What happens to your body if you eat 1 bowl of rice noodles every day? Eating this way is healthier →

Rice noodles are a very popular delicacy in southern my country. As rice noodles spread across the country, many northerners have also joined the ranks of eating rice noodles.

Who doesn't love rice noodles, which are chewy, smooth and tasty? What effect will it have on your body if you eat a bowl of rice noodles every day?

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How nutritious is rice noodles?

The rice noodles we are talking about here are strip-shaped rice products made from rice through processes such as soaking, steaming and pressing, rather than powdered food ingredients made from grinding rice.

Rice noodles are the staple food for many working people, and the process of slurping the noodles makes us feel happy.

Friends who often eat rice noodles may have a deeper understanding. There are many kinds of rice noodles in my country, such as Jiangxi rice noodles, Hunan rice noodles, Guilin rice noodles, Liuzhou snail noodles, Mianyang rice noodles, Guizhou Huaxi beef noodles, Guiping Luoxiu rice noodles, Wuming raw noodles, Binyang sour noodles, etc. There is also the Yunnan cross-bridge rice noodles that everyone likes to eat, which is actually a kind of rice noodles. Rice noodles are generally called "rice noodles" in Yunnan, but in the Zhaotong dialect, there is still a colloquial custom of calling "rice noodles" "suofen".

The most attractive thing about rice noodles is its taste. After all, its nutritional value is not that great. It mainly provides calories and carbohydrates for our body. Rice noodles are food obtained by further processing of rice. Like rice, they are staple foods and rich in carbohydrates. The carbohydrate content of rice noodles is even higher than that of rice, but the content of vitamins and minerals is mostly not as good as that of rice.

In addition, when people eat noodles, they usually add a lot of seasonings, such as chili oil, soup, vinegar, etc. Some seasonings are also high in calories, so you should pay attention to adding seasonings in moderation when eating. If conditions permit, it is recommended to pair it with some vegetables, eggs, etc. to increase the nutritional balance.

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What will happen if you eat 1 bowl of rice noodles every day?

If you eat a bowl of rice noodles every day, although you can feel full, you may face the following problems.

1. Possible malnutrition

Some restaurants serve rice noodles with fewer vegetables and protein foods, perhaps only one green vegetable and a little minced meat; and commercially available rice noodle products may also come with very few side dishes, which often include a lot of pickled foods. Not only do they lose a lot of nutrients, but the salt content is also not low. Eating such rice noodles for a long time may increase the risk of malnutrition.

If conditions permit, it is recommended to add some fresh vegetables and protein-rich foods, such as cherry tomatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, eggs, chicken breast, etc., to increase nutritional intake.

2. You may gain weight

Although the calories of rice noodles are similar to those of rice, a bowl of rice noodles contains more than just rice noodles. There are also delicious toppings, side dishes, and ingredients. The toppings of rice noodles eaten in restaurants are mostly high in oil. If you eat all the noodles and soup, the calories are really not low.

Even the pre-packaged rice noodles you buy online are high in calories. One serving of rice noodles contains both dry rice noodles and seasoning packets, vegetable packets, and oil packets. For example, the snail noodles pictured below, which many people love to eat, contain 120g of dry rice noodles. According to the data in the Chinese Food Composition Table, it can provide about 400kcal of calories. The rest are ingredient packets, including 29g of chili oil, which has a calorie content of about 261kcal.

Image: The ingredient package of snail rice noodle. Image source: Photographed by the author

For people who can eat spicy food, the calories of dry rice noodles + chili oil alone reach nearly 700kcal. There are also crispy fried bean curd sticks, sour bamboo shoots, mushrooms, soup dumplings, etc., all of which are very oily. Adding them will increase the calories even more. Usually, we only consume 500~600kcal per meal. If you have a pack of such rice noodles as a main meal every day, it is easy to exceed the calorie limit throughout the day, and weight gain is just around the corner.

According to the nutritional composition table on the product packaging, if you eat 400 grams of the soup, noodles and seasoning packet, you will consume 1101kcal of calories, which is directly equivalent to two meals.

Image source: Photographed by the author

Therefore, for those who love to eat rice noodles but don’t want to gain weight, it is recommended to control the amount of dry rice noodles to a maximum of 100g, and use less oil and drink less soup.

Picture: 1 bowl of snail rice noodle Picture source: Photographed by the author

3. Not conducive to blood pressure control

In order to cater to the taste of the public, the rice noodles in restaurants generally have a high salt content; and the pre-packaged rice noodles we buy are often paired with a large bag of sauce to make them taste better. If you eat both the noodles and the soup, it is easy to exceed the salt intake limit. If you eat a bowl of rice noodles every day, it will increase the risk of high blood pressure and affect the health of your stomach.

4. Increased risk of fractures

In most cases, the sodium content of a bowl of rice noodles is not low. There is a mechanism of "more food, more excretion, less food, less excretion" in the body. When our body metabolizes sodium, it will also excrete some calcium ions, which will increase calcium loss.

Therefore, the saltier you eat, the more likely you are to suffer from calcium deficiency. Especially for people who already have insufficient calcium intake, it is more likely to cause osteoporosis, which in turn increases the risk of fractures.

5. Excessive intake of aluminum may occur

Alum may be used in the production process of rice noodles to enhance toughness, and the raw materials used to make rice noodles, such as rice, corn starch, and water, may also contain aluminum. If the raw materials used are not good, there is a possibility that the aluminum content exceeds the standard.

