Dried Noodles as Maman Noodles Safe or Not ? Why Local People Always Say No ?

[ThaiSmarterThanYou]

Hi,

What do you think about dried noodles as Mama ?

Why Thai seem to try to avoi them ?

It's true that they sometimes smell like candle, but why ?

Thank you.

[WilliamCave]

My kids eat mama noodles , not often but I find to much salt

[Soutpeel]

It's true that they sometimes smell like candle, but why ?

That's the "coating" they put on dried noodles, oil/waxy based to stop them sticking together

A doctor friend of mine said eating dried noodles is bad for your digestive system and takes a long time for you to eventually "get them out" your system, very high in Sodium, full of carb's and should be considered junk food...

[mrtoad]

It's true that they sometimes smell like candle, but why ?

That's the "coating" they put on dried noodles, oil/waxy based to stop them sticking together

A doctor friend of mine said eating dried noodles is bad for your digestive system and takes a long time for you to eventually "get them out" your system, very high in Sodium, full of carb's and should be considered junk food...

A staple diet though of The Digital Pikey

[Jingthing]

Highly processed starch food, (it's been fried BTW) contributes to obesity and obesity related diseases (diabetes, heart disease, cancer). I just looked up the MAMA website though and say a package list showing no transfats. That's good ... though not sure if they mean all of their offerings, or just some. Transfats are basically POISON. I think MAMA noodles are OK occasionally if you want to eat that crap ... like a junk food treat like chips/crisps/cupcakes ... but everyday, very bad idea.

[namdocmai]

I don't like Mama, i prefer Indomie from Tops...try that one if you can find it and eat with a fried egg if you want a snack. You can also mix it with cabbage, taugeh, saucage, bacon and whatever you like,we love it. Then you make the indomie first, let it cool down (not necessary though but makes the noodles firmer) and then stirfry it with what you like/have.

Yes it has msg but so does thai fried rice.

Edited November 11, 2014 by namdocmai

[kkerry]

Thais try to avoid Mama noodles? All those stories about Thais taking suitcases of the stuff overseas as care packages to ex-pat Thais must be untrue then...

[DP25]

Why Thai seem to try to avoi them ?

Thais avoid mama noodles? That's one of the craziest things I've ever read on this board. Mama noodles are practically the national dish.

When many Thais go to foreign countries they pack their bags full of instant noodles. Which is really not necessary as you can buy them everywhere these days

[Soutpeel]

It's true that they sometimes smell like candle, but why ?

That's the "coating" they put on dried noodles, oil/waxy based to stop them sticking together

A doctor friend of mine said eating dried noodles is bad for your digestive system and takes a long time for you to eventually "get them out" your system, very high in Sodium, full of carb's and should be considered junk food...

A staple diet though of The Digital Pikey

in their defense there is not much else for them to consume is there ?....Soi dog urine soaked leaves from the the side of the road ?,

If I was a DP, I would take my chances with the mamma noodles, the other thing, I believe eating mamma noodles makes you fat as f, therefore consuming too many, may lead to a decrease in offers in adult film roles, as the DP becomes a Mr Blobby, which is not good for the "career", and would think they would only be offer roles in "specialist interest" type movies...

[Jingthing]

Why Thai seem to try to avoi them ?

Thais avoid mama noodles? That's one of the craziest things I've ever read on this board. Mama noodles are practically the national dish.

When many Thais go to foreign countries they pack their bags full of instant noodles. Which is really not necessary as you can buy them everywhere these days

Yes they are widely loved by the Thai masses. But I imagine more elite and health conscious Thai types (you know the ones that buy brown rice) do avoid them. As part of your daily diet they are really bad news as they lead to deadly chronic diseases.

[ATF]

There is a saying in Thai. "They drive a Benz but live on Mama".

[David48]

flyingsaucersarereal ... is that you?

(Just quietly ... same posting style)

.

[Aussieroaming]

MSG is my thought

[Jingthing]

MSG is my thought

MSG is not harmful to health.

[jayceenik]

I've been eating Mama (and the other brands too) for decades.

Mostly because they are so convenient and quick to prepare.

I'm doing good but, indeed, I've been told by several Thais (my dentist, for one) they they're not good for one's health. I was even sent once by a BKK TGF a long web article in Thai (that I Google translated) about how bad those noodles are. Concerned and also willing to please that then TGF I tried different home fast meals but soon reverted to my trusted Mama.

In my experience I thus can say that the OP is right to have noticed that some Thais don't endorse Mama and the like noodles for health reason.

Edited November 11, 2014 by jayceenik

[ukrules]

What about the Shin Ramyun noodles by 'Nong Shim', I've never noticed them being even a little waxy, in fact they're bone dry before I put them in the water to boil.

Of course coming from the west I eat them with a fork so to make the noodIes smaller I break the 'big round lump' into small pieces with my hands before I boil them so they aren't so long and there's never been any noticable residue.

I've never tried the Mama noodles, are they any different to these ?

[arthurwait]

Just incase you didn't know as JT said dried noodles are fried as in deep fried to dehydrate them. Think of the surface area and thickness to how much of them is just oil/fat.

[mrtoad]

It's true that they sometimes smell like candle, but why ?

