Instant noodles = oodles of trouble

Dear Reader, I'm a foodie at heart. And you know I pride myself on making healthy eating delicious-and even fun. So I enjoy checking out food magazines and blogs for what's new. But recently, I came across an alarming trend: ramen noodles are back. And some of the trendiest restaurants in town are hopping on the bandwagon. That's right, people are shelling out a pretty decent amount of dough for, well--dough. The restaurant-made version is bad enough for you...But it pales in comparison to those cheapie cups of ramen noodles from the grocery store. Which are approximately as nutritionally sound as the Styrofoam they come in. But, according to a new study, no matter where your ramen comes from, the nutritional news is not good. Of course, for me, this is a big DUH (the refrain of the week). But the study's still worth noting, because the ramifications of eating this stuff are even worse than you'd think. The researchers concluded that consuming instant noodles two or more times a week increases the risk of cardiometabolic syndrome--especially in women. This syndrome increases the likelihood of developing not just heart disease, but diabetes and stroke. The research focused on South Korea, which has the highest per-capita number of instant-noodle consumers in the world. Not surprisingly, South Koreans have experienced an alarming increase in heart problems in recent years, as well as a weight-gain epidemic. Choosing instant noodles may be a quick, easy, and inexpensive solution in the short term. But, as this study shows (and as I've said before), this type of carb-laden fare won't serve you well in the long term.