Dreamfields pasta is promoted as a low carb product. But it’s made from durum wheat and it tastes great. Actually, it looks, feels and tastes just like… regular pasta.
Now, regular pasta is anything but low carb. It’s mostly starch, which turns into glucose in the gut and is absorbed as blood sugar. Exactly what low carbers try to avoid. Dreamfields pasta has 41 grams of carbs per serving. How can that be low carb?
Well, Dreamfields claim that their “patent-pending” (since 2004) recipe and manufacturing process protects the carb from being digested.
It sounds fantastic. But is it true? I decided to find out and the results were shocking.
A beautiful tale
Can you be a low carber and eat all the pasta you want? Can you have your (low carb) cake and eat it too?
It sounds too good to be true, and two questions pop up:
- If their “patent-pending” manufacturing really made the starch indigestible, would that not affect the taste? (It’s great).
- If the starch really became indigestible, should it not end up being digested by bacteria in the large intestine, causing massive flatulence? (It does not).
Now it’s time for answers.
The package
Here’s my package of Dreamfields pasta, bought in a “low carb” store.
Let’s take a closer look.
Big promises
Basically the idea is that the carbs will pass straight through your body:
Side
There you have it: 36 grams of non-fiber carbs per 56 gram serving. It adds up to about 80 percent energy from carbs. That’s about as high carb a food as you could find.
Of course – most of it is supposedly indigestible.
I tested the pasta myself, eating it and testing my blood sugar 21 times. We’ll get to the test shortly.
A good idea?
It may sound too good to be true. But even if it was true, consider if it really is a good idea for the future.
Should the food industry manufacture food that our bodies can’t absorb? Do we really need to chew food that doesn’t make us satiated, food that gives us no energy, food that isn’t real food?
Is it environmentally sound to grow wheat and then chemically modify it so that it loses its nutritional value, manufacture pasta, transport it, sell it, cook it and then sit down to eat it, all of that to create some extra poop?
(Not to mention all the gas it would result in)
That’s an interesting philosophical question. But let’s leave it and find out if Dreamfields pasta works.
Real low carb food
First some real low carb food to get some perspective. Here is a common meal in my home:
A steak, Béarnaise sauce and a pile of vegetables fried in butter. Possibly a glass of red wine. The result is long-lasting satiety and well-being.
A meal like this contains a few grams of carbs – perhaps five.
The result on my blood sugar? Hardly any at all. It usually stays at fasting levels, between 86 and 94. If you don’t eat anything that turns to sugar your blood sugar stays the same. Very logical.
The test
Now let’s test the Dreamfields pasta:
Here is one serving according to Dreamfields, 56 grams. It’s not a lot of food for someone who is 6’7” (me).
I had two servings:
These 112 grams of pasta contains 72 grams of starch and sugars according to the Nutrition Facts. But according to Dreamfields only 10 grams are absorbed.
After cooking
After boiling (according to instructions, exactly 9 minutes) it turned into a decent portion. About the amount I used to eat when I ate pasta.
I had the pasta without any other food, with a glass of water. It tasted fine, about the way pasta usually tastes.
The result
It didn’t start out too bad. My blood sugar did quickly rise to 108, but then it looked as if it was stabilizing. I was impressed, it didn’t look too bad.
But that was just the beginning. Then came a mountain of blood sugar. After two and a half hours the blood sugar was still as high as 131!
It turned into a long evening. I tested my blood sugar every 20 minutes and hoped that it would go down so I could have a real dinner. Weirdly enough I felt hungry at the same time as my blood sugar was high. Perhaps some other nutrient was missing in my blood giving me feelings of hunger. Protein? Fat?
I had no other food until the experiment was completed. After seven and a half hours (!) I gave up, even though the blood sugar was still a bit higher than normal. I ate some real food and went to bed.
Here are five different blood sugar curves to compare.
- The green ones are big low carb dinners
- The blue ones are “exceptions” with more carbs
- The red is the fake low carb pasta
Verdict: Not low carb
The Dreamfields pasta contain slow carbs. Perhaps it’s OK to call it low glycemic index carbs. But it’s not low carb. It’s the opposite, it’s almost pure carbs. It’s absorbed slowly, but most (if not all) of the starch is absorbed.
There is no way only ten grams of carbs spiked my blood sugar for seven hours. I have eaten more than that with just minor effects (see above).
Dreamfields’ marketing claims are not true. Dreamfields are sabotaging the weight loss of low carbers just to sell more of their pasta.
Unless, perhaps, I’m a weird exception. Does it work for everybody else but not for me?
The real test
I did the test above last year, for my Swedish blog. I was convinced that Dreamfields pasta was a fraud.
