Are Ramen Noodles Bad For You?
Short answer
Ramen may be delicious but packs a sky-high sodium content and a whole mess of nasty preservatives.
Category 'F' is for things that fail to bring anything beneficial to the table, and are very harmful to your health. We recommend completely avoiding anything in this category. Long-term side effects of 'F' items are usually very serious.
View Full Grading System
Category 'A'
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. Side effects are rare. Things rated an 'A+' are typically necessary for survival (for example, water).
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. A few harmful qualities may be associated, but only under certain circumstances such as an allergic reaction.
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. Harmful qualities may be associated, but aren't usually serious.
It is important to note that even the best things in life can become bad in immoderate amounts. So, although something may be rated an 'A+', overconsumption/overdoing can bring unwanted effects.
Category 'B'
Very beneficial to your health. Things rated a 'B+' may have a few harmful qualities to pay attention to.
Overall beneficial to your health. Things rated a 'B' may have some harmful qualities to pay attention to.
More beneficial to your health than not. However, harmful qualities are most likely associated and shouldn't be overlooked.
The main difference between category 'A' and category 'B' is the harmful qualities typically present in 'B' items. Serious side effects are usually uncommon, but are still possible and should be taken note of.
Category 'C'
Both beneficial and harmful qualities associated. Things rated a 'C+' are typically a bit more on the beneficial side. Still, moderation is important.
A fairly even ratio of beneficial and harmful qualities. Moderation is important. Very general topics that can lean towards both sides of the spectrum will be placed here as well. Rice, for example, can be good or bad depending on the type.
More harmful than beneficial. Side effects are common, especially when consumed/done excessively. Moderation is very important.
Category 'C' usually denotes to both good and bad qualities. When it comes to this category, it is important to keep this word in mind: moderation.
Category 'D'
Harmful to your health. Although benefits may be associated, the bad most likely outweighs the good. Moderation is very important.
Harmful to your health. A few benefits may be associated, but the bad outweighs the good. Moderation is extremely important.
Harmful to your health. Very few, if any, benefits are present. Things in this category should be avoided as much as possible.
Category 'D' is typically for things that are more harmful than beneficial. While consuming/doing something unhealthy once in a blue moon shouldn't hurt, we definitely recommend eliminating 'D' items as a regular part of your routine/diet.
Category 'F'
Category 'F' is for things that fail to bring anything beneficial to the table, and are very harmful to your health. We recommend completely avoiding anything in this category. Long-term side effects of 'F' items are usually very serious.
Category 'N'
'N' stands for neutral. Things placed into this category are generally (a) neither good nor bad for you, or (b) lack the necessary evidence to reach any conclusions.
Long answer
How bad is ramen for you, exactly? A team of researchers from Harvard and Baylor University aimed to answer that question by surveying some 11,000 people from South Korea - the ramen capital of the world. They found dangerously elevated rates of metabolic syndrome in South Korean women. That means higher levels of cholesterol, higher blood pressure, and higher blood sugar. Over time, metabolic syndrome can lead to diabetes, heart disease, or stroke.
This might be connected to ramen's sky-high sodium content. A healthy adult maxes out on around 2300 mg of sodium a day; some shouldn't consume more than 1500 mg. A packet of Nong Shim Shin Ramyun - one of the nicer ramen brands on the market - has more than a thousand milligrams of sodium per serving. Eat ramen sparingly or you'll up your risk of hypertension, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Some brands of ramen have monosodium glutamate, or MSG. Although it contributes to the astronomically high sodium content of ramen, it isn't as bad as you've been lead to believe - it won't kill off brain tissue, cause wild hormonal fluctuations, or bring on "Chinese restaurant syndrome" unless you inject it directly into your skin instead of eating it. Higher-end ramen brands will nonetheless often swap out MSG for flavoring agents like disodium guanylate and disodium inosinate. There's not much nutritional content to these salts, but they're not going to hurt you on their own.
Ramen is rich in preservatives. Some brands have tertiary butylhydroquinone, or TBHQ. It's not created from lighter fluid, as some sites claim, and it's approved by the European Food Safety Authority and the Food and Drug Administration for use in small quantities. It's also an additive that you'll want to limit your intake of - prolonged exposure to very high doses in animals causes stomach cancer and DNA damage. There's a whole range of TBHQ-like preservatives in different brands of ramen; like TBHQ, they're generally present in minuscule amounts that have been approved as safe. Treat these preservatives as signposts - in ramen and elsewhere, they mark foods that you should consume in moderation.
The flavoring and preservative agents in ramen make for long and hard-to-pronounce lists of ingredients. That's an indicator that most ramen brands are heavily processed. Processed foods are something that you should eat sparingly - they've got lower nutritional content in general and don't do a body much good. If you've read this far, you already know the lesson here: eat ramen sparingly. If you do eat it, buff it out with fresh ingredients - try adding green onions, leafy greens, cold cuts or eggs.
Possible short-term side effects
Possible long-term side effects
- metabolic syndrome
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high cholesterol
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high blood pressure
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high blood sugar
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diabetes
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heart disease
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stroke
Ingredients to be aware of
- sodium
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tbhq
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other hard-to-pronounce preservatives
Benefits
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