I'm doing Weight Watchers. We are always being told to eat whole wheat everything and reminded to try to use whole wheat pasta instead of the regular. I just tried it, though I bought only one pound and made my dinner with it and the rest of the household with the regular. I found the taste just "off" enough so the others will protest if I only buy the whole wheat. And it seems the benefit we might realize from it is pretty miniscule especially considering the additional cost.

Do any of you consider the additional cost of whole wheat products worth it and use them consistently?

I would like to afford to be able to use whole grains more than we do. Healthwise, it's worth it. Cost wise, it's hard to do but we do the best we can.

Here are some sites with information and I will leave it to you to determine the quality of the info and the relevance in your life:

Whole Wheat from World's Healthiest Foods 

Health benefits of whole grain confirmed by study

Whole Grain Health Benefits 

Dear Lamuneca, It occurs to me that you could treat pasta as so many of us treat dairy milk -- mix the new together with the old (powdered milk mixed with liquid milk).  You could take 1/2 of regular semolina pasta & 1/2 of whole wheat pasta, & serve them togethe.  The regular semolina will get quite well done that way, since whole wwheat takes longer to cook.  BUT you could add the semolina to the pot when enough minutes remain on your timer to cook the semolina adequately, cookign the whole wheat pasta several minutes longer ....  Yours inHim, Deb

 Well, you could mix it 50/50 with regular pasta or with the tri color pasta and get "more" health benefits.  And this might keep your costs down a bit, whole grain pasta is expensive here.  I dont serve it here by itself, I mix it as above or I deep fry it and serve like pita chips with dip.  Not so healthy, well maybe, we dont eat it often this way and we enjoy something to snack on other than the standard fare on the store shelves.  : )

Brianschef Michelle 

It's recommended that diabetics eat whole wheat products as much as possible, as the slower digestion of it helps in the control of blood sugar,  but serving whole wheat pasta didn't work with my family. The whole wheat pasta was thought of as too "chewy". Their displeasure with the food wasn't worth spending the money for the whole wheat pasta. We eat homemade high fiber bread that contains whole wheat, and I sneak spoonfuls into other baked goods so that we are getting some minor health benefits from the fiber.

Edey

 I just have to jump in here and tell you that some whole wheat pastas are better than others. Some brands are just horrible and are like eating dirty tasting rubber bands. Other brands are quite nice and your family might not notice the change at all, especially if served in a sauce that would hide the darker color.

 A really good way to make the switch is to start off with a wheat blend pasta. There are a lot of these now and you can get them on sale. These have a nice mild taste and more normal texture. You can then experiment with finding a whole wheat brand that will be acceptable to everyone in the family. Whole wheat pasta (or even a blend) is a much better fuel for the body, it gives a little more fiber and it will keep everyone fuller longer.

 kissesmomof4 ~  Thanks so much for ringing in here, great information.  I was nto aware of this and will seek out these products to try them at our house.  : )

Brianschef Michelle 

Thanks for all your input! I do want to eat whole foods whenever possible. Tomorrow is my meeting day and this is actually the topic. Eating right on a budget. I think I'll share this forum.

My family and I have eaten whole wheat pasta and have not noticed anything amiss with it, either taste or texture-wise. Maybe it depends on the brand? I think it was Catelli Healthy Harvest I bought.