It is a hot and humid day with rain pouring down like the sky is piercing. At the same time, the will to diet, which was full of passion, is gradually broken, and at the same time, there is no appetite, so you will find food that you can eat easily. Foods that come to mind at this time include ‘noodle dishes’ such as ramen, banquet noodles, and bibim noodles. A variety of noodle dishes stimulate the appetite, but it is difficult for people with high blood pressure, diabetes, or those who are on a diet to lose weight. Is there any way to revive the lost taste and make noodles that do not interfere with diet? Hidak Nutrition Counseling Let’s find out with nutritionist Yoon Seong-won.
Q. Why are noodles harmful to dieters?
Many dieters cut down on carbohydrates and sodium intake first to lose weight. Excess carbohydrates are more likely to be stored as fat, and sodium attracts water and thus retains body water, which slows weight loss. What makes noodles so difficult to approach dieters is their carbohydrate and sodium content. The carbohydrate content in 100g of somen noodles (dried noodles) per serving is regarding 70-80g, and the sodium content is often over 800-1,000mg. If you eat one serving of noodles, you’ll be getting more than 60% of the recommended daily intake for carbohydrates and more than 50% of the recommended daily intake for sodium. If you add the sodium in soups, seasonings, and other side dishes to this, the sodium content of a bowl of noodles easily exceeds the daily recommended amount (2,000 mg/day according to WHO).
Q. Does sodium ingestion interfere with building muscle?
There is a theory that eating sodium while dieting interferes with building muscle. However, the prevailing opinion is that there is insufficient scientific evidence or research results. Rather, a greater reason for reducing sodium is because the more water the muscle has, the more difficult it is to visually see the effect of the diet because the muscle is not clearly visible. In that respect, it is more reasonable to think that the reason exercisers limit sodium to the extreme is to increase muscle clarity. So just because you’re on a diet doesn’t mean you need to limit your sodium to extremes. However, among Koreans’ eating habits, salty eating habits are closely related to high blood pressure and risk of heart disease, and salty eating causes a desire to eat more food, so it is necessary for dieters to control sodium intake.
Q. Is there any way to maintain a diet and eat noodles?
For a sustainable and enjoyable diet, we’ll show you how to make noodle dishes that even dieters can eat.
How to cook noodles to reduce carbohydrate intake
1. Using ingredients that replace noodles
Among carbohydrate foods, noodles are made from refined and processed carbohydrates, so they have high energy density and can quickly raise blood sugar. To avoid this, it is recommended to use other ingredients that have a similar shape and texture instead of noodles.
For example, using bean sprouts, konjac noodles or seaweed noodles can reduce carbohydrate intake and increase vegetable intake. Recently, you can use shavings made from tofu. Using tofu noodles can reduce carbohydrate intake and increase protein intake.
2. Supplementing Protein Foods
Noodles tend to lack vegetables and protein foods. If you use vegetables as a substitute for noodles, we recommend adding a protein group to balance your nutrition. The easiest protein food to cook is eggs. You can put a boiled egg on top of the bibim noodles, or you can add eggs to the feast noodles. Other ingredients include tofu and lean meat.
How to cook noodles to reduce sodium intake
1. Garnish with greens instead of kimchi
There was a CM song saying, “If there was no kimchi, what flavor would you eat ramen?” I don’t miss kimchi when I eat noodles or noodles. Among bibim noodles, it is probably for the same reason that in summer, bibim noodles with sweet and sour radish kimchi are the best.
However, to reduce the sodium content, it is recommended to use vegetable garnish instead of kimchi when eating noodles. By using raw vegetables instead of kimchi made with pickled vegetables, the sodium content can be lowered and the sodium excretion effect can also be obtained through the high potassium in raw vegetables. Vegetables suitable for noodles include zucchini, onion, carrot, bok choy, leek, and mugwort.
2. Leave more than half of the broth
The soup that makes you feel the taste directly in your mouth contains more salt than you think. Therefore, when cooking noodles with broth, the liver should be bland and the intake of broth should be reduced.
One way to make the seasoning of the soup bland is to ‘season it right before eating’. The timing of seasoning is important because the degree of taste differs depending on the temperature. Saltiness is perceived as weak as the temperature increases, and stronger as the temperature decreases. Therefore, if you look at the seasoning while cooking, it may feel like it is not seasoned no matter how much salt is added. Therefore, you can consume slightly less sodium by seasoning following one steaming cold than by seasoning while it is hot.
Help = Hydak Nutrition Counseling Seongwon Yoon (nutritionist)
