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Instant noodles intake linked with metabolic syndrome in Korean women
Eating instant noodles as part of a regular diet could increase the likelihood for metabolic syndrome, more so in women than men, according to research published in The Journal of Nutrition.
Researchers at the Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas investigated the impact of dietary patterns, including consuming the fast food, using data from the nationally representative cross-sectional Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey IV.
“This research is significant since many people are consuming instant noodles without knowing possible health risks,” Hyun Joon Shin, MD, a cardiology fellow at Baylor University Medical Center and a nutrition epidemiology doctoral student at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a press release. “My hope is that this study can lay a foundation for future research about the health effects of instant noodle consumption.”
Shin and colleagues evaluated South Koreans (aged 19 to 64 years, 54.5% women), with adjustments for the clustered, multi-stage, stratified and rolling sample design of the survey. A 63-item food frequency questionnaire was used to assess diet, and two major patterns were identified based on principal components.
The traditional dietary pattern (TP) was rich in rice, fish, vegetables, fruit and potatoes. The meat and fast food pattern (MP) had less rice intake and was rich in meat, soda, fried food and fast food including instant noodles.
The highest MP quintile showed an increased prevalence of abdominal obesity (OR=1.41; 95% CI, 1.05–1.9), LDL cholesterol ≥130 mg/dL (1.3 g/L) (OR=1.57, 1.26–1.95), decreased prevalence of low HDL cholesterol (OR=0.65; 0.53–0.8) and triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL (1.5 g/L) (OR=0.73; 0.57–0.93). The highest TP quintile demonstrated a decreased prevalence of high blood pressure (OR=0.73; 0.59–0.9) and slightly lower trends for abdominal obesity (OR=0.76; 0.58–0.98).
The two major dietary patterns correlated with distinct cardiometabolic factors. However, neither pattern was associated with prevalence of metabolic syndrome.
Eating instant noodles a minimum of 2 times per week was associated with increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome (OR=1.68; 1.1–2.55) in women but not in men (OR=0.93; 0.58–1.49). Noodle consumption was associated with higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in women, independent of dietary pattern.
The variance could be attributed to biological differences between the sexes, including hormones and metabolism and eating habits, Shin explained in the release.
Disclosures: One researcher received funding from The Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute Cardiovascular Research Review Committee for the study.