Eating pasta is less fattening if it is cooled down and then reheated before being served.

Freshly cooked pasta was fed to one group and a reheated sample was given to another as part of a new study and blood samples were taken from the volunteers every 15 minutes.

Researchers found the blood sugar of those who had eaten the reheated pasta had increased by just half the usual amount - which reduced the chances of putting on weight.

The experiment - carried out during the BBC TV show Trust Me, I'm a Doctor - found that the reheated pasta acted more like bananas or raw oats when absorbed in the gut.