To cook more than 15g pasta or 10g rice?

[WrongWayApricot]

I've been doing an NHS diabetes prevention program because I'm at high risk for diabetes. We've been learning about portion sizes and I knew from news and telly that modern portion sizes are too big, but I didn't know they were 85% bigger than they should be. Apparently 30g cooked rice and pasta is the right portion size. The 200g~ on packets is way off then? I usually do about 75g dry pasta, less than the 90g recommended on the packet. Pasta doubles in weight and rice triples in weight when cooking so, I should be putting only 10g rice in the saucepan and only 15g pasta? I thought this was mad so googled what I could, but British Heart Foundation recommend about the same. I want to ask my health coach about this but wanted to check here first if I really am an absolute glutton for cooking 75g dried pasta/eating 150g pasta?

That's not a normal person for a typical diet. It might be appropriate for a specialised diet to control diabetes.

Suggested rice and pasta portions are usually in the 60-90 gram range, dry weight. I make a 500 g pasta bag do six meals and that's plenty, it could do eight if I wanted to cut down on carbs.

Normal portion.

TBH I wouldn’t bother with such a small portion. I’d have extra none starchy veg.

We get hello fresh and I think some of their portions are the average size, they give 150g dried rice for two people.

Just thinking of 10g rice with my dinner makes me sad 😢

@Megan2018

The portions of carbohydrates for a diabetic or those on a reduced carbohydrate diet are not standard portion sizes. 75g uncooked rice/pasta per person is recommended by NHS for those that don’t need carb restrictions.

This!

@PandemicAtTheDisco I do have quite long hands so maybe I can get away with more

@Feetupteashot lol don't, I've already had friends take the mick out of me for liking fish pie and paninis.

@Foodlovelyfood33 50g sounds not too bad, I could go for that. I'm sorry about your diagnosis, I hope you'll be able to manage it well.

@ThatOtherPoster yep, I've got a lot to learn it seems!

I normally cook 120g dry weight of pasta/ rice between me and OH. Of that, I would have one large serving spoon full and OH will have about half a plate full. I have more veg etc. If we have a microwave bag of rice I will again have a big serving spoon full and he will have most of the bag.
He is 6'5 and has a physical job. I am a lot smaller and not as active.

You’ve got it all wrong and are all complete lard arses. I am a Sun Gazer. I ground myself by walking bare foot on the grass summer and winter.

Haven’t eaten for 4 years.

@Kralia

I think this is all nuts. My mum follows this kind of nonsense and then is so ravenous after a meal that she ends up compensating by stuffing herself with cake. I'm right at the bottom of the healthy BMI range and eat between 100 and 200g dried pasta for a meal if there's not much else with it and if I'm really hungry. If it's with a sauce with loads of veg and I know there's pudding to follow, then I might only eat 40g. These strict diet instructions come with no context or nuance and don't help you listen to your appetite imo. They also set you up to fail - 10g of rice is a ludicrously small amount.

I wonder how old and how active you are?

I used to eat 75g of pasta like the packets said, I'm now closer to 30-40g and honestly you do adjust. The problem with pasta is that it's so easy to eat you can just keep eating it when you don't realise you are actually full.

Diets for diabetes are quite restrictive on processed carbs though so these are supposed to be smaller portions than the norm.
When I had steroid induced gestational diabetes - I really struggled with this. I couldn't eat potatoes at all in any quantity because my sugars sky rocketed but I swapped out wholemeal pasta for white and it was better and more filling for a smaller portion, same with rice.

Hairy dieters say 50g pasta and 35g rice. I originally thought that looked tiny but they were actually perfectly satisfying and I lost three stone. Diabetes diets are different for carbs though so YMMV.

I think you've got a bit confused. They're telling you what 'a portion' is, but you should have 15 or so portions of carbs per day. So you can choose whether that is all pasta, or some pasta and some rice, or bread and potatoes, etc.

www.eatingwell.com/article/290482/what-does-a-healthy-serving-of-carbs-look-like/

@Lougle

I think you've got a bit confused. They're telling you what 'a portion' is, but you should have 15 or so portions of carbs per day. So you can choose whether that is all pasta, or some pasta and some rice, or bread and potatoes, etc.

Oh!

I cook half a package of pasta (250g) or 2 cups rice for 4 adults and get a bit leftover.

If I’m really hungry, I use capitals.

That made me laugh a lot!

Erm. I am a size 6 and i eat 1/4 of packet of pasta in one sitting. So that’s 125 g dry pasta and 250 g cooked oasta. Otheriwse i would be hungry 😬
Oopsie

@StCharlotte

If I’m really hungry, I use capitals.

That made me laugh a lot!

Oh god me too. Really tickled me!!

Another option would be switching to a protein based pasta. I get horrible digestive issues after I eat any sort of 'boiled wheat' so pasta, bagels, etc are out because the hours of pain afterwards aren't worth it. I switched to red lentil pasta a few years ago and won't ever go back, even if my gut goes back to normal. It's so much tastier and it's about half the carbs of regular pasta a similar amount of protein. I usually have about 80g (dry) per meal.

@Paq I'm in my mid 40s. Active but not excessively so. I have reduced my carb intake as I've got older (I'd tell you how much pasta I used to eat but some people on this thread might pass out with shock) but it still varies enormously depending on appetite, time of the month, and type of meal. I'm just always baffled at the whole idea of a 'portion' as a fixed, contextless thing. A matchbox sized piece of cheese is the other one that always comes up. If I'm grating parmesan onto bolognese, a matchbox would be an enormous portion. If I'm eating bread and brie for dinner, it would be tiny.

I don't always eat to appetite, but I always know when I am and when I'm not, and adjust eating accordingly over the following days. It seems to work - 3 kids later I'm only 2kg heavier than when I was 20. I acknowledge that I'm lucky in that I don't eat when stressed - I'd be in a very different place if I did!

I haven't weighed my pasta but I eat a disgusting amount 😂

[quote Feetupteashot]@WrongWayApricot fufu?! Snigger[/quote]
Yep cassava and plantain mash. OP obviously lives in a place with lots of people from West Africa. It’s tasty

Sounds normal to me

I have type 1 diabetes and this portion size sounds like what they used to call a "unit", i.e. 10 to 15 grams of carbohydrates equals one unit. It's purpose is to make amounts of carbohydrates easier to visualize and therefore to deal with or limit. One unit of bread (one small slice) is equal to one small apple is equal to one small orange is equal to one 35 gram sliver of cheesecake is equal to 45 grams cooked rice is equal to 50 grams of cooked lentils is equal to about ten average size grapes and so on. Think of it as a useful measuring tool to know how much you are eating per day/ meal, not that each meal should only have one "portion".

If you cook pasta and then cool it then reheat it - something magical happens - and the - pasta becomes a non carb