta, is promoted above all.

Pasta, Oldways says, is an ideal delivery system for healthy ingredients:
The carbs in high-quality pasta made from durum wheat are converted slowly
into glucose, which has the benefit of more stable insulin levels, and keeps
the eater feeling full longer.

John Foreyt, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, noted
that Italians have enjoyed the health benefits of pasta for over 1,000
years.

"Pasta has been wrongly injected into the good carb/bad carb debate, and we
want to dispel the notion that it should be avoided," he said in the
conference's closing statement.

Conference organizers acknowledge that low-carb, high-fat diets do produce
short-term weight loss, but fear they could also increase the long-term risk
of grave illnesses such as cancers and heart disease.

Evidence of this is hotly debated in scientific circles. Research suggests
people have the best chance of avoiding heart disease, high blood pressure
and cancer if they eat a varied diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables and
grains.

Whatever the debate, no one can deny the low-carb diets' success.

Many dieters have enjoyed considerable weight loss through regimens that are
heavy in meat, cheese and eggs and ultralight in carbs. Millions of
Americans are on some form of these diets, and restaurants and food
manufacturers are scrambling to offer low-carb products.

And recent studies showed these diets have success over short periods
without serious health consequences.

Colette Heimowitz, the Atkins organization's research director, denied that
the Atkins Diet is risky or a fad. "It's amazing how Atkins is blamed for
everything," she said by phone from New York.

"If people could have moderation in everything that'd be wonderful,"
Heimowitz said. "We wouldn't have this discussion. But people won't, they
don't, they can't. They need other options to reach their weight goals."

At the Rome conference, a little mournfulness was stirred in with dietary
advice.

Cookbook writer Susan Herrmann Loomis expressed sadness about the U.S.
attitude toward eating.

"Americans come with this enormous fear of what is on their plates, and it
translates into fad diets," she said. "Unfortunately, that rarely has to do
with just enjoying the heck out of what you're doing."