I’ve been eating ramen noodles for decades now. I figure they aren’t outright toxic because, obviously, I’m still alive but I do have some questions about them:
1) They have a reputation for being “bad”. Granted, that’s a bit subjective when it comes to food, but are they? Yes, they do contain fat - so do a lot of other things. Ditto for salt, and anything else listed on the package. Assuming one is eating ramen no more than once a day at most and more likely no more than once or twice a week… is this really a problem?
2) Is the “bad” from the noodles or the flavor packets? Or both? I’m assuming the noodles are an issue with some people due to fat content, and the flavor packet due to salt content. I’m wondering how a bowl of ramen stacks up to, say, a ham and swiss sandwhich which also contains fat and salt. In my mind, no question is a bowl of ramen better (in regards to fat and salt) than a McDonald’s Bic Mac with cheese or a Burger King Whopper, which are like an entire day’s worth of calories in a handful of food. As I prepare ramen, it’s 400 calories or less, which would seem to be a good amount for what is an occasional lunch or quick dinner.
**3) Are there significant differences between brands for fat and salt content? ** I realize different brands vary in taste, but I’m looking for nutrition information here.
My Maruchan packages (they’re cheap at Aldi’s, so that’s what I buy) indicate 22% of daily fat and 36% of saturated fat if you eat the whole package. I prepare it with a cup or two of chopped vegetables and my own soup stock. I figure 33% or less of the fat you’re supposed to have in a day in a meal is acceptable, and while there’s slightly more than a 1/3 of the saturated fat limit I eat very little meat so I’m not overly concerned with that, either. Sodium could be a problem - they list it as 64% for the entire package - I doubt my own soup stock is significantly less salty. On the other hand, with a BP of 110/70 salt is probably not an issue for me. I could see where, if I had a problem with hypertension or fats/lipids this might not be an ideal food, but it hardly seem the Stuff of Death some people think it is.
Just looking for some relatively unbiased information here. I’m not going to give up ramen completely any more than I’ve banned braunschwieger, butter pecan ice cream, or bacon from my diet, I just make those occasional treats instead of regular weekly features. I’m trying to figure out where ramen is on the spectrum from “eat every day” to “only on special occasions”.
I think the problem is that they’re fried to make them solid, and that they do pack a LOT of salt and fats into one package. Ramen might be low calories, but its all bad calories.
Mostly the problem is that it’s such empty calories, with an excess of saturated fats and salts. The salt can be avoided – just use half the seasoning packed (which I usually do, unless I’m really craving a salty bowl of salt…). ETA: The fat is in the noodles – they’ve been friend to make that lovely sound-tile form.
Now, IMO ramen is just fine as filler to round out a meal of otherwise good stuff. Eat a couple pieces of fruit on the side, and dump a good serving or two of vegetables and some leftover chicken bits into the ramen, and you’ve got a reasonably balanced meal.
If you rely on plain ramen, however, you can run into nutritional deficiencies. It has the vitamin and mineral content of cardboard. Every so often, you hear of some poor student who has been eating nothing but ramen, diet coke, and cheetos, and then they collapse out of some horrific combination of scurvy, kwashiorkor, and a smattering of other diseases not known outside famine-prone regions of the third world. A basic multivitamin can ward off the worst, however.
Nissin Top Ramen seems to have exactly the same levels of sodium and fat.
I want to know how they manage to make the stuff so cheap. Amazing that it’s tasty enough that you will voluntarily choose to eat it every so often, even if you can afford something costing much more.
And how does super-cheap packaged ramen compare nutritionally to good noodle bar restaurant ramen?
You guys are talking about those instant noodles with the packaged flavoring etc, right?
I’m asking because the packet of plain dried (non-instant) egg noodles I’ve got right here are (by weight, according to the package) 12% protein, 70% carbs, 3% fat (0.7% saturated fat) and 357 Kcal per 100 grams.
To compare, I’ve got a bunch of cheap dried spaghetti: 358 Kcal per 100 grams, 13% protein, 72% carbs and 2% fat.
Doesn’t look to me that the noodles themselves are the problem.
ETA: other than the occasional dish of spaghetti carbonara, I tend to eat both with more veggies than fat.
In the interest of science (ok, so I’ve got nothing better to do) after reading Cecil’s column, I went back to the package of noodles I mentioned above to see about the salt.
Results:
Dried plain egg noodles: 0.37% by weight - about 0.3 grams of salt for a single serving bowl containing 83 grams of noodles (the 250 grams package contains 3 flat dried “sheets” of noodles).
Spaghetti: no salt - or at least, there’s no mention on the package.
So, the flavor packet is where the salt is from? Well, then, don’t use the flavor packet and you have more control of the sodium. Yes, there is fat in the noodles, but it seems to me that if you aren’t eating them all the time and use them along with healthy other stuff (for example, cooked vegetables served over ramen noodles or in ramen soup) it’s probably as bad as something like butter or mayonnaise - in moderation it’s fine, and if the flavor enhancement qualities encourage you to eat more vegetables possibly a plus, but most people don’t quite know what “moderate” really means.
