Are microwavable noodles, like Ramen Noodles, bad or good for you?

Question

I am a truck driver trying to find some good quality eating habbits. I shop a lot at Walmart Supercenters. I have an ice chest in the truck. I need nutrition on a budget. So how about these noodles without the little salt /msg packet. Whats good/bad about them nutrionally? How much heavy metal am I getting in a typical serving of Starkist Tuna? Is there anyway to get the salt out of my cans of Campbell Soup (theres still too much salt even in the so-called Low Sodium variety cause I eat 2 or three of those little things). What can you eat while out on the road that won't clog and harden your arteries but also won't cost you two or three hundred dollars per week? Are Smart Balance brand of mayo and peanut butter as good for you as they claim to be? Thank you.

Answer 1

I work for a medical/technical publisher. One of the medical journals we do deals with nutrition, and I read an article saying that Ramen Noodles were the WORST thing you could eat on a regular basis - they have absolutely nothing in them that is good for you, they are loaded with salt and fat, not to mention carbs.

Whole foods are best. Fruits, grains, etc. There's no way to buy the so-called 'handy foods' (tuna, ramen, canned soup) without loading up on all the stuff your body will eventually get even with you for. Perhaps it'd be best to stop at a diner and order a steamed veggie plate with rice at least once a day.

Answer 2

Ok, Ramen noodles aren't good for you. The sodium in those little packets is much too high for a whole day's intake. The noodles are just carbohydrates and don't serve as an entire meal. A can of Starkist tuna is pretty good for you. You can't get the salt out of Campbell's soup. If you are on the road a lot, try to stick to salads as much as you can. Oatmeal and fruit are a good breakfast. Lean meat wraps aren't so bad for you. If you buy frozen food and can microwave it, try lean cuisine, or things that are lite. Eat the low-cal Subway things w/out all the sauces and chips. Drink lots of water and avoid the sodas. Drink low sodium V8. A bit of any kind of peanut butter is good for you, but eating more than a tablespoon a day isn't. Mayo of any kind needs to be lite and used sparingly. Mustard is a better choice. Basically if it's fried, buttered, salted, or coated in sugar, stay away from it. I wish you luck. I travelled cross country a couple times, and it was really difficult to eat healthy and cheap.

Answer 3

Those noodles contain little nutritional benefit, so I would recommend you limit your consumption of them. I think if you leave out the seasoning packet they taste pretty bland. Good nutritious foods would be fresh fruits and vegetables. If cooking is not an option, choose things you like to eat raw. Foods with whole grains are also a healthy choice. You can find whole grain cereals and could eat them with skimmed milk.

How about alternating canned salmon or canned chicken with your tuna? Wild caught salmon is better than farmed salmon.

I don't know anything about the Smart Balance brand products. Peanut butter is a good source of protein, but also has a lot of fat, so you might want to limit your consumption of that if you want to keep your fat consumption low. Mayo and peanut butter are fine as long as you don't use too much.

Try to avoid bakery products that include trans fats. That's pretty much all of them, unless they tell you they have no trans fats.

Answer 4

very bad...let see ramen noodles are fried noodles that are dehydrated. they typically have a lot of sodium in them(i believe like 60% of your daily intake check out the nutritional label on the back)and they have very little nutritional value. but for 10 cents a bag you get what you pay for.

tuna kinda depends on how big the fish was, the environment, and what species of tuna, but tuna is a big fish and fish that are on top of the food chain have more mercury in them
http://www.gotmercury.org/
salmon is pretty good containing really low mercury contamination of most fish and provides omega 3 fatty acid

imma tell you straight up its gonna be kinda hard to find any canned/frozen food that is "healthy" for you due to being able to preserve foods for long periods of time requires chemicals and salt. as you can tell most canned and frozen foods are high in sodium. also trans fat is used alot in perservation due to its longer shelf life

congrats peanut butter is actually pretty good for you just try to get all natural because it doesnt have any trans fat but im sure you'll get tired of peanut butter sandwiches all the time.

cereal is a good food you can store with a small pint of milk you can easily buy anywhere, legumes are good too, if you have a cooler/icebox and depending on how long you are gone per trip you can store some yogurt, or fresh cut deli meat, salads, or possibly cook your own food and then freeze and seal it and microwave it later

Answer 5

Ramen noodles are not good for you. All those carbs and TONS of sodium, plus no nutrition. Make use of that ice chest, go with yogurt, slices of cheese, turkey, and chicken. The tuna is a great idea. Snack on pretzels and low fat granola bars. Heat up canned veggies in the microwave. Good luck!

Answer 6

Ramen noodles are terrible for you as they are a refined grain and contain a ton of sodium. For peanut butter make sure you get a natural kind - one that only contains peanuts. Brands like Skippy and JIF contain hydrogenated oils (trans fat) and refined sugar. If you get light tuna or pacific salmon you won't have to worry about mercury levels as they are not detectable. Salads with homemade dressing, nuts/seeds, fruit, vegetables, beans, and fish (salt-free canned so you won't have to cook)are all great for you. You will be getting all your nutrients: good fat, good carbohydrates, lots of fiber, lots of protein, vitamins, and minerals. An example of a good meal for the road would be a Corn, Tomato, & Avocado Salad as it is filling as well as nutritious:

1/2 c. Corn (salt-free canned)
1/2 Medium Avocado, diced
1 Medium Tomato, diced
1 T. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 T. Lemon Juice
* Black Pepper
* Cilantro, dried

Mix together the corn, tomato, and avocado in a bowl.
Mix extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice together.
Pour over corn mix and top with cilantro and black pepper.

This is a favorite of mine and takes all of 5 minutes to make. You can also make your own homemade dressings as they will save you money and you can avoid all the refined sugars and salt contained in commercials ones. Salads with some nuts and canned fish are great to bring along as it takes no time to make and requires no cooking along with keeping you full and healthy.

Answer 7

they are bad foe u cuz da flavor is just flavoured salt n sodium isn't really dat good for u

Answer 8

almost any granola bar would be good.
whole grain stuff, like cereal, i can eat it dry out of hte box, but i know not everyone can.
dried fruit? or something like V8 veggie and fruit drinks, or any fruit, you don't nessisarily need to refridgerate it
yogurt.

Answer 9

ramen noodles are BAD for you.
they are loaded with sodium.

Answer 10

haha, those are so bad for you. but they taste delicious-o.