Thursday, April 14, 2016

Dig your own grave with teeth: "Eat Instant Noodles" !

We humans have gotten uglier in the way we eat, what we eat and how we eat. Whole food (grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds) is out and ready to eat is in, with instant noodles being the no. 1 monster. To put it simply they have oodles of fat, salt - peppered with toxic chemical preservatives and flavor enhancers.                                                                         
Toxic Noodles
Dark Side of Instant Noodles
I remember back in my school days, occasionally vans of Maggi noodles disbursing bowls of steaming hot noodles outside the gate for free and kids, famished-hungry after a grueling day at school devouring that junk, impatient till reaching home and savor mother's home cooked nutritious meal. I would wonder why is Maggi offering noodles to well-fed kids instead of poor ones starving on the streets.
It took me years till I grew up to understand that was advertising gimmick to induce kids who can trouble their parents to feed them more of that crap.
Now let's dive straight into why one should immediately stop eating instant noodles. This would benefit one's health, planet and national economy as well, with reduced health costs and more national productivity.
Studies conducted in South Korea and Malaysia(two large Noodle eating countries) have found large number of people consuming instant noodles to be suffering from Metabolic Syndrome, which essentially means a bunch of illnesses ranging from high blood sugar levels, high blood pressure, renal failure, excess body fat, abnormal cholesterol levels - thus increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. Hyun Joon Shin, MD of Harvard school of public health said in a press release “This research is significant since many people are consuming instant noodles without knowing possible health risks.”
Meaning instant noodles are an assault on human body causing host of metabolic illnesses, plus certain ingredients raise risk of cancer and devastating neurological disorders. So what's in this toxic food that cause all these?
Following are the list:
1. Salt: The World Health Organization recommends a maximum of 2000mg of sodium per day (equivalent to 5g of salt) for adults. Most instant noodles contain more than 100% of an adult's daily sodium intake just from a single packet.
Then, what about the rest of day's meals and snacks?
2. Fat: Most of instant noodles are processed in Palm oil after being steamed. Oxidized Palm Oil causes organ toxicity of heart, kidney, liver and lungs.
3. MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate): This one devil should send jitters down one's spine. It lurks everywhere: restaurants, cafeteria and mostly in processed foods. MSG makes food super tasty without laboring a dang! It's dirt cheap and easily available to be used generously!  MSG is an excitotoxin, maeaning it overexcites nerve cells to the point of damage or death leading to brain dysfunction.
It potentially causes varied neurological diseases including Alzheimers and Parkinson's.
Look how smart the food industry is to disguise MSG with pretty terms like:
  • Gelatin
  • Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)
  • Yeast Extract
  • Malted Barley
  • Rice Syrup or Brown Rice Syrup
So watch out!!
4. TBHQ (Tertiary butylhydroquinone): Used as food stabilizer is mentioned as an anti oxidant to hide it's true identity. Causes vision disturbances, affects human behavior, increases tumor risk.
5. BPA (Bisphenol A): Used in plastic packaging of food items that is known to leach into ingredients contained within and cause hormonal disturbances.
Years earlier, Malaysian health officials had issued a warning : "Eating instant noodles can cause or increase risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage because of ingredients such as thickeners, stabilizers, sodium, and preservatives".
Adding to the above list, there was a recent "Lead" scare in Indian Maggi Noodles detected by fssai (Food Safety Standards Authority of India) in which abnormal quantities of lead was found in maggi noodles. Now that's what is called "Topping on Ice"!
Bountiful Mother nature has literally thousands of foods, herbs and spices offered to us. Can't we idiotic humans stop processing, modifying food items and eat them whole and natural, the way nature supposed it to be.
A simple recipe that has most nutrients and 10 Min's to prepare: Cook some rice in a pressure cooker. While the rice is cooking, chop and saute assortment of vegetables (Carrots, Green Peas, Onions, Garlic, Tomatoes, Beetroot, Cauliflower, Mushrooms) in Olive or any oil of your choice. Sprinkle salt, pepper, Indian spices or Soya sauce. Top it over once rice is ready and have a nutritious meal in 10 mins. Have lemonade instead of Soda with it.
You may make it non vegetarian by adding little chunks of chicken,  2 poached eggs and prawns, shrimps.
Lastly empty kitchen cabinet of those toxic stuff  Noodles into garbage bin! Yeah....