Other forms of pasts such as egg noodles, spaghetti, macaroni, etc. have less fat because the noodles aren’t fried as part of their manufacture - instant ramen is fried, so it has fat to some degree or another. Other pastas/noodles have less salt largely because they aren’t sold with salty flavor packets.
So, if your diet is largely low-fat then ramen probably isn’t going to be a problem. If you’re already heavy on cheeseburgers probably not so good.
Just curious
My method of cooking (we call them 2 minute noodles here in Oz) involves boiling the noodles in the microwave for the requisite 2 minutes, draining the liquid off (and quite a lot of fat) then mixing in some of the flavour packet and whatever else I want too (veggies). I do it this way because that’s how I like it but I am wondering if it is a particularly effective way of cutting down on the fat content?
One student told me she cooked and ate a packet of ramen noodles almost every day and got all excited when she found some kind of “low-fat”, or reduced calorie, ramen. She bought a bale of those, happy that she was going to eat so healthy, until she noticed the fat and salt content was a bit lower because it said right on the label: contains TWO serving.:smack:
Fats are not inherently unhealthy - you do require some fat in your diet. TOO MUCH fat is what is bad, and the problem is most people eat too much fat in comparison to their activity level.
As I said - if you eat a truly low fat diet then the quantity of fat in a serving of ramen isn’t going to hurt you. If you eat a normal American diet you’re already getting more fat than is good for you and you’re throwing fat on the fire (so to speak). As I have a job that requires actual physical labor, the “empty calories” in ramen actually can provide energy that I need in order to work but I am not typical. Certainly, when I worked at a desk job I had to be a lot more vigilant about intake than I do right now. Hence my comment about the spectrum between “eat every day” and “only occasionally”.
That said - trans fats are something better avoided. I hadn’t thought to look into that, I should see if what I’m eating has those and how much. Saturated fat, on the other hand, is a naturally occuring thing and your body is capable of handling limited quantities of it without harm. The key word is limited. Same thing with salt - you need some salt, but not too much, and how much is too much will vary from person to person due to genetics, environment, and physical activity level.
Clearly, a diet of mostly ramen isn’t good for you. A diet of mostly boiled chicken and rice isn’t good for you, either, as its nutritional profile is limited even if it may be low fat and low salt.
So, I’m leaning towards ramen being a relatively high fat, high salt food that should not be partnered with other high fat, high salt foods in a meal but rather, as suggested, eaten with actual fruit or vegetables. There is also the matter of how you prepare it - if you don’t use the enclosed flavor packet you then have much more control over the sodium content, for instance. Is it true that cooking it, then draining off the water removes some of the fat? That would be helpful to know.
Simple test. Drain the water, and put in in the fridge. The solid layer on top will be all your saturated fats. You can skim it off and weight on a precise scale. However, from the ramen I ate, that layer is never very thick (as it is for, say, boiled chicken). I think all the fat stays inside the noodles.
I don’t know what the nutritional value of noodle bar ramen is, but it’s got to be better than instant ramen if only because the broth will contain actual nutrients. There are several varieties of ramen, but the broth is usually made with pork or chicken stock and may include onions, soy sauce, seaweed, miso, etc. The noodles would be fresh, not fried, and the soup typically includes other ingredients like pieces of vegetable, egg, or meat.
Every package of ramen noodles I’ve ever seen was labeled as being two servings. I think the styrofoam cups are labeled as one serving, but not the plastic packages. So anyone planning to eat the whole thing (and everyone I’ve ever heard of does) should be aware that they need to double the fat and sodium listed on the package.
Nissin, the manufacturers of Top Ramen, was making a lower fat, lower sodium variety called Choice Ramen for a while. Looking online it appears to have been discontinued, which explains why it disappeared from my local grocery. I still have several packages though, and it tastes at least as good as regular instant ramen.
If you have a good Asian grocery store that carries a better selection of ramen than you’d find at Kroger, find the ones that cost $2-3 per package. I’m looking at a package labeled “Myojo Chukazanmai” made by Myojo Foods Co. This one is the miso flavor, and it lists 410 calories, 80 of which are from fat. 9g total fat, 2.5g of which is saturated. 3160mg of sodium (listed as 130% of RDA), 71g carbs, 3g fiber, 10g protein. It also lists 2% RDA of Vitamin A, and 4% RDA of Calcium. One 3.84 oz package is listed as one serving - prepared with 2 1/2 cups of water. This stuff is worth the $2, and the relative quality of the noodles is obvious. I can’t go back to $0.25 ramen, despite the sodium.
The big brand of instant noodles over here is Mama. Economists use what they call the Mama Index to help gauge the state of the economy. The more packs that are sold, the worse it is. Really. This started during the 1997 economic crisis, when sales of Mama noodles spiked through the roof, because that’s all a lot of people could afford to eat. They’re cheap as all get-out. Even though it is a bit tongue in cheek, it does seem to be a rough measure.