This year Dreamfields pasta was tested more rigorously and the result was published in a trustworthy scientific journal called Diabetes Care:
The main authors of the article are Frank C. Nuttal, PhD, and Mary C. Gannon, PhD. They have previously studied the effects of low carb diets, so they were surprised by Dreamfields’ claims that pasta can be low carb.
After “numerous attempts” to have a look at the data that Dreamfields base their claims on (not allowed) the researchers decided to test it themselves.
Five participants ate the Dreamfields pasta (50g CHO) and tested their blood sugar. Then they ate the same amount of regular pasta and tested their blood sugar for comparison.
The result
Pretty shockingly the results on the blood sugar were just the same with Dreamfields’ and regular pasta. No difference!
The researchers were surprised so they recruited five new participants and did the test again. The result were the same once again – no perceptible difference.
The scientific article can be read for free here:
- Nuttall, FQ, et al. Glycemic response to ingested dreamfields pasta compared with traditional pasta. Diabetes Care. 2011 Feb;34(2):e17-8.
The Dreamfields Pasta Fraud
Dreamfields have been selling their fake low carb pasta since january 2004. It’s quite popular. There is no way to know how many people have failed to lose weight because of it, concluding that “low carb does not work”.
Low carb usually works just fine. But not if you eat a lot of pasta.
I’m willing to bet any amount of money that Dreamfields pasta is just the tip of the iceberg. Low carb in America has turned into special low carb pasta, low carb ice cream, low carb bread and low carb chocolate bars. And it’s mostly just marketing hype. There is nothing low carb about this junk food:
Real healthy low carb food is meat, fish, vegetables and butter, ideally from your local farmer. Dreamfields and companies like them have turned “Low Carb” into a joke, just to make money.
Obese people who trust them just gain weight. But diabetics spike their blood sugar and may end up amputating their feet and becoming blind.
There are a few possible explanations. Either Dreamfields and others like them are ignorant, evil or just plain greedy. Probably greed is the most likely explanation. Also, they probably think that consumers are stupid. But they are wrong about that.
The pasta fraud is revealed.
You can help your friends. If they eat fake low carb products and have trouble losing weight, chances are that’s why.
Spread the word. Let’s make low carb work again. Real low carb.
Continued…
Moore on Dreamfieldsgate – Interview with the Pasta President and even more evidence that Dreamfields pasta is just like any pasta: high carb.
Spreading the truth
Go to Dreamfields’ Facebook page and like the link to this post*. Let’s spread the truth to all of the 29 000 members. Dreamfields have gotten away with fooling overweight people and diabetics long enough.
*/ You have to like Dreamfields first, but then you can easily “unlike” it again: bottom left side of the page.
Of course you can spread this info via your Facebook, Twitter and blog too if you’d like. Feel free to copy any part of it. If you link to this post it will appear higher in the results when people search for “Dreamfields pasta” on Google. It’s already #14 or so. Spread the word so that fewer diabetics and others are hurt by these fraudulent marketing claims.
46
188 Comments
like your web site and wrote about the pasta fraud on my own blog. Did you know that they had to withdraw their paper?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3161253/
I suppose the company has some pretty important friends. Just wanted to let you know. By the way, did you made experiments with erythritol in sweden known as (Sukrin or Sötin) or Stevia? I'm living in Göteborg at the moment and these two sweeteners are very popular in the LCHF community.
hej då
Julia
So here is where the DF pasta has helped. I noticed when that given equal portions, the DF pasta kept my blood sugar from going up too fast, thus less pain. With regular pasta, by blood sugar would go up much faster and cause a lot more pain. I started keeping records of the Gylcemic Load of the food I eat. DF pasta seems to have a much lower GL.
What I repeatedly hear is that many type II diabetic people eat Dreamfields pasta and note no significant increase in blood sugar. This is a more true test of the pasta's carbohydrate content than on a non-diabetic individual. In medical research your test would have zero significance. The study population is so small that the results don't tell you if Dreamfields is factual or not. Any test you perform should only give you one result.....it requires more research to come up with an answer.
Of course it's not all digestible lots of foods including natural foods have many things that aren't digestible and your body sends it as waste.
My perfect once a week or every other week includes ONE portion of this pasta at dinner time with some home made meat balls a tiny bit of spaghetti sauce along with a very big veggie salad with olive oil. It's delicious and my blood sugar after 1hr is under 130...if it was regular pasta in the same amount it would be 150-160
I lost 12 lbs the first week eating dream fields at least 4 days out of seven .
Adding cheeze cheddar for Mac ..with cream n milk .
I also had made shrimp Parmesan with cream ...
Had no problems ...
