Health Risks Of Instant Noodles
Instant Noodles or Bag Soups can be classified as fast food and have become very popular daily foods in recent years. They are an easy and cheap option for those who don’t always have enough time to cook properly, as well as for those who, for one reason or another, don’t choose a healthier path in terms of their diet. Do you know the health risks of instant noodles?
Although these fast food eaters are not necessarily expected to be particularly healthy, they are generally not perceived as as harmful as, for example, burgers, burritos, french fries or other similar clear “junk foods”.
If you eat these products often, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with it a bit, as instant noodles can be very unhealthy. Dr. Braden Kuo, who works at Massachusetts General Hospital, has found them to often have detrimental effects on the human body. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at a few of the surprising risks that instant soups and noodles can have. So if you are interested in healthy eating, keep reading!
Health Risks of Instant Noodles: They are difficult to digest
Studies show that instant noodles remain untreated in the stomach for up to two hours after eating them. This is much longer than eating fresh noodles. It follows that instant noodles are a very harmful product for the proper functioning of digestion.
First, the problem is that when eating instant noodles, the digestive system has to be tense for a long time. It has to work for hours to get these highly industrial products processed. The fact that food stays in the digestive system for a long time is related to the absorption of nutrients, but instant soups and noodles give the body almost no nutrients. Instead of nutrients, this type of food brings with it a large number of additives, some of which contain a toxic preservative called tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ).
It is therefore very likely that this harmful substance will remain in the stomach with the noodles. This can cause serious health problems over the long period of time required to process them in the digestive system.
Even 5 grams of TBHQ preservative can be life threatening
If you have never heard of this substance called (TBHQ) before, you should know these following facts. It is a by-product of crude oil and is often described as an antioxidant. In fact, this is not as good a thing as you might think. Consumers are often unaware that while synthetic chemicals may have antioxidant properties, they are not the same thing as natural antioxidants that are good for the body. Such synthetic “antioxidants” prevent the oxidation of fats and oils. They are used because they extend the freshness of industrial foods in stores.
TBHQ preservative is found in most industrial food products sold in regular stores. So it is a really common substance. In addition, it is found in varnishes, insecticides, make-up and perfumes – they are used to lower the evaporation rate and make liquids smoother.
Although experts in food additives have found that a person can tolerate small amounts of a TBHQ additive without endangering health, it has also been confirmed that 5 grams is already life-threatening. In fact, the Dictionary of Food Additives tells us that if a person is exposed to one gram of this substance, symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delusions, and a feeling of suffocation.
Instant soups are associated with metabolic disorders
A study was recently published in the Journal of Nutrition, which focuses on nutrition, confirming the metabolism of instant soups and noodles. The results showed that women who ate large amounts of these products were at higher risk of developing metabolic disorders compared to women who ate less of them. Other lifestyles, such as food or exercise habits, were not relevant to the results.
According to this study, women who ate instant noodles twice a week were 68% more likely to develop metabolic disorders. The health risks of instant noodles are therefore severe. Eating them can lead to many even more serious health problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, triglycerides, and low levels of HDL cholesterol in the body.
In addition, those people who ate more instant soups received less important nutrients such as protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, and vitamins A and C compared to others. On top of all this , the amounts of harmful fats, calories, and sodium were higher in those who ate instant noodles a lot.
If you want to be healthy, the right diet is key
While eating instant soups from time to time is not dangerous to your health, consuming them in large quantities may still be associated with serious health problems in the future. It would be best to choose higher quality and fresh ingredients that are natural and good for your body. Now that you know the health risks of instant noodles, you should completely exclude industrially processed products. To get there, the easiest solution is definitely to plan your meals in advance as well as stick to that plan.
