One doctor spoke recently about rumors concerning food additives, addressing concerns that even occasional consumption of instant noodles is harmful to the body.
“Long ago that might have been the case, but food additives have come a long way,” Taipei Medical University Hospital nutritionist Lin Yu-ju (林郁茹) said.
The Food and Drug Administration does not permit the use of preservatives in the noodles themselves, Lin said, adding that if seasonings contain preservatives, this must be clearly indicated on the packaging.
Most instant noodles are preserved through dehydration, using a high-temperature deep-fry process, boiling or steaming to kill bacteria, she said.
“However, while you are not going to turn into a mummy from eating instant noodles [as some online rumors have suggested], the noodles are high in oil content and will make you fat if you eat too much,” she said.
Rumors that instant noodles take up to 32 days to leave the body are not based on any scientific research, she said.
Taipei Medical University Hospital resident gastroenterologist Fan Chun-wei (范峻維) said that a healthy person will generally digest food within one day.
“What is absorbed by the liver is processed by the body right away. It is not very likely that something would stay in the body for 32 days,” Fan said. “Only if there is something that the liver really cannot process would it build up in the body.”
However, Lin said that even if the rumors are false, she would not recommend that people eat them often.
“There is just not enough nutrition in instant noodles, and the seasonings are very high in sodium, oil and calories,” she said. “People who occasionally eat instant noodles should use less of the included seasonings and add their own vegetables, eggs or meat to enhance their nutritional value.”
Fan tried to dispel the rumor that food additives can lead to hair loss, saying that hair loss is more often connected with hormone and stress levels, as well as environmental pollutants, such as mercury.
However, Lin said that eating an excessive amount of instant noodles could contribute to hair loss, as they are nutritionally unbalanced and low in protein.
Protein deficiency could affect hair and nail health, she said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators