Is instant noodles a nutriently poor junk food?We were really wronged!

Mondo Health Updated on 2024-01-29

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Edited by Popular Science Speak loudly.

On August 25, 1958, Japan's Momofuku Ando sold the world's first bag of chicken soup instant noodles, with its unique taste, convenient and fast, long storage time and other characteristics, as well as constantly upgrading and innovative production methods and tastes, to meet the needs of countless consumers, quickly opened the domestic market in Japan, and completely captured the stomach of Japanese office workers in just two years. In 1971, Momofuku Ando invented cup noodles for export overseas, which became popular throughout the Western world for a while, and was hailed by Americans as one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century.

In the sixties of the twentieth century, a food factory in Beijing introduced instant noodle processing technology and began mass production of instant noodlesAfter continuous improvement and research and development, it has been gradually put into the market, and it has flourished among the people of the capital and is widely respected. With the development of industrialization, the automated assembly line has gradually matured, and instant noodles have gradually entered thousands of households and are deeply loved by the working class.

Nowadays, each of us can easily name the major brands of instant noodlesMaster KongUnificationWhite elephantsWait a minute. According to the World Instant Noodles Association, the demand for instant noodles in China in 2022 is 450700 million servings, accounting for 37 percent of the total global demand for instant noodles2%, far ahead of other countries, with an average of 30 packs per person a year.

However, under such a huge market and demand, without facing the impact of major food safety events such as milk powder and genetically modified edible oil, an interesting phenomenon has emerged in instant noodles, and a consistent argument has begun to emerge in society, that is, "instant noodles are nutritionally inferior", "instant noodles are junk food", "instant noodles are all preservatives and are easy to cause cancer".So is instant noodles junk food?

According toWorld Health OrganizationThe recommended dietary energy composition we can know that 50% of 65%** of food is carbohydrates, 11% 15% is protein, 20% and 30% are fat, and the instant noodles we often eat are in terms of energy structure and nutritional mixInfinitely close to this level, from these data can also be intuitively seen,Instant noodles are actually in line with the WHO's recommended dietary intake.

As we all know, most of the traditional instant noodles are mainly fried, and the non-fried noodles that are popular in the market today are only low-fried in a sense, not real non-fried noodles, which has also caused many consumers to worry and question that they will exist when they are processed in factoriesRepeat the oilsituation, resulting in a large number of themTrans fatty acidsAffects physical health. But actually,Regular instant noodle companies are produced in the form of assembly lines, using nearly 20% of the oil every minute, and repeatedly filling new oil, so repeatedly, the old oil will soon be consumed and diluted, so there is no phenomenon of repeated use of oil, and the production is also in line with the scientific and standardized process.

In response to the argument that instant noodles are junk food, it is impossible to avoid the discussion of preservatives, and many people believe that the reason why instant noodles are convenient, quick and difficult to store is because a large number of preservatives are added, and eating too much of such food will become a "mummy". ”In fact, this is a completely wrong viewAs we mentioned earlier, instant noodles need to be fried at high temperature on the assembly line, and a large number of microorganisms have been eliminated in this process, and the moisture is as low as about 4%, which does not have the growth conditions of moldTherefore, there is no need to add preservatives to instant noodles at all.

And the reason why there are such rumors is that we have to mention an organic compound -AcrylamideThis is a carcinogen within 2A, and when it was found through the detection of major coffee shops some time ago, many well-known coffee brands detected this substance in the coffee on sale, which caused countless consumers to be anxious. Some data show that acrylamide will produce carcinogenic factors in human metabolism, which will lead to cell mutation into cancer cells, but the content of acrylamide in the fried instant noodles we often eat is very low, with an average content of only about 20 micrograms to 65 micrograms.

Professor Wu of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention once saidFoods containing carcinogens and eating them will cause cancer are completely two different concepts, and it is completely unscientific to talk about toxicity regardless of dosage. At present, there is insufficient data and epidemiological evidence worldwide to show that acrylamide in food is directly related to cancerEating instant noodles in moderation does not cause cancer.

For junk food, the World Health Organization has not given a clear definition and list, but usually we refer to food that only provides or even exceeds the calories required by the human body, resulting in the production of excess ingredients and no nutrition, while instant noodles almost contain carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins, etc., which also meet the standards of the World Health OrganizationInstant noodles are convenience food, not junk food.

A healthy and nutritious diet needs to be based on the premise of a reasonable ratio, if you feel that instant noodles are not nutritious, we can add more eggs and meat dishes to the noodles, supplement and add the protein and vitamins needed by the human body, which not only enriches the food itself, but also makes instant noodles a food with more nutrients, so,Never demonize instant noodles anymore.

After reading this article, do you still think instant noodles are junk food?Do you usually eat instant noodles frequently?Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss!

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