A study analyzed the aluminum content in rice from five grain-producing areas in Heyuan, six types of corn starch from common brands on the market, and tap water from two cities in Heyuan. The results showed that the unqualified rate of 200 batches of rice sampled was 2%, the unqualified rate of 60 batches of corn starch sampled was 5%, and the qualified rate of water sources was 100%.

Long-term intake of rice noodles with high aluminum content will cause harm to health. This is because aluminum can reduce the body's absorption of phosphorus, thereby reducing bone calcium content, causing osteomalacia and bone malnutrition; at the same time, aluminum is also a neurotoxin. In other words, excessive intake of aluminum in the diet can affect the health of the bones and nervous system, and may also affect the growth and development of children, and in severe cases may even cause osteomalacia.

Will eating rice noodles raise blood sugar?

The GI value is an effective indicator to measure the blood sugar response caused by food after a meal. The higher the value, the less conducive it is to blood sugar control. GI values ​​below 55 are low GI foods; between 55 and 70 are medium GI foods; and when the GI value exceeds 70, it is a high GI food.

The GI value of the rice we usually eat is relatively high, generally ranging from 71 to 90, and is considered a high GI food. Rice noodles are made from rice as the main raw material, so many people think that rice noodles are also high GI foods, and eating them often will be bad for blood sugar.

In fact, rice noodles are not really a high GI food. Its GI value is 54, which is a low GI food. Friends who love rice noodles are very surprised! This is mainly related to the special processing method of rice noodles. Rice noodles are made by soaking and grinding rice, and then forming (ripening), cooling (refrigeration or freezing), and drying (drying or drying). At the same time, in order to ensure the taste and quality of rice noodles, rice with high amylose content, low gelatin consistency, low attenuation value, and high regeneration value is usually selected to make rice noodles.

The initial processing will cause the raw materials to gelatinize, which is the key process for the processing of rice noodles. The purpose of gelatinization is to fully mature the starch and denature the protein by heat. Then after cooling, part of the starch will undergo aging and regeneration, resulting in a decrease in the flexibility of the rice noodles, an increase in hardness and elasticity, and a chewy texture.

Because the aged starch is not easy to digest, the GI value of rice noodles is not high, and most of them are medium-low GI foods. Besides, no one would eat only rice noodles, but also eat them with vegetables and protein foods. A mixed diet is more conducive to stabilizing blood sugar after a meal.

Therefore, as long as you don't overcook the rice noodles and eat them with green leafy vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, beans and other foods, you don't have to worry about your blood sugar soaring after eating the noodles.

Image source: Pixabay

Beware of fumonisin

When eating rice noodles, you should pay special attention to the poisoning of fumonisin, which mainly occurs in wet rice noodles, such as rice noodles, rice noodles, rice noodles, etc. Some of them require long-term soaking and fermentation during the production process. If the environmental hygiene, time, temperature, etc. are not properly controlled, they are likely to be contaminated by coconut fungi and produce fumonisin.

Don't think that cooking can eliminate fumonisin, which is very resistant to high temperatures and cannot be killed by ordinary steaming. After fumonisin poisoning, the disease progresses quickly and is prone to liver failure or multiple organ dysfunction and death. The mortality rate is extremely high, reaching 40% to 100%.

To prevent aflatoxin poisoning, when buying wet rice noodles, pay attention to the shelf life and storage temperature, and do not soak them at room temperature for a long time. The suitable growth temperature of coconut mushrooms is 37℃, and the most suitable temperature for toxin production is 26-28℃. They must be cooked and eaten immediately. If they are not eaten for the time being or there are leftovers, they should be refrigerated for storage, but not for more than 48 hours.

Summarize:

Sipping rice noodles is a kind of enjoyment. Rice noodles are also a low-glycemic staple food. If you want to have a bowl every day and take your health into consideration, then control the amount and make a good combination.

Only eat 1 to 1.5 fists of rice noodles cooked in the restaurant, and drink less soup. It would be even better if you can bring your own vegetables such as cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. If you buy pre-packaged food, then eat 50 to 100 grams of dry rice noodles, use less oil and drink less soup.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that no single food can provide all the nutrients for the human body. We should have a variety of foods and a reasonable combination in our daily diet. The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022) recommends that we consume an average of more than 12 kinds of food per day and more than 25 kinds of food per week.

References

[1] Zeng Xiushan, Zeng Shiqiao, Cheng Lian, Li Wei, Lin Zheng. Research on the background value of aluminum in rice noodle raw materials in Heyuan area[J].

[2] Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table 6th Edition Volume 1[M]. Peking University Medical Press, 2018 Journal of Food Safety and Quality, 2020, 0(4): 1156-1160

[3] Cheng Linshao, Liang Qinmei, Yao Zhenjiang, Lin Ying. Current status and prospects of rice noodle quality evaluation and production research[J]. Cereals, Oils and Food Science and Technology, 2022, 30(6): 71-79

[4] Mei Canhui, Li Biansheng, Ruan Zheng, et al. Discussion on the risk points of fumonisin in fresh wet flour foods[J]. Food Industry Science and Technology, 2022, 43(06): 460-466. DOI: 10.13386/j.issn1002-0306.2021050069.

This article is a work of Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project

Produced by: Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer｜China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Author: Xue Qingxin, registered nutritionist

Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center