Ramen Noodles

For my first food review what better than:
Ramen Noodles!

Taste: Thumbs Up -The main flavor (regardless of what flavor claim the package might say - shrimp, chicken, vegetable) in Ramen Noodles is salt - or sodium. There is no denying, sodium is savory and tasty. Adding salt to foods brings out the natural flavors which is always good for taste. But there isn't much else to the taste than salty!

Nutrition: Many Thumbs Down - Here are the details according to the USDA nutrient database in one package of Ramen Noodles:
371 Calories - appropriate for a meal
8.9 grams Protein - on the lower side for the amount of calories
13.29 grams Fat (6 g Saturated Fat) - ridiculous - almost half of the fat is saturated? That makes almost 120 of the total calories from fat.
53.9 grams Carbohydrate - Here is the bulk of where the calories come from. Definitely not from fiber or whole grains in this case.
1731 mg Sodium - That's almost the recommended daily intake of 2000mg of sodium in one package! That means you would only have 269 mg of sodium left for the rest of the day. Trust me, that doesn't go far!
Ingredient List: Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Contains One Or More Of The Following: Canola, Cottonseed, Palm), Preserved By Tbhq, Salt, Potassium Carbonate, Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Carbonate, Turmeric. Soup Base Ingredients: Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Food Starch Modified, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Dehydrated Vegetables (Onion, Garlic, Parsley), Chicken Broth, Hydrolyzed Corn, Wheat And Soy Protein, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Spices, Xanthan Gum, Turmeric, Artificial Flavor, Sodium Caseinate, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate.
Too long and too many things that I can't pronounce = not healthy!

Cost: Thumbs Up: Ramen noodles is notorious for being ridiculously cheap. However, while I give that a thumbs up, in all reality no packaged food that can be considered an entire meal should be as cheap as Ramen Noodles.

Time: Thumbs Up - To make the noodles as directed in the package all that is required is getting water to a boil and waiting 3 minutes. Not many meals cook faster than Ramen Noodles.

Overall Rating: Thumbs Down (obviously!) - While yes, I gave more thumbs up than thumbs down for this one, the terrible ingredients and amount of fat and sodium in Ramen Noodles is overwhelming and eliminates how cheap, tasty and easy they are.

My Criteria

In reviewing food - some criteria is definitely necessary. I plan on giving either my "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" based on four criteria. 

Taste - the most important in my personal criteria along with nutritional value. Who wants to eat something that doesn't taste good? I know I don't.

Nutrition - A discussion of the ingredients, nutrient composition and what that means to someone who is trying to eat healthy.

Cost - We are all on some form of budget, and while our average food budget has decreased over the years, we still need to pay attention to how expensive or inexpensive healthy eating can be. 

Time - Time is a hot commodity, especially when you come home from work starving! I'll make sure to discuss convenience and different potential cooking options or ways to eat products. 

My promise to you is to review real, everyday foods, recipes and diets, yes sometimes I may pick some item that is a little bit obscure or not common in most American households, but my goal is to keep this realistic for most people living on a budget. 

Why Ramen Noodles and Kool Aid?

Why would a Dietitian ever name a blog two notoriously terrible for you food items?

Well, throughout my years as an RD, I have determined that Ramen Noodles and Kool-Aid will always allow me to have a job. These are two of my least favorite foods, both widely consumed, often loved, and sometimes even consumed together according to my latest google search. Yet they have nearly no nutritional value.

Ramen Noodles, or what we in Hawaii call Saimin, is nothing more than carbohydrate, fat and sodium in an extremely affordable plastic container. I'm guessing the most expensive part of the product is the package. At anywhere from $0.10 to $0.47 per package, you could have one of the most cost effective meals containing 380 calories, a huge bang for your less than buck! And maybe a heart attack or diabetes to go with all of the carbohydrate and sodium to go with it (with repeated consumption of course).

Kool-Aid, which I was never allowed to have growing up, and had no idea that you had to actually add sugar when you mixed it until about a year ago, is another one of my personal favorite worthless nutritional items. Sugar, water and food color and flavorings that can dye your hair a bright color just doesn't seem like something I want to put in my body.

So I ask you - why? Why do we as Americans consume both these products? And why at such a magnitude? It is a question that I just can't answer and really don't understand. I like to eat, and know that my body is important. Unlike many things we only have one body, so why torture it with terrible food choices?

My goal with this oddly named blog is to discuss food items, recipes and diets, from hot new products, to tried and true favorites and give my opinion as a Registered Dietitian and someone who just likes to eat good food.

I must disclose that I don't get any money from any food companies of any sort and everything that I write is my opinion and nothing more.

Let's Eat!