Instant Noodles Could Hurt Your Heart

It's convenient, cheap and best served hot, but how healthy is it? The instant noodles commonly known as ramen — a staple food for college kids and other young adults, as well as people in certain cultures — may increase people's risk of metabolic changes linked to heart disease and stroke, new research finds.

In the study, women in South Korea who consumed more of the precooked blocks of dried noodles were more likely to have "metabolic syndrome" regardless of what else they ate, or how much they exercised, the researchers found. People with metabolic syndrome may have high blood pressure or high blood sugar levels, and face an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

"Although instant noodle is a convenient and delicious food, there could be an increased risk for metabolic syndrome given [the food's] high sodium, unhealthy saturated fat and glycemic loads," said study co-author Hyun Shin, a doctoral candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. 

Shin and his colleagues at Baylor University and Harvard analyzed the health and diet of nearly 11,000 adults in South Korea between ages 19 to 64. The participants reported what they ate, and the researchers categorized each participant's diet as centered on either traditional healthy food or fast food, as well as how many times weekly they ate instant noodles.

Women who ate instant noodles twice a week or more had a higher risk of metabolic syndrome than those who ate ramen less, or not at all, regardless of whether their diet style fell into the traditional or fast-food category. The researchers found the association even among young women who were leaner and reported doing more physical activity.

As for men, Shin and his colleagues guessed that biological differences between the genders, like the effect of sex hormones and metabolism, might account for the lack of an apparent association among males between eating instant noodles and developing metabolic syndrome.

The study was conducted in South Korea, an area known to have the largest ramen consumption group in the world, where people consumed 3.4 billion packages of instant noodles in 2010.

But the findings could apply to people in North American too, said Lisa Young, a nutritionist and professor at New York University who was not involved in the study. "We [in the States] don't eat it as much, but the ramen noodles are being sold, so this could apply to anywhere they're sold, and they're sold almost everywhere."

So what's so bad about instant noodles?

"Instant noodles are high in fat, high in salt, high in calories and they're processed — all those factors could contribute to some of the health problems [the researchers] addressed," Young said. "That doesn't mean that every single person is going to respond the same way, but the piece to keep in mind is that it's not a healthy product, and it is a processed food."

Processed foods generally contain high amounts of sugar and salt, primarily because they are designed to have long shelf lives.

But Young said there might be ways to dampen the dangers of eating instant noodles without swearing off of them altogether. "Number one, don't eat it every day," Young told . "Number two, portion control," she said, and recommended that people eat a small amount of instant noodles and mix them with vegetables and other healthier, non processed foods.

Above all, however, Young said a little bit of preparation could help people avoid processed instant noodles altogether. "You can easily make noodles, homemade pasta, ground-rice pasta and veggies" at home, with a little bit of planning, she said.

Alert, instant noodles caused 10 health problems!

1. Nutrient absorption

Instant noodles inhibit the ability of children under 5 years to properly absorb nutrients. After eating instant noodles, lots of children under 5 years of age have difficulty absorbing nutrients from healthy foods they consume.

2. Cancer

Styrofoam or polystyrene has become one of the most popular ingredients used in the food business, including for packaging of instant noodles. WHO even mention this material as a trigger cancer.

3. Miscarriage

Women who often eat instant noodles during pregnancy risk of miscarriage. This is because instant noodles affect fetal development.

4. Metabolism

Consumption of instant noodles in the long term can affect the body's metabolism. This is due to the accumulation of toxic chemicals such as food dyes, preservatives and additives in noodles.

5. Propylene glycol

Instant noodles contain propylene glycol, anti-freeze ingredient that prevents the noodles from drying by retaining moisture. The body can absorb it easily and it can accumulate in the heart, liver and kidneys. This will cause damage and abnormalities in organs, and also weaken the immune system.

6. Digestion

Instant noodles can disrupt the digestive system. Instant noodle consumption also resulted in bloating, constipation or irregular bowel movements.

7. Obesity
Instant noodles are a major cause of obesity. Avoid too often eat instant noodles as they contain a lot of fat and sodium which causes water retention in the body.

8. MSG

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used to enhance the flavor mi. Approximately 1-2% of the world's human population is allergic to MSG. When someone is allergic to MSG, it will suffer a burning sensation in the chest and facial flushing, or pain and headaches.

9. Sodium

Instant noodles also contain a lot of sodium. Eating too much sodium can lead to hypertension, heart disease, stroke and kidney damage. So, avoid excessive consumption of noodles.

10. Junk food

Instant noodles are considered as junk food because it contains a lot of carbohydrates, but no vitamins, minerals or fiber. These foods also contain a lot of saturated fat and trans fat.

This is the danger of too much eating instant noodles. Limit the consumption of instant noodles to children as it will affect their growth.