Nitrinal information wanted: Ramen

Raxmei · Post by **Raxmei** » 2005-03-02 08:42pm

I've been wondering this for some time. How long would it take for a diet consisting entirely of ramen noodles to kill someone? I've heard anecdotes of people hanging on for weeks of absolute misery, but no deaths.

A quick glance at the nutitrional information label shows that ramen contains no vitamin C. If nothing else gets you scurvy will. Do any other deficiency diseases kill faster than scurvy?

Post by **Broomstick** » 2005-03-02 08:56pm

Scurvy is the one that will nail you first, unless you start out with a severe deficiency in something else.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-03-02 09:03pm

Unless the ramen has a load of added vitamins, there will be something that gets you like scurvy or rickets or something equally nasty.

Variety is the spice of life.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2005-03-02 09:09pm

for awhile when i was having some seriously bad financial problems a few years ago, i had to subsist on mostly ramen for a couple weeks straight. got to the point where i was so tired of the ramen i couldn't stomach looking at it. that said, i'm still alive obviously but a diet entirely of ramen is not healthy.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-03-02 10:08pm

The trick is to eat the ramen (or, in my case, the macaroni and cheese) for two meals a day and use the third to make up for any nutrients you may be lacking. A good supply of frozen concentrated fruit juices also helps, and is fairly inexpensive. I've gone through many a tough time on that diet.

Also, frozen pizza makes a good third meal. In fact, the only hard and fast rule I have for surviving dire financial straights is to always cook your own meals. The price you'd pay for three or four fast food meals can easily buy you a week's worth of groceries.

BlkbrryTheGreat · Post by **BlkbrryTheGreat** » 2005-03-02 11:15pm

Ramen is primarily noodles- and noodles are primarily carbohydrates- which your body uses primarily as a source of energy.

In other words: if you're going to eat nothing but Ramen noodles make sure you take a multi-vitamin with it everyday.

Raxmei · Post by **Raxmei** » 2005-03-03 01:09am

And of course I found a way to misspell nutrinal.

We all know ramen isn't all that good a food to live on. I only use it for convenience. For actual food there's much better stuff out there.
Ramen costs about a dollar a pound. Ordinary bread costs the same and has a better nutritional profile. Potatoes are about 30 cents a pound and contain many essential vitamins and minerals, as do sweet potatoes. Rice is a pretty good deal too. Basically any staple food will serve you well if you want to eat on a budget, being virtually guaranteed to be more nutritious than ramen and often cheaper too. You can use the money you save to buy extras for flavor and filling in gaps.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-03-03 01:11am

Don't you mean nutritional?

Raxmei · Post by **Raxmei** » 2005-03-03 01:20am

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Don't you mean nutritional?

No. I mean Nutrinal. As in Akbar's Discount Nutrinal Outlet (not extremely unhealthy). Based on his Nutrinal advice the pirate guy fed his crew on Cheetos and they all died of scurvy. Considering the question I was asking I felt the word fit.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-03-03 01:42am

Ah right. Thought it was too bad a typo to be real.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2005-03-03 11:28am

I saw "Nitrinal" and wondered who spelled Nitram's name so wrong!

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2005-03-03 11:44am

The eerie thing? I thought the same thing, Tev...