Warning! This photo may trigger ghrelin!

Who doesn’t love spaghetti? I remember eating plain noodles straight from the colander as a kid. Plain noodles are pasty and tasteless. Why did I nibble them anyway? Ghrelin, also known as the hunger hormone, is produced upon sight or even description of high glycemic goodies like pizza, pasta, cake, cookies, etc.

So when you eat plain pasta with marinara sauce it’s carbs on carbs without the balance of fat and protein to regulate ghrelin and satisfy you before you go overboard.  Here’s a spaghetti recipe to feel great about. A perfectly balanced meal of low glycemic carbs, fat, and protein. Sprinkle on the parmigiano reggiano and you won’t miss a thing.

Let’s compare: 4 cups of whole wheat spaghetti with tomato sauce, ground beef, onions, and garlic:

• Spaghetti: 694 kcals
• Tomato Sauce: 90 kcals
• 3 0z ground beef: 148 kcals
• onion: 12 kcals
• garlic: 9 kcals
• Total: 987 kcals & 178 grams of high glycemic carbohydrates laying in your belly like a brick!

Double Eagle Fitness Spaghetti:

• 4 cups spaghetti squash strands: 200 calories
• Tomato sauce: 90 kcals
• 3 0z ground beef: 148 kcals
• onion: 12 kcals
• garlic: 9 kcals
• Kale: 34 kcals
• Total: 415 kcals & 61 grams of carbs & 23 grams of fiber!

This is not only a giant plate of food but one that’s properly balanced of low glycemic carbs (squash & kale), protein (100% grass-fed ground beef), and fat (the natural saturated fat  from the beef).

Cut the squash lengthwise. Scoop out seeds. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

According to one of my favorite websites http://www.whfoods.com, winter squash is an important source carotenoids, only recently have research studies documented just how fantastic winter squash is when it comes to these key antioxidants.

Brown meat with 1 onion, 3 cloves garlic, chopped greens or mushrooms, and a can of tomato sauce

For lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin (three other health-supportive carotenoids) winter squash also comes out among the top three food sources in several studies. It’s also sky-high in vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, potassium, manganese, Omega 3 essential fatty acids, B vitamins, and copper.

Use a fork to scoop out spaghetti strands of squash

When it comes to the high glycemic carbohydrates–rice, pasta, white bread, cookies, cakes, pies, pizza–we gorge and gorge without getting full. Why is that? These high glycemic carbs make us hungry for more because they aren’t satisfying. High fiber and high protein foods full us up faster with a more nutritious load. With a good source of fat you feel full and sated without that bloated what-have-I-just-done sensation.

You can eat all this for 500 kcals!