The Best ‘Cheat’ Carb, According to Science

Asking us to choose between pasta and fries is like asking us to choose between our two besties—impossible. As far as we’re concerned, carbs will never be totally cut from our diets, even if we reserve them for those special culinary occasions (read: cheat day). But according to new research, one of these splurges might actually be more satisfying than the other.

The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, looked at whether a side of potatoes or a pasta dish would be more satiating to participants. For a period of five days, researchers fed participants a normal breakfast, then a carb-based lunch, and then a standard dinner. All meals stayed the same except for lunch. On different days, participants would receive meatballs and tomato sauce, a side salad, and a side dish of either French fries, a baked potato, a mashed potato, potato wedges, or pasta. Each of these lunch combinations contained the same amount of calories.