That's the "coating" they put on dried noodles, oil/waxy based to stop them sticking together

A doctor friend of mine said eating dried noodles is bad for your digestive system and takes a long time for you to eventually "get them out" your system, very high in Sodium, full of carb's and should be considered junk food...

A staple diet though of The Digital Pikey

in their defense there is not much else for them to consume is there ?....Soi dog urine soaked leaves from the the side of the road ?,

If I was a DP, I would take my chances with the mamma noodles, the other thing, I believe eating mamma noodles makes you fat as f, therefore consuming too many, may lead to a decrease in offers in adult film roles, as the DP becomes a Mr Blobby, which is not good for the "career", and would think they would only be offer roles in "specialist interest" type movies...

Maybe TV's number one Digital Pikey will update us all on his film career.

[DogNo1]

A recent Time Magazine article pointed out that eating instant noodles such as Top Ramen, etc., is very bad for you. Can't say which issue the article was in though.

[Jingthing]

I'm still confused about the transfats question. I always assumed they had transfats. Did they stop that? That would be surprising. If they do have transfats, there is no question how HORRIBLE they would be.

[loloal]

Came back from Thailand last December with a bag full of Mama noodles and used it as dinner almost every nights for 3 months.

I admit I got fat.

In France we have some "Asian style" noodles in department stores -as everywhere in the world I guess- and every food must have the fats transfats etc. rates precisely mentioned on every food pack. I noticed large differences depending on the brand so now I avoid noodles brands with high transfats. Not sure about how mama is compared to other brands.

Happy junk eating to you all

[Soutpeel]

Came back from Thailand last December with a bag full of Mama noodles and used it as dinner almost every nights for 3 months.

I admit I got fat.

In France we have some "Asian style" noodles in department stores -as everywhere in the world I guess- and every food must have the fats transfats etc. rates precisely mentioned on every food pack. I noticed large differences depending on the brand so now I avoid noodles brands with high transfats. Not sure about how mama is compared to other brands.

Happy junk eating to you all

Did you notice a decrease in the offers you were getting for roles in promotional movies for gay tourism in Thailand ?

[Dmaxdan]

We sometimes eat them dry, uncooked as a crispy snack with beer...........lovely

[attrayant]

Could have sworn I just posted to this thread. Oh well trying again:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Oh the wax-noodle hoax is back. I thought that one had been put to sleep a long time ago. I guess nothing ever dies on the Internet.

It's hard to believe that a myth that's so easy to disprove can hang around so long. Pick up a noodle and look at it. See any wax? No. Scratch it with your fingernail. Does any wax come off? No. Pour some boiling water on them. See any liquefied wax floating around in the cup? No.

And no they don't smell like a candle, unless you have some beef or chicken-scented candles in your house.

They are high in sodium - some brands contain about a third of your RDA of sodium. So if you're in a sodium-affected risk group, it might be a good idea to limit your sodium intake (not just from noodles, but from all sources).

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/noodles.asp

[attrayant]

Oh I see there are two versions of this thread. Perhaps a mod could merge them together.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/775708-dried-noodles-as-maman-noodles-safe-or-not-why-local-people-always-say-no/

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/775787-dry-noodles-as-maman-noodles-safe-or-not-why-local-people-always-say-no/

[attrayant]

A recent Time Magazine article pointed out that eating instant noodles such as Top Ramen, etc., is very bad for you. Can't say which issue the article was in though.

Here's the article:

http://time.com/3149497/instant-noodles-heart-risks/

The study looked at the reported diets of 10,711 adults using data from a two-year survey of South Koreans, who reportedly eat more ramen than anyone else in the world. Two diet tracks emerged: a traditional diet, which was full of rice, grains, fish, and produce, and a so-called meat-and-fast-food pattern, which replaced some of those staples with meat, soda, fast food, and instant noodles.

Neither of those diets on the whole were associated with an uptick in cardio-metabolic syndromewhich is a collection of risk factors for heart disease, type-2 diabetes and stroke including high blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol. But the instant noodles were. Eating instant noodles at least twice a week was associated with 68% more cardiometabolic syndrome for women, regardless of what else their diet was made up of.

Note that it's one study. We generally shouldn't draw conclusions until we get repeat results or multiple studies all pointing in the same direction.

[AyG]

We could all go on spouting our individual misconceptions about MaMa noodles, or we could consider the facts:

"Noodles is cut and folded into blocks and transferred to frying basket. Noodles is deep-fried with refined palm oil at 150-160 °C for 2 minutes."

It's the palm oil that gives them the candle wax smell.

"During the frying process, 16-17 % of oil is absorbed into the noodles"

It sounds like quite a lot, but a portion of noodles only has around 250 Calories.

There is a non-fried alternative

"We have the non-fried product brand "MENDAKE" produced with the Air-dried Technology."

"Is there any “Transfat” in MAMA noodles? No."

"Nutritionist suggests that we do not consume a lot of savory snacks because we will gain too much sodium in our body. Eating MAMA as snack occasionally is your choice."

All quotes from http://www.mama.co.th/en/faqs.php

[attrayant]

The op mentioned candles, which are normally made from paraffin wax which is odorless. Wax that is intended for human consumption is carnauba wax. Not sure if that has an odor but it's worth noting that dental floss is coated with it and many polished candies (such as M&Ms) don't have much of an odor that I can detect.