Inspired by this classic Cecil column, I got to thinking. How long could the average person survive on just Ramen noodles? And what would happen to the human body while this went on?
I went for a whole summer. It wasn’t pleasant.
I went for a whole summer. It wasn’t pleasant.
Here’s some nutritional info on ramen noodles. It looks like they’re rather lacking in vitamins and minerals other than iron. Also the 0.0g of fiber can’t be good: constipation, hemorrhoids, bowel cancer, etc; however some brands seem to have more fiber, so you could buy them. Also, high fat content, though that won’t kill you for 30 years or so. A decent amount of protein, so your biggest problem apart from the shitting would be scurvy and other vitamin deficiencies, the same as with bread in Cecil’s article (both bread and noodles are starchy foods and would have broadly similar effects).
I went for a whole summer. It wasn’t pleasant.
I did this for FAR too long in college. I do not reccommend it. I had a serious aversion to anything that remotely smelled like Ramen noodles for about four years following…
I hear ya man. In the early 80s, my first time living in another city, I lived on Ramen for at least 3 or 4 months.
Sometimes I’d get some bread and make Ramen sandwiches <shudder>.
It gave me a vitaman deficency which led to a whole bunch of rotten teeth. To this day, I gag if I try to eat those horrible, horrible noodles.
Jon
So we’re all in agreement that we’d rather pound our respective genetalia flat with a wooden hammer than expose ourselves to eating nothing but Ramen noodles. Especially Dogface, who seems to really mean it.
But what would happen to a human body eating nothing but this stuff? And how long would it take?
A person can live on ramen noodles alone. For how long is another question. Scurvy would set in pretty soon, not to mention many other vitamin defeciencies.
About the only difference between bread and ramen soup is the amount of water. Otherwise, everything else in the column would apply.
Dogface has the record for multiple remarks, but I was impressed with nitro’s sincerity: “To this day, I gag if I try to eat those horrible, horrible noodles.”
And thank you so much for insipiring the name of my next band: “Hi folks! We’re Genetalia Flats!”
Back to the OP. What if we add a One-A-Day vitamin every day?
If I recall right, several (4-7? So very old…) years ago there was a Chinese student in the US who tried to save money by eating nothing but ramen and eventually died. No cite, of course, but if I recall this was Real News not urban legend.
I blame hamsters.
Ramen noodle hamster festival!