Lou Hughesele

NoodiMag Volume 2

Welcome to NoodiMag, the container for all my noodling on noodles, pastas, and all related topics. This is volume 2 because, way back in November 2022, I wrote one singular joke version of this idea, sent only to my wife. I’ve been talking about doing this niche newsletter, and actually sending it outside my household, and calling it NoodiMag for over a year now, and I finally have the motivation to really do it, because for 2026 a friend and I have set a mutual goal of eating as many different pastas as we can, inspired by this video. I’m excited for what this particular part of the future holds. If the First Summer of Soft Serve taught me anything, there are good things coming. So, here we go…

Pasta Shapes Consumed: Gemelli; Miniature Shells; Tortellini; Macaroni; Casarecce; Rice Elbow Macaroni; Rotini

The Appetizer:

Am I really eating every pasta I can? If you ask the most literal part of my brain, the answer is no. I was at a diner one night, and I noticed that they had Fried Ravioli on the menu. I thought to myself, “I like Fried Ravioli, and that’s a pasta. I should get that. For the goal.” Did I get it? No! I got a sandwich. It was a really good sandwich, except it cut up my mouth. (Why have we all accepted having our mouths cut up on an overstuffed sandwich on toasted bread? My next stupid campaign will be to put an end to this.) And at the grocery a few days later, I walked right by the pasta aisle. Then I started to turn back. For to get another pasta shape. But then I thought to myself, “I have six pounds of pasta from Costco at home. I can wait to get another pasta.” Another night I was having lemon drop martinis with a friend at a restaurant with lots of pasta on the menu. I could’ve gotten some of them without even leaving off key ingredients to make it vegetarian. But I ate a salad and fancy cheese instead and they were really delicious. So, that’s three times I passed up pasta that I could have had. Except that I didn’t want to, so could I really have? I suppose these moments helped to define the goal. This is about exploration and enjoyment. This is not about rigidity or purity. Though, over a week later, I am still thinking about the Fried Ravioli That Wasn’t. I’ve learned my lesson there.

The Entree:

I am convinced that eating a slightly-too-large bowl of pasta, watching an episode of TV, and then having a big, huge nap is an effective home remedy for chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and, possibly, whatever else might ail you. At least whatever else might ail me.

Frequently, when I am having a flare of my chronic illness, I will put this to the test. I will make just a little too much of the Basic Pasta Meal: whatever pasta shape I grab first out of the pantry, vegetarian ground “be’f”, marinara sauce from a jar, and mozzarella and/or parmesan cheese. Sometimes I put red pepper flakes in it, or extra garlic, or fresh tomatoes if I have them. Probably we all have had some version of this in heavy rotation for our entire lives. It wasn’t vegetarian when I was a kid, and it didn’t include the cheese, or any of the extras, but it’s always been the same basic concept. It’s a classic for a reason.

I eat it until I’m just a little too full. I watch an episode of a hour-long network TV drama, and then I go to sleep. I always wake up feeling so much better.

This is what I did on the first day of Greg’s New Year. I was hit with a wave of exhaustion and pain in the early evening. I thought maybe I was sick. I didn’t even stay up that late or consume any substances for New Year’s Eve! My wife made me Basic Pasta Meal. I dozed on the couch to one and half episodes of Gilmore Girls. Then, I went to bed very early. In the morning, I felt totally fine. I mean, as fine as you can be while having a chronic illness flare.

As it turns out, They, the Scientists, are finally starting to research this. Or consider researching it.

In May of 2025, a group of scientists published a study protocol in Trials, a leading journal that publishes designs for randomized controlled trials in health, with the goal of improving trial design. The hypothesis of this would-be study is that carbohydrate intake shortly before sleeping may improve sleep by increasing the availability of tryptophan, which is crucial to serotonin production, which in turn modulates the sleep-wake cycle. It appears so far that this study has not actually happened yet. And it also appears that this study protocol and potential actual study is/will be funded by Barilla, a pasta brand that we do not fuck with, for reasons I may explain another time (Lotti et al, 2025). Now, they say that the funding source won’t affect the results, but they always say that and… I’m skeptical. Barilla’s got a concerted interest in combating “carbophobia” as they call it. I do believe this to be a noble cause, though, and so we have a case of strange bedfellows.

Research also shows that carbohydrate consumption is essential to restoring muscle glycogen, the fuel source for our muscles during exercise. During physical activity, muscle glycogen is broken down and oxidized into the molecules needed for muscle contraction. Our glycogen stores need to be replenished in order to perform physical activity again (Murray & Rosenbloom, 2018). I’m not an athlete, but sometimes my body feels like I ran a marathon after doing a normal day.

Is this scientific backing for my pasta-based home remedy? Perhaps. It is most certainly your invitation to join me in this experiment. Give this protocol a try the next time you feel like shit, and let me know how it goes.

The Dessert:

This is the meme a coworker caught me looking at instead of working:

She asked, “That sketti??”

Pretty apropos. when the coworker thinks ur working but really you’re looking at memes of spaghetti

Thanks for reading! Maybe next time will be better.