Instant noodles and cardiometabolic syndrome

The prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors is rapidly increasing in South Korea. One of the main driving forces for increased cardiometabolic risk factors could be unhealthy dietary choices, including increased consumption of fast food (The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 144, Issue 8, 1 August 2014, Pages 1247–1255).

Increased consumption of instant noodles has recently been reported to be positively associated with obesity and cardiometabolic syndrome in South Korea, which has the highest per capita instant noodle consumption worldwide (Nutr Res Pract. 2017 Jun; 11(3): 232–239. Published online 2017 May 24).

Analysis from KNHANES IV (2007–2009) demonstrated that the consumption of instant noodles two or more times per week was associated with a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in women (OR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.10, 2.55) and that this association was independent of major dietary patterns (Shin H.J., Cho E., Lee H.J., Fung T.T., Rimm E., Rosner B., Manson J.E., Wheelan K., Hu F.B. Instant noodle intake and dietary patterns are associated with distinct cardiometabolic risk factors in Korea. J. Nutr. 2014;144:1247–1255).

Metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of metabolic disorders including hyperglycemia, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity, particularly abdominal obesity. Uncared metabolic disorders are associated with the increased risk of various chronic diseases related to insulin resistance (IR) such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancer, dementia, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Hypertension is a core feature of cardiometabolic syndrome and diabetes is a common consequence. Metabolic syndrome is related to the basic pathophysiologic processes underlying atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes and is an important epidemiological measure allowing for the identification of individuals at high risk for developing these conditions.
Instant noodles and cardiometabolic syndrome