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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2014)
September 1, 2014 ASIA / PACIFIC THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5 Noodles: Friend or foe? South Koreans defend diet By Foster Klug and Jung-yoon Choi The Associated Press S EOUL, South Korea — Kim Min-koo has an easy reply to new American research that hits South Korea where it hurts — in the noodles. Drunk and hungry just after dawn, he rips the lid off a bowl of his beloved fast food, wobbling on his feet but still defiant over a report that links instant noodles to health hazards. “There’s no way any study is going to stop me from eating this,” says Kim, his red face beaded with sweat as he adds hot water to his noodles in a Seoul convenience store. His mouth waters, wooden chopsticks poised above the softening strands, his glasses fogged by steam. At last, he spears a slippery heap, lets forth a mighty, noodle-cooling blast of air, and starts slurping. “This is the best moment — the first bite,” Kim, a freelance film editor who indulges about five times a week, says between gulