All pasta is not created equal. Fans of the high-fiber whole wheat varieties know that it’s a much more satisfying bowl than traditional semolina. All that fiber slows down absorption of the sugar in the pasta’s carbs, lowering the glycemic index — something super important for hypoglycemics, diabetics, and those sensitive to sugar in general.

But here’s a question I’ve had for a while: Does cooking pasta too long raise the glycemic index? Yes, according to a tiny blurb I dug up online in Good Housekeeping. The more you cook, the more the starches break down, the closer it is to sugar. The difference between 5 minutes of cooking (quite al dente) and 20 minutes of cooking means nearly a DOUBLING of the glycemic index.

Soggy whole wheat pasta will still be better on the index than traditional, but it too will rise on the index as it cooks.

But one more consideration: What you eat with the pasta also affects the index. So as long as you’re eating pasta with some nice meaty meat sauce and/or fiber-filled vegetables or legumes, your meal is much lower on the index than if you ate a giant bowl of plain noodles.

The index is based on the blood-sugar impact of the food eaten all by itself, on an empty stomach. That’s somewhat useful info but vastly overrated in importance. It’s far from the be all, end all of of food selection, especially for anyone who doesn’t have a sugar problem.