You may have heard that ramen noodles take a long time for the body to digest. However, is it accurate, and how long DOES IT REALLY TAKE?
Ramen noodles can take a while to digest, depending on your body and whether they are homemade or instant. Instant ramen can take several hours longer to digest than homemade noodles, which your body can process in about two hours.
As you can see, contrary to some myths you may have heard, it doesn’t take weeks to digest instant noodles.
However, it might take a few hours longer than what is “normal” for how quickly your body can digest, say, homemade ramen noodles.
After two hours, fresh noodles were almost completely digested, the stomach broke down the noodles as it should. Looking at the
after two hours showed that they were much less broken down, and almost fully intact. Dr. Kuo recorded 32 hours from the pill camera.
Digesting homemade vs. instant ramen noodles
Because homemade ramen has fewer preservatives, it digests more quickly and is simpler for the body to process.
Because instant ramen contains so many preservatives, it takes longer for them to break down in your stomach.
I’ll discuss how the length of the digestive process affects nutrient absorption and how healthy (or unhealthy) the noodles are in a moment.
Tertiary-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), propylene glycol, vegetable oil, BPA, and corn syrup are all ingredients in instant noodles. The body finds it more difficult to digest the noodles quickly due to all of these ingredients.
The method used to make noodles, not the ramen noodles, is what makes them harder to digest. Homemade noodles are digested much faster for this reason.
According to studies, the body’s attempt to overcome the preservatives in instant ramen caused it to remain larger after 2 hours while fresh noodles had already begun to break down into a smaller mass.
The digestive process
The majority of studies on the digestion of ramen noodles found that homemade ramen noodles and noodles with fewer preservatives were digested fairly quickly.
This contradicts the widespread belief that all noodles digest slowly because 2 hours is thought to be about average.
However, preservative-laden instant noodles take much longer to digest.
It was noticed that the stomach had to work much harder, and that there seemed to be a process that repeatedly moved the noodles within the stomach. This causes more stomach issues.
Because the body must overcome the preservatives in instant noodles before it can begin proper digestion, it must work harder to digest them.
Types of noodles
The type of noodles you consume also has an impact on digestion, and I’m not just referring to instant and homemade ramen.
Some types of wheat flour, buckwheat, wheat, and konjac yam take longer to digest than others when used to make ramen and other Japanese noodles.
Nutritional value of ramen
Perhaps you’re unsure if you can continue to consume your preferred ramen noodles on a regular basis. The Japanese eat a lot of ramen, so it could be.
While ramen noodles aren’t necessarily harmful or bad for you, they’re also not very nourishing.
If you enjoy ramen noodles a lot, it is advised that you add some protein and vegetables to make a full meal.
Cons of eating instant ramen
The main issue with instant noodles is that they take longer for the body to process, resulting in them remaining in the stomach for a longer amount of time.
The conflict might result in gastrointestinal problems like bloating, constipation, and indigestion.
Another issue is that prolonged stomach emptying reduces the amount of nutrients you consume.
Even though homemade and instant noodles have essentially the same ingredients, those with fewer preservatives and a faster digestion time will still be better for your body.
It takes less time to digest ramen than you think
The length of time it takes to digest ramen noodles is difficult to predict because it depends on a number of factors.
Given the absence of preservatives, you can almost always assume that homemade ramen will take around 2 hours.
Instant noodles, however, are less predictable. Depending on their composition, how many preservatives they contain, and whether you have any allergies or sensitivities
You can anticipate that eating noodles will take about 2 hours rather than days or weeks as you may have previously been led to believe.