Refreshing Watermelon Mint Limeade

Pasta — particularly pasta made from semolina durum wheat and cooked al dente — has a significantly lower glycemic index than most other refined grain preparations, producing a slower and more sustained blood glucose response than white bread, white rice, or overcooked pasta made from the same flour. The al dente cooking that professional cooks prefer for texture reasons also preserves the pasta’s intact starch structure, which slows digestion and moderates the glycemic response further. Adding olive oil and protein-containing ingredients — anchovies, tuna, eggs, cheese — to pasta further reduces the glycemic impact of the meal by slowing the digestion of the carbohydrates, making a properly made pasta with protein and good fat a metabolically appropriate meal for most people.