Matt Di Pasquale

Here is a response I made to this article: http://la.foodblogging.com/2005/07/31/337/

Pauline, you know how they tell you to go with your gut?
Well, your gut is correct in this instance: it looks the same because it is virtually the same: lacking in nutrition. As you say in your comment above: "Multigrain is a bit tricky - it is not necessarily made entirely of whole grains." That is spot on [more discussion - http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-multigrain-bread.htm]. You want to stay away from "enriched" multigrain pasta like this because it is virtually as unhealthy as white pasta. "Enriched" means they take all the grains, strip all the natural fiber, minerals, and vitamins, and "enrich" the end malnutritious result by adding the following minerals and vitamins back: niacin (vit. B3), ferrous lactate (iron), thiamine mononitrate (vit. B1), riboflavin (vit. B2), folic acid (vit. B9). [ingredients -> ]

If you really must stick with Barilla, this is the pasta you want:
http://www.barillaus.com/home/Pages/Barilla_Whole_Grain.aspx
But it's still only 51% whole grain and not organic, so there are pesticides in it and it is lacking in vitamin B12.

So if you really want to man-up, then you need to go with something 100% whole grain and all organic. For example: http://www.edenfoods.com/store/index.php?cPath=22_34

Finally, tt: wheat is a type of grain. Other grains are barley, quinoa, oats, etc. Whole wheat is usually better than multigrain because, as discussed above, multigrain is often not made of whole grains. But, if you can find multigrain pasta that is made of 100% whole grains, then that's even better than whole wheat because you want to eat a variety of grains.

As far as weight goes, eating either will cause you to lose weight. They've done studies that if you eat a whole plant-based diet as suggested in The China Study, you can eat as much as you want and still lose weight. The Atkins diet will slowly kill you... plus you have to monitor what you eat. Why would you want to worry about all that calorie counting? It's much easier to worry about ingredients. Well, actually, not that much easier with how corrupt our food industry is now, but it should be much easier. :)