Are dried noodles really healthier than instant noodles?

Many people think that instant noodles are unhealthy.

But what everyone doesn’t know is that many of the noodles on the market are actually not very healthy.

We bought 12 common types of noodles on the market to uncover the pitfalls of noodles.

1. The sodium content is astonishing. The sodium content of most noodles is not low.

Among these 12 types of noodles, most have sodium content between 450-600 mg/100g, and some even have a higher sodium content of 800-1200 mg/100g.

In other words, two taels of noodles contain about 3g of salt, accounting for 50% of the total daily salt intake.

This is not to mention that most people add seasonings such as salt after cooking the noodles.

Therefore, when you buy noodles, pay attention to the sodium content in the nutrition label and try to choose low-sodium or sodium-free noodles.

2. There is no egg in egg noodles. Many people think egg noodles sound very nutritious.

But in fact, most of them only add egg powder, and the amount added is not high.

Egg powder and eggs are not quite the same.

It is made by drying egg liquid into powder through multiple processes. Most of it is artificially synthesized, and not all of it is made from eggs.

If you want to eat eggs, it is better to add an egg when cooking noodles.

3. Vegetable noodles only have vegetable flavors: green spinach noodles, orange carrot noodles...

These noodles look nutritious and healthy, and parents especially want to buy them for their children.

But in fact, many of these so-called "vegetable noodles" only have a little bit of "spinach powder" or "tomato powder" added.

This type of noodles is generally called "×× flavored noodles". To put it simply, as long as it has flavor, it's fine.

Even if the raw materials are spinach juice or tomato juice, the vitamin nutrients are almost lost after the processes of juicing and drying.

In the end, what remains are only the taste and color of the various vegetables.

4. The "grains" in multi-grain noodles vary in quality. Speaking of multi-grain noodles, the most common ones are buckwheat noodles and mung bean noodles.

But in fact, the amount of buckwheat and mung beans added in this kind of noodles is not high, it can even be said to be very low.

This is mainly because most coarse grains do not have toughness. If too much is added, the noodles will not taste so good.

When buying, you need to look at the ingredient list and don’t be fooled by the name:

If the content of whole grains is high, it will be ranked higher in the ingredient list.

However, dried noodles are not completely useless. Many people even have some misunderstandings about dried noodles:

Noodles can be stored for a long time without going bad, is it because preservatives are added?

The noodles are very white, is it because whitening agent is added?

The noodles keep boiling for a long time, is it because gluten enhancers are added?

We selected 6 typical types of noodles and sent them to the laboratory to test the above claims:

Misconception 1: Noodles can be stored for a long time without spoiling, are preservatives added? We tested two common preservatives in 6 types of noodles, and the results showed:

Neither sorbic acid nor benzoic acid was added.

In fact, there is no need to add preservatives to noodles.

Dried noodles are made from wheat flour that is added with salt and water and then hung to dry and cut into dry noodles of a certain length.

Because it uses a drying production method, it is more durable in storage and there is basically no need to add preservatives.

The picture comes from the Internet

Myth 2: Noodles are very white, are whitening agents added? Strictly speaking, this is not a misunderstanding.

Because there are indeed unscrupulous businesses that add whitening agents such as bleaching powder and talcum powder to flour.

This time we specifically tested the content of bleaching powder, talcum powder and sulfur dioxide in these 6 types of noodles, and the results showed that none of them were detected.

The country now has very strict control over the addition of whitening agents to flour. As long as you buy regular brand noodles, there will basically be no problem.

For example, benzoyl peroxide is an internationally permitted flour whitening agent, but it is prohibited in China.

In fact, the whiteness of the noodles mainly depends on the flour used: the higher the grade of the flour, the whiter the noodles will be.

So technically, there is no longer much need to use illegal whitening agents.

Misconception 3: Noodles can be cooked for a long time without breaking, is it because of the addition of gluten enhancers? When cooking noodles, some noodles break easily, while others are very chewy and can be cooked for a long time without breaking.

So some people wonder: Is it possible to add gluten-enhancing agents?

We also did a small experiment: we took 30 noodles each, cooked them, and then fished them out, and calculated the breakage rate of the noodles.

Cooked broken noodles rate = number of noodles broken by cooking / total number of noodles

After cooking many pots of noodles, I found that they were almost the same, with very few broken noodles.

why is that?

Answer: Whether the noodles are chewy or not mainly depends on the protein content in the flour, which in turn is related to the variety of wheat.

In the absence of being able to change the protein content in flour, people have come up with many ways to change the taste of noodles:

1. Gluten

Gluten is pure wheat protein. Adding it can increase the protein content and promote protein cross-linking to form a chewy texture.

Many noodles made mainly of whole grains will add gluten to increase the protein content.

2. Salt and alkali

Salt and alkali can strengthen the interaction between gluten proteins, making it less likely to be cooked.

Therefore, most noodle products contain salt, and some also contain alkali (sodium carbonate).

3. Thickener

Food additives such as xanthan gum and sodium alginate can improve the taste and mechanical properties of noodles, making them more resilient.

Most of these food colloids are dietary fiber or protein. As long as they are added in accordance with national standards, they will not cause harm to the human body.

Manufacturers have so many legal and compliant methods to improve the taste of noodles, so there is naturally no need to take risks and add some non-compliant additives.

In summary, the noodles on the market are basically within the scope of supervision, most of them are compliant products, and many people’s perceptions of noodles have been stigmatized.

But if you choose the wrong ones, dried noodles may not be healthier than instant noodles.

Again, there is no unhealthy food, only unhealthy ways of eating. Learning how to choose and match is the basis of healthy eating.

How to choose noodles? 1. Choose those with low salt content

Although most noodles are added with salt, you can still choose low-sodium or sodium-free products if you choose carefully.

Pay attention to the sodium content in the nutritional table. If the sodium NRV% per 100g of noodles exceeds 30%, it is not recommended to buy it.

2. Choose multi-grain noodles with the grains at the top of the list

The purpose of buying multi-grain noodles is to be healthy.

Therefore, we recommend that you give priority to choosing noodles with grains at the top of the ingredient list, as these noodles contain higher levels of grains.

3. Choose the shape you like

Some people think that thin round noodles cook faster, are easier to absorb flavor, and have a softer texture, so they love longxu noodles.

Some people also think that flat and wide noodles are chewy when eaten, so they prefer wide noodles.

You can choose the taste you like according to your personal needs.