2/21/2020: The original title and contents of this article contained inaccuracies brought to our attention by a third-party fact-checker. The title ‘The noodles that are linked to chronic inflammation, weight gain, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s’ erroneously linked ramen noodles to Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The original form of this article also contained a video depicting a small camera deployed into someone’s stomach to ‘prove’ what happens after eating ramen noodles. This experiment has since been debunked. Ramen noodles may be linked to weight gain and metabolic syndrome, and contain the preservative TBHQ, but they are not linked to Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s.

Instant noodles are a popular go-to lunch or dinner for those who are strapped for time (or cash), like college students. While you probably don’t consider them a health food, you may think they’re not that bad, or, at least, not as bad as eating a burger and fries or a fast-food burrito.

Ramen Noodles Contain TBHQ

Processed ramen noodles don’t contain too many ingredients one would call ‘healthy. One ingredient they do typically include, however, is the preservative tertiary-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ). The FDA notes that large quantities of TBHQ may be harmful, though they have approved small quantities as a preservative. One study reported by Healthline indicated rats who consumed TBHQ had increased instances of tumors. They also noted the National Library of Medicine (NLM) contains studies finding TBHQ in laboratory animals caused liver enlargement, neurotoxic effects, convulsions, and paralysis. (1)

Eating Instant Noodles Might be Linked to Metabolic Syndrome

If you’re still considering ramen noodles for lunch, you should know a 2014 study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that women in Korea who consumed more instant noodles had a significantly greater risk of metabolic syndrome than those who ate less, regardless of their overall diet or exercise habits. (2)

Women who ate instant noodles more than twice a week were 68% more likely to have metabolic syndrome — a group of symptoms such as central obesity, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar, elevated fasting triglycerides, and low levels of HDL cholesterol.

Having three or more of the symptoms increases your risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Past research also analyzed overall nutrient intake between instant-noodle consumers and non-consumers, and found, as you might suspect, that eating instant noodles contributes little value to a healthy diet. Those who ate instant noodles also had an excessive intake of energy, unhealthy fats and sodium (just one package may contain 2,700 milligrams of sodium). (3)

And, a 2011 study showed instant noodle consumers had a significantly lower intake of important nutrients like protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, vitamin A, niacin, and vitamin C compared with non-consumers. (4)

While it isn’t conclusive that eating instant ramen noodles will lead to metabolic syndrome, the highly processed nature of these noodles and the effect they have on your body may be enough to cause you to consider alternatives.

Return to Whole, Living Foods for Optimal Health

Occasionally eating a package of instant noodles clearly won’t kill you, but when you make a habit of substituting convenience foods for real food, it’s only a matter of time before health problems will likely develop.

Instant noodles are a prime example of the types of processed foods you want to avoid as much as possible, as they are virtually guaranteed to make you sick and fat if you indulge too much (and “too much” may be as little as a few times a week).

Processed foods encourage weight gain and chronic disease because they are often high in sugar, fructose, refined carbohydrates, and artificial ingredients, and low in nutrients and fiber. Processed foods are addictive and can be designed to make you overeat; they also encourage excessive food cravings, leading to weight gain.

Eating processed foods also promotes insulin resistance and chronic inflammation, which are hallmarks of many chronic and/or serious diseases. On the other hand, people have thrived on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, eggs, and other whole foods for centuries, while processed foods were only recently invented.

Ditching processed foods requires that you plan your meals in advance, but if you take it step-by-step as described in Dr. Mercola’s nutrition plan, it’s quite possible, and manageable, to painlessly remove processed foods from your diet.

You can try scouting out your local farmer’s markets for in-season produce that is priced to sell and planning your meals accordingly, but you can also use this same premise with supermarket sales.

You can generally plan a week of meals at a time, making sure you have all ingredients necessary on hand, and then do any prep work you can ahead of time so that dinner is easy to prepare if you’re short on time (and you can use leftovers for lunches the next day, so you don’t have to resort to instant noodles).