Do you think it was the Westerners who invented instant noodles?

Thanks to the Japanese, we now have our instant noodles as part of Malaysian's eating
culture.

The history of instant noodles dated back to 1958, first invented by Momofuku Ando, known
as "Chicken Ramen" a.k.a. "a magic ramen" at that time.

Instant noodles was later globalised into the entire world. The Asian countries have the
highest global demand for instant noodles, with China/Hong Kong topped the list, while
Malaysia ranks number 13 (Malaysia Boleh!).

Link: Click here to see the ranking for global demand

Is it real that instant noodles lead to bad health or is it a myth?

According to Dr. Shin and fellow, consumption of instant noodles among the South Koreans
were associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome and abdominal obesity, an
effect which is more prevalent in women than men. We might think exercise may help to
compensate bad food just like we might think want to exercise after enjoying a buffet, but
exercise, weight loss and young age fail to compensate the hazardous effect of instant
noodles. In the other words, if you are frequent consumers of instant noodles, your only
choice to reduce your own health risk is by reducing your consumption of instant noodles.
Having said that, the strength of the study is not strong because they research by
administering questionnaire to people not by real laboratory experiment. On top of that, those
who have history of cardiovascular problems and cancer were not eligible for the study,
therefore we are uncertain about the instant noodle consumption patterns of those with
problems aforementioned. However, taking precaution is always better. (Shin et al., 2014)

The other group of Korean researchers by consuming instant noodles, we tend to eat less of
other food with high quality nutrients. Ask yourself, how often when you have instant
noodles as a meal, you have it as a balanced diet (with vegetables, mushrooms,
legumes, fish/meat)? That's the differences when you compared to eating a traditional rice
diet. Frequent consumers of instant noodles also tend to have higher caloric intake because
instant noodles are high in carbohydrates and fat. On top of that, high sodium content of
instant noodles may increase your blood pressure. (Park et al., 2011)

But, there is good news!

Since instant noodles are cheap and widely consumed, Thailand seeing the consumption of
instant noodles as the golden opportunity to supplement it with vitamins and minerals.
Thailand has succeeded to add vitamin A, iodine and iron into instant noodles to prevent
micronutrient deficiency among their people (Chavasit & Tontisirin, 1998). There is also
researcher that add pectin into instant noodles to help you keep full for a longer period of
time (hopefully you won't eat more) and has the potential to lower cholesterol level
(Jitpukdeebodintra & Jangwang, 2009).

Warning: Bear in mind that usually you will need to consume something regularly to have
benefit out of their food product.
So, on one hand, instant noodles cause disease, on the other hand provide nutrition benefits.

Yum Yum Guru provided the facts, it is up to you now. Try to look up on the healthiest
possible instant noodle if you can.

References:

Shin, HJ, Cho, E, Lee, HJ, Fung, TT, Rimm, E (2014) Instant Noodle Intake and Dietary
Patterns Are Associated with Distinct Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Korea. The Journal of
Nutrition, doi: 10.3945/jn.113.188441.

Park, J, Lee, JS, Jang, YA, Chung, HR, Kim J (2011) A Comparison of Food and Nutrient
Intake between Instant Noodle Consumers and Non-Instant Noodle Consumers in Korean
Adults. Nutrition Research and Practice, 5(5): 443-449.

Chavasit, V, Tontisirin, K (1998) Triple Fortification of Instant Noodles in Thailand. Food

and Nutrition Bulletin, 19 (2): 164-167.

Jitpukdeebodintra, S, Jangwang, A (2009) Instant Noodles with Pectin for Weight Reduction.
Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, 7(3&4): 126-129.