alt Hacker NewsUnless you're making them yourself or at least customizing them a good bit, noodle bowls are pretty unhealthy food.
Nothing fresh in them, high sodium, freeze-dried ramen or noodle bowls were originally survival food and should be treated as such.
Not saying don't eat them, and I don't know your socioeconomic background or anything, but if you want to eat them or have to eat them, try to add a little something extra into them.
A cup of shredded cabbage and/or a few cherry tomatoes and/or a half cup of onion slices and/or an egg, things like that should be cheap and easy to add and will help dilute the sodium and add a healthy component to the meal, and your kidneys and heart will thank you for it.
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I don't disagree with a lot of what you said (need to really dress up the ramen to make it even close to healthy) but FWIW ramen isn't usually freeze dried it's just fried until fully dried out.
> I don't know your socioeconomic background or anything
It sounds like a habit drawn from poverty, but frankly, you'd have to be really poor to reach for something like this daily (I'm talking extreme survival situations that even the homeless don't typically face). Those with low income can still get much better food at a reasonable price. They don't need to shop at Whole Foods.
I'm not sure you can even eat like this for very long either. The malnutrition is that bad. Expect high medical care costs or an early death down the line.
Penny wise, pound foolish.
A few years ago when I started WFH full-time I attempted to make "healthy" noodle bowls using Indomie ramen as a base. Indomie packets are smaller than Top Ramen, so they have less carbs / salt. I'd stir fry the noodles with a bunch of veggies like shredded cabbage, onions, and peppers, and toss in some protein (leftover chicken, cubed tofu, etc). Seemed pretty healthy!
Until my blood sugar (A1C) and blood pressure numbers started climbing...