Hard To Stomach
If you ever thought there was something extra nasty and suspicious about those instant ramen noodles, you were definitely on to something.
A gastrointestinal specialist by the name of Braden Kuo from the Massachusetts General Hospital wanted to find out exactly what happens to ramen noodles in the stomach and digestive tract after consuming the Styrofoam-like snack, and the results were nothing less than disturbing.
Thanks to modern technology, a multi-vitamin sized camera (appropriately titled the “smart pill”) was able to get an ‘inside’ look at the digestive activity of instant ramen noodles in comparison to the digestion of fresh noodles.
Instant ramen noodles contain the chemical Tertiary-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), a by-product of the petroleum industry and a food additive frequently used to preserve cheap, processed foods. It is a chemical that is neither digestible nor beneficial in any way for your body.
Dr. Kuo recorded 32 hours from the micro camera:
“What we’re seeing here is a stomach contracting back and forth as it’s trying to grind up the ramen noodles,” Dr. Kuo says of the beginning of the video.
For comparison, the study volunteers also ate fresh, homemade ramen noodles on a different day. The video at 2 hours and 20 minutes shows an interesting difference:
“The most striking thing about our experiment when you looked at a time interval, say in one or two hours, we noticed a processed ramen noodles were less broken down than homemade ramen noodles,” noted Dr. Kuo.
This affects nutrient absorption and could theoretically allow preservatives to linger longer periods in the stomach cavity before being transported to the intestines and subsequently eliminated.
What Is TBHQ?
In processed foods, it’s sprayed on the food or on its packaging to prevent discoloration and changes to flavor and odor. Others products, such as cosmetics, perfumes, varnishes and lacquers, contain TBHQ to maintain stability.
Small amounts of TBHQ may not kill you (although death has occurred) or even make you feel immediately sick, but it can have a long term effect on your health such as weakening of organs and contributing to the onset of cancers and tumors.
The FDA says that TBHQ must not exceed 0.02 percent of its oil and fat content. Death has occurred from the ingestion of as little as 5 grams. This would be a considerably high dose compared to the amounts found in foods, but it gives us a good indication on the toxicity level of this preservative.
At higher doses, it has some negative health effects on lab animals, such as producing precursors to stomach tumors and damage to DNA. A number of studies have shown that prolonged exposure to high doses of TBHQ may be carcinogenic, especially for stomach tumors.
Ingestion of a single gram (a thirtieth of an ounce) has caused nausea, vomiting, anaphylactic shock, diarrhea, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation and collapse. Some people have reported having anxiety and night terrors and asthma after ingesting TBHQ. Others have reported having a body rash and swollen lymph nodes.
You can find TBHQ in McDonald’s chicken Mcnuggets across the United States, however Mcdonald’s European chicken nuggets do not contain the toxic preservative. This is interesting since both the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the FDA have evaluated TBHQ and determined that it is safe to consume at the concentration allowed in foods. The EFSA considers TBHQ to be non-carcinogenic, so why do they not allow it in chicken Mcnuggets?
Author Natasha Longo for Wake Up World listed some other foods containing the deadly preservative.
Mcdonalds chicken nuggets and french fries
CHEEZ-IT Crackers made by Kelloggs
Butterfinger chocolate and Reese’s Peanut butter cups
Nestle Crunch
Wheat Thins
Microwave popcorn
Pam cooking spray
Aldi products
Keebler Club crackers
Kellogs eggo frozen waffles and many other kellog products
Taco bell beans and some taco shells
Teddy Grahams
Red Barron frozen pizza
Keebler Cookies
TastyKake
Little Debbie
Kellog’s Pop-Tarts
Homestyle Peanut butter cookies
Some forms of soymilk
Different breads cerals and crackers could contain TBHQ
Crisco oil
Some pet foods
Many cosmetic products and baby products
Some hair dyes lipsticks and eye shadows
Wrigley’s gum
Little Debbies nutty bars and some M&M products
KFC beans and fried chicken
Be Aware of Misleading Ingredient Labels
TBHQ may be ‘safe’ in small amounts, but shouldn’t we be weary of putting any type of toxin in our bodies, regardless of the quantity? With food companies now disguising their ingredients under misleading names, it is safe to say that there is a war taking place on our health. It is up to you to be reading ingredient labels so that you can see exactly what you are putting into your body. As a general rule, if you are having trouble recognizing or pronouncing the word, chances are it isn’t good for you.
How to read clean labels
If it says … no artificial colours … watch out for these …
annatto, carmine or cochineal natural colours (last two cause allergies only)
If it says … no artificial preservatives … watch out for these …
cultured dextrose
cultured wheat
cultured rice
cultured whey, whey powder or whey …
… used in breads and other bakery products instead of preservative 282. (280-283)
If it says … rosemary extract, herb extract … watch out …
they are substitutes for BHA 320, BHT 321 and TBHQ 319 and can affect susceptible consumers
If it says … no added MSG … then almost certainly there will be free glutamates added. Watch out for other 600-number flavour enhancers especially 627, 631 or 635 and/or free glutamates such as yeast extract hydrolysed vegetable protein (vegetable can be wheat, rice, corn, plant, maize or soy) or a name made up from any of the previous words in any order such as vegetable protein extract (corn)
and naturally high sources of glutamates such as soy sauce
If it says … no artificial flavours … watch out for
highly concentrated natural flavours
If it says …
no artificial colours
no artificial flavours
no added MSG
… watch out for synthetic antioxidants or preservatives such as sorbic acid (200), sodium sorbate (201), potassium sorbate (202)
as well as other preservatives, free glutamates, natural colours and concentrated strong natural flavours
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