Wai Wai 1-2-3 Noodles Veg Masala

The micronutrients (Vitamins/Minerals) play an important role by ensuring proper functioning of cells and tissues. 

 

Each vitamin and trace mineral play a specific role in the body. For example,  Vitamin C acts as antioxidant protecting cells from environmental damage, healing wounds and maintaining connective tissue whereas minerals like sodium, potassium and chloride function as electrolytes that assist in communication between cells necessary for nerve impulses and muscle contraction. 

 

Some products mimic the nature by adding artificial vitamins or minerals  which have an identical form and function to those found in nature, but they are manufactured synthetically to meet extremely high standards of processed products.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of the common amino acid i.e. Glutamic acid, popular for its usage as flavouring agent in Asian Cooking. 

This glutamate salt is also found naturally in various foods such as tomatoes and cheese as well as ingredients such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolysed groundnut protein, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed yeast, yeast extract, soy extracts, and protein isolate. 

Some people are sensitive to MSG having adverse effects such as headache, depression, etc. on regular consumption of this salt. Indian law requires that foods containing Added MSG list it in the ingredient panel on the packaging with the warning that it should not be consumed by infants below 12 months. However, if ingredients that have naturally occurring MSG, are added to the product then the product may not specify in regards to its presence. 

Pregnant & Lactating women & Infants should avoid Products containing MSG .

Some Food Products mask the amount of Added Sugar by using multiple forms of sugar and avoid displaying Sugar as one of the first ingredient. All Ingredient list are in descending order by their weight, so the position of sugar and its aliases can give an indication of the amount of 'Added Sugar'.

Though the Nutrition Fact label on the food product gives you the Total Sugar, the regulation does not require the break up between natural and added sugar to be given. Thus, it is important to know the different sources of sugar that may be present in a food product to get an idea of added sugar. 

At the same time it is important to understand that the body does not distinguish between natural and added sugar, so take note of the Total Sugar in the Nutritional Fact label.

Read more about the many different sources of sugar which includes Dextrose, Invert Syrup, Maltodextrin, Honey...

The general consensus is that noodles/pasta is an unhealthy dish, thanks to the extra sauces and cheese added along with the high carbohydrate hype, thus your favourite noodle just won't give you a “healthy plate”. But a few changes to these humble strands will make it healthy.

• Adding more of fibre rich green leafy veggies (spinach, lettuce) and other veggies (carrots, onions, roasted eggplant, peppers) or sprouts is a great start to reducing portion size of just plain pasta.
• Instead of heaping your pasta with white sauce, adding a slice of melted cheese or grated mozzarella will give the flavour required.
• Also, do not throw away the water you boiled the pasta/noodles in. Use it to make sauces as the starch in it helps add more flavour to the dish.
• Adding a little protein in the form of few minced meat or shredded chicken pieces will give good flavour.
• And last but not the least sprinkle some herb mix of (rosemary, thyme, basil, chilli) to make the dish come alive. With these small steps make healthy eating your long term goal.

Different Types of Salt available in market can be categorized into 3 basic categories: Table Salt, Sea Salt and Rock Salt. 

The difference between them is the source of origin but all of them have about the similar amount of sodium. Rock Salt and Sea Salt also have additional minerals which are lost in the process of producing Table Salt.

Read more about this in the blog - Taking with a pinch of Salt: rock, table or sea.

Trans Fat are type of fatty acid that are formed either naturally in meats and dairy products like milk or artificially created during the manufacturing process of processed food.

 

The artificially formed Trans Fat increases LDL cholesterol (i.e. bad cholesterol) level and reportedly reduces HDL Cholesterol (i.e. Good one) which may lead to cardiac problem.

 

There is a global movement to encourage Food Products to be Trans Fat free.The Indian Food law requires the company to state that product contains Trans Fat if content of Trans Fat is more than 0.2 gms per serving size.

 

Keep trans fat consumption as low as possible by avoiding foods that states Contain Trans fats on their packages 

Additives are added to the packaged foods for different reasons varying from increasing shelf life, to provide flavour and texture, increasing nutrition quality or required to manufacture some types of food. 

One of the ways to determine the degree of Processing is the number of additives you find in the ingredient list. The higher the number of additives greater is the degree of processing. Additives can be identified by looking for ingredients that begin with 'E' and have a number in them. 

It is generally recommended that food that is closer to nature is better hence it is better to choose food products with lesser number of additives.