Title correction: the author ate three servings of instant cup ramen per day, and nothing else.
One of the mentioned products was Shin Ramyun, which according to its website[0] has 510 calories per package (of which ~65% is carbs). Times three is only about 1500 calories a day[1], which will make any adult feel lethargic and cranky.
The thing about cup ramen is that it's a base, a starting point, a Minimum Viable Noodles. You want to be adding stuff to it -- for example mixing in some eggs, or cheap veggies (bean sprouts), or meat (left-over ground beef works well).
Perhaps the next article will be how they ate nothing but sandwiches (= 2 slices of bread) and felt tired.
[1] The author writes "I actually ended up losing four pounds (despite the alarming amount of carbs and calories I was consuming)", which makes me think they're bad at reading nutrition labels and biology.
Articles like this are just bizarre - there's this whole genre of "I did this very mildly unhealthy thing for a week and experienced these totally real and definitely not-a-placebo health effects even though the negative effects usually take half a lifetime to manifest" that try to reinforce the idea that there's some perfect right clean way to eat that will ensure excellent health forever.
This one is that, doubly so - it seemed to be mostly concerned with the effects of sodium, when there's not much evidence for any downside to high sodium consumption except for some sodium-sensitive individuals, and it's not clear that the author actually exceeded recommended values for daily consumption or even really increased their sodium intake all that much.
But we’ll all be envious when the author becomes the Jared of instant ramen? After a couple months of that he might get a part as a live action Gollum or a Walking-Dead extra.
I predecided that I would feel terrible after eating ramen for a week and guess what? I felt terrible after eating ramen for a week. Did I do any real science or measurements? Of course not.
"I am a starving wannabe journalist writing a linkspam article per week until I die. (If you’re in the mood for Mexican, try these 15 easy Mexican appetizers at home.)"
(The second half of that is an actual quote from the article, which is absolutely littered with linkspam.)
I stopped drinking and stopped smoking tobacco, but I got the same kind of "hangover" I used to get after a night of binge drinking on basically nothing but really salt heavy foods.
(Some were salty, then doubly sugary to cover it up, which is so very American)
It spiked my anxiety to 11, probably as an effect of an elevated heart rate?
I used to be much less healthy, but I also often made a lot of decisions I wouldn't make if I could have bought the foods folks told me were healthy with the same ease as a Wendy's hamburger.
I hope one day to go back to Japan, at leas there for about the equivalent of five dollars you could eat a non fancy, but healthy meal, even if you didn't know enough Japanese to navigate some of the more complex dishes -- I forget the name, but they had these hockey puck or triangular things that were rice, seaweed, and a soft boiled egg or something that weren't exactly "low carb" but relatively low glycemic).
Maybe we should find a way to tax overly salty stuff like some places do sugary drinks, so stuff like a rice ball surrounding a hard boiled egg become a stereotypical budget food for students or bloggers or whatever.
> I got the same kind of "hangover" I used to get after a night of binge drinking on basically nothing but really salt heavy foods.
Based on my personal experiences in some weird outdoor hobbies, I would say that surprisingly large part of what people call hangover is actually sleep deprivation and dehydration.
>Based on my personal experiences in some weird outdoor hobbies, I would say that surprisingly large part of what people call hangover is actually sleep deprivation and dehydration.
I'd believe you, I started drinking a lot of water and it helped a lot, but I also have bad allergies and nothing short of hiring a maid or having a partner or housemate who shares in cleaning of my dwelling will fix that issue.
> hockey puck or triangular things that were rice, seaweed, and a soft boiled egg or something
Sounds like onigiri: "Onigiri, also known as omusubi, nigirimeshi, or rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes and often wrapped in nori."
THANKS! And sorry for the caps - I'll bookmark it!
(I used to keep everything local, because I misunderstood Tor Browser and thought keeping bookmarks in there would make me fingerprintable -- so this Sunday I'm collecting all my old links, tagging them, then preparing to import from Firefox to Tor Browser.)
And for anyone else curious, here's a good starting point to read more:
Your efforts to not be fingerprinted unfortunately and ironically make you even more fingerprintable; instead of being one of millions who more or less all look alike, you’re one of a few thousand who are quite unique in their patterns. It’s a Catch-22 dilemma.
You'd be surprised how often I can tell someone is thrown off by the fact they didn't know about a private communication or a private browsing session.
(In the sense that I took measures to MAKE it private)
But it's a lot of work, and I tend to get grumpy if I have to take my opsec to 11 for more than a day or so.
When I was a poor college student, I would eat ramen noodles every day (every meal) during the weeks leading up to midterms or finals. I don't remember suffering any ill effects at the time. When you're in your 20s, and if you're fairly healthy, you can abuse your body in all kinds of ways with almost no consequences.
Now that I'm much older, I can't do it anymore. The sodium and carbs do a number on my blood pressure.
That said, the creator of instant ramen (Momofuku Ando) claimed to have eaten 1 ramen a day almost all of his adult life and he lived till the age of 96. I guess some people just have good genes.
I think it's an exaggeration to think that eating 2 days of ramen and that it wijld have an significant effect on your sodium or energy levels. If anything, I think it's moetly the possibly low caloric value that I would attribute to feeling lethargic.
I've myself eaten a soylent type drink for a month straight, at 1200kcal daily intake and I've had nothing bad to say. My basic metabolic rate is somewhere around 3500kcal and even with a huge deficit, I haven't been tired or anything.
Instant noodle gives me pretty bad reactive hypoglycemia so I avoid it as much as possible. And when I have to eat one, often after coming home at night after a long trip, I often eat it with a eggs, a lot of frozen vegetables or wakame. That seems to fix the low sugar blood problem afterward.
The trick with instant noodles is to discard the terrible “flavour packet” and use “Better Than Bouillon” brand bouillon and whatever veggies & whatnot strike your fancy. “BTB” is essentially a chef’s-grade bouillon, reduced to a thick paste; a little goes a long way.
I use more water than necessary and only half the flavor packet. Add a half can of chopped spinach or some steamed broccoli and bring to a boil. When the ramen has reached my preferred softness, I drizzle in one well-beaten egg while stirring. Q.F.D. Quick, filling and delicious!
One of the mentioned products was Shin Ramyun, which according to its website[0] has 510 calories per package (of which ~65% is carbs). Times three is only about 1500 calories a day[1], which will make any adult feel lethargic and cranky.
The thing about cup ramen is that it's a base, a starting point, a Minimum Viable Noodles. You want to be adding stuff to it -- for example mixing in some eggs, or cheap veggies (bean sprouts), or meat (left-over ground beef works well).
Perhaps the next article will be how they ate nothing but sandwiches (= 2 slices of bread) and felt tired.
[0] https://nongshimusa.com/homev2/our-products/shin-brand/shin-...
[1] The author writes "I actually ended up losing four pounds (despite the alarming amount of carbs and calories I was consuming)", which makes me think they're bad at reading nutrition labels and biology.