My doctor has said it's a excellent source of fiber ...
Don't listen to one crazy lady who wants attention knocking this product ..
It's great it works and its healthy ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkStVTKGb7g
After I saw all these comments I see the futility in educating donkeys.
That's why all these scammers prosper, people are stupid!
All the best in your fight against the windmills....
ITS A, 3RD, WORLD HOSPITAL ! WITH A, 3RD WORLD MORON'S ! ITS ALL POLITICAL!
THE DR'S DO'NT EVEN GREED YOU AS THERE PATIENTS ! THEY THINK THERE SHIT IS ICE CREAM! ALL THEY ARE CONCERN ABOUT IS THERE PAYMENT FOR SHIT SEVICE!
AS A, MATTER OF FACT STAY AWAY FROM BULL SHIT, WINDY BLOW IT OUT OF YOUR ASS CHICAGO! ALL TOGETHER! THE KING OF PHONIE ,BULL SHIT! THATS CHICAGO FOR YOU !
Its a bit premature to claim that DF's product is a fraud.
Quite a lot of money for water and fibers.
Mark
I use one serving of the Dreamfield pasta and combine it with Miracle Noodles. It's satisfying, does not negatively affect my blood sugar and I'm losing weight.
Try to eat a half serving.. much better then a whole.
And if you get satisfyed with that, try without any servings at all, a lot better.
Its about one have to eat to get the calories one need.. otherwise one could drink plain water.
If one cant eat enough for ones energy demand without geting bad blood sugar.. then one should eat somthing els.
Not that it will do the slightest good, but I just made this post on my FB page:
Good point:
As many people have pointed out, this "doctor" ate this pasta with no other foods and drank a glass of water. It was just "naked" pasta. Now, how many people eat just plain, "naked pasta"? Secondly, in his cute little graph, the "doctor" compared the "naked" pasta results with meals in which other foods were present. Can we say comparing apples to oranges?
What I am saying is to try the pasta yourself. If you have a negative reaction, please refrain from using the product. Simple. DO NOT take other people's "tests" or opinions at face value and adjust your personal diet based on such. Do your due diligence, research for yourself. What works for one may not work for another. Even doctors have ulterior motives. JUDGE FOR YOURSELF!
If one saying that one dont absorbe the starches as glucose.. one shoulde see this on blood sugars!
You just saying one should eat somthing to the pasta.. thats no mesuring if the pasta is absorbed as glucose.. its about if other foods slowing the absorbtion of the glucose.. in the pasta!
You know.. thats what GI is about.. to slower the absorbtion of glucose!
Soo.. this is no low carb pasta.. its a GI pasta.. or mayby not even that.. its a fake!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkStVTKGb7g
Thank you,
John C
Have been doing really well, steady numbers, well below what the doctor ordered. I have not been sticking to the "rule of 45" carbs per meal, because I was embracing the meat/fish/veggies/butter as you have. I know that carbs are poison to me, as a bit too many and I'm into wicked cravings for more and more and more.
Then.... the diabetes educator gave me a coupon for some dreamfields pasta, so I had an evening meal of one serving plus a salad and a bit of sauce. That evening, I had an attack of carb cravings, something that hasn't happened to me since starting my sensible eating plan. I did not give into it and pushed through without anything else to eat that evening. My 2 hour after meal glucose reading was 141..... 45 points higher than it has been. My morning fasting glucose was 112, which is 15-25 points higher than it had been. Additionally, that morning I woke up with my HEAD POUNDING like a bass drum.
Until I found this page, I really did not understand the numbers I got, since that pasta supposedly had added "only 5 grams" of carbs to my plate. Now I know that what I experienced is exactly what will happen if one pretends that there is such a thing as healthy low carb junk food (that's what pasta is to me).
Thank you for this great analysis, it has gone even further to educate me as I regulate my glucose and stay healthy.
A friend had me watch her type 1 diabetic daughter ... I am type 2 and she felt comfortable with me watching her. She was maybe 8 at the time. When I told my friend what i was serving for dinner, I showed her the dreamfields pasta box ... trying to explain to her that she needed to bolus her daughter for the actual claim on the box ... my friend did not believe me - so calculated the amount of insulin for her daughter according to her usual standards ...
Unfortunately - an hour after eating - the girl was crashing fast, and had a blood sugar of 34. We gave her appropriate food - but I have to say - the above article is irresponsible at the least, and inflammatory at the most.
I have not had the negative impact from dreamfields that i have had from any other pasta .... and when the man above complained about his sugar going up to - what ;160? good grief - he ate 115 grams and it ONLY got up that high ... seems like a "win" in any context.
ANyway - thought I'd share.