Instant Noodles (Indomie)
Hey guys, it's been a while. Sorry for keeping you waiting, was under the weather.
Anyways, who loves Indomie Instant Noodles here?
Well, I'm sure some of us have heard how instant noodles are unhealthy, but to be honest, must of us do not know why and some of us just don't even care because it is so tasty and convenient, right?
Yea, so, I was eating Indomie this morning and while eating, I decided to take a look at the nutritional information at the back of the pack. As I was reading, I found it difficult to finish my noodles. What I saw inspired me to interrupt our discussion from the previous posts to shed a little light on how detrimental instant noodles can be to our health.
First off, let's start with a little bit about the origin of Indomie.
According to Wikipedia:
Indomie is a form of instant noodle spiced for the Indonesian palate. "Indo" stands for "Indonesia" and "mie" stands for "noodles" in the Indonesian language, therefore "Indomie" stands for "noodles from Indonesia or Indonesian noodle". Both Indomie and IndoMie can be used to describe the brand.I bet you did not know that right?
Anyways, what is Indomie made of?
Ok, so I'm not going to give you a bunch of myths just to scare you, I'm writing exactly what I saw on my Indomie Chicken Flavor Super Pack.
The seasoning powder contains: iodized salt, monosodium glutamate (621), sugar, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, soy powder, pepper, garlic powder, chicken flavor.
The pepper part of the seasoning is chili powder.
Those are a lot of big scientific words right?
First thing I want you to know is that when Ingredients are written, they are usually written in descending order by weight.
Second thing, do y'all notice how many times sodium and salt appear? Do you also notice how iodized salt is the first ingredient in the seasoning powder? Meaning, according to the first point, iodized salt carries more weight in the seasoning than all the other listed ingredients.
Chill for a second, let's look at the Nutrition Information at the back of the pack.
Some of y'all might not be alarmed by that and I wish I could go into how that is so bad and contributes to weight gain, but I'll leave that for when I talk about calories in a later post.
Let's talk about the sodium, which is what alarmed me. One chicken flavored super pack contains 1950 mg of sodium (salt); that is 81% of how much salt you are supposed to be consuming daily. 81% in one pack. And we all know some of us eat more than one pack or we add egg (which we add salt to season) or we add sausages (which have a high amount of salt as well). Even if we do not add these things to our noodles, the food we consume during the rest of the day will definitely contain sodium.
Why should you be alarmed?
Too much salt in your diet leads to high blood pressure and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). CVD is a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels (hypertension, coronary heart disease, etc); I would go deeper into that in a later post. High blood pressure and CVD cause strokes and heart attacks. Also, sodium causes water retention in the body.
Now, the fat. The calories from fat is 220 out of the overall 630 calories found in one pack. The total fat is 24 g, 37% of how much fat you should be consuming in a day. The saturated fat is 7 g, 35% of your daily values. In English, that is a lot of fat; and to cut the long story short, too much saturated fat increases your cholesterol.
Hey, I've been eating noodles for ages and I'm ok.
Well, yes you might be ok now, however, you may experience problems in the future. People don't just suddenly develop high blood pressure or CVD or magically put on weight, it is a gradual process.
Most of us give our kids noodles every single day, you are slowly killing them and reducing their life expectancy.
What if I make my noodles healthy by adding other ingredients like vegetables?
Unfortunately, this will not reduce the amount of salt in Indomie. It does not make a difference.
What if I make it without the seasoning?
That might make a big difference, but I doubt that you would be willing to sacrifice the taste of your noodles (that's the point of the noodles right?). There is also the fact that the noodles itself contain guargum. Guar gum is used in foods as a thickening, stabilizing, suspending and binding agent. However, it is also used as a laxative; this is why you feel weak and sleepy after eating noodles.
What about the other good nutrients?
Yes, Indomie contains a good amount of protein, calcium, vitamin A, B, D, iron, etc.
Let's not deceive ourselves, here, the bad outweighs the good! What good is it if you get those nutrients but die of hypertension. Besides, you can always get these nutrients in other foods.
Instant Noodles is processed food, in other words, it is considered a fast food. It is as detrimental to your health as McDonald's burgers, fries, etc. It is so unfortunate that it fills our homes, especially in Nigeria. Do something about it, find alternatives.
You don't have to drastically cut it out of your diet; start by reducing the number of times you eat it. Also, stop buying instant noodles in bulk.
Yea, I only spoke about Indomie, but this goes for all kinds of Instant Noodles. Check the nutrition information at the back and you'll see.
Let me know what you think. Also, if you have any questions, comment below.
Remain fit and sexy ;)
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