Even hunger seems a little more refined in Italiano, which must explain why I often feel so dignified while sticking my face in a gigantic bowl of pasta.

Pasta gets a bad rap due to the creamy, calorie-rich sauces it so often gets tossed in, but the pasta itself is relatively blameless and can even boast a decent protein and fiber count. Here are the nutritional facts for four popular kinds of pasta, including a filled tortellini:

Spaghetti—158 calories, 1g fat, 2g fiber, 6g protein
Whole wheat spaghetti—124 calories, 1g fat, 5g fiber, 5g protein
Spinach pasta—130 calories, 1g fat, 5 g protein
Cheese tortellini—307 calories, 7g fat (4g saturated), 2g fiber, 13 g protein,

While spinach and whole wheat pasta clearly pack the best nutritional deal for your caloric dime, none of them break the bank—and all of the pastas are low in sugar, saturated fat, and sodium. Even cheese-filled pastas like tortellinis and raviolis don’t have to be a health buster, provided you skip the alfredos in favor of tomato sauces or a healthy drizzle of olive oil. And take the calories you’ll save chowing down on whole wheat pasta and put them towards a nice glass of red. For the antioxidants, clearly.

Photo courtesy of wellsphere.com

Are you as excited as I am that Starbucks’ fall flavors are out? I’m not so sure my last meal wouldn’t include a pumpkin spice latte, so of course I can’t resist when they make their appearance each autumn.

Though many coffeehouse treats can be less of a sweet kiss and more a punch in the gut nutritionally, the pumpkin spice latte isn’t too shabby as an infrequent treat. One grande latte with nonfat milk and no whipped cream has 288 calories and 0 grams of fat. It also contains nearly half your daily recommendation of calcium.

The bad news, of course, is that it also contains 50 grams of sugar, twice as much as the American Heart Association’s daily recommended amount. Earn brownie points by making your own in order to cut down on the sugar content. A quick Google search reveals a lot of DIY recipes—this one suggests using 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin instead of the original recipe’s pumpkin-flavored syrup for a drink with much less sugar and a hefty shot of vitamin A, C, and iron. Could it be that with just a few adjustments, pumpkin spice lattes can be good for me? Now that’s a world I want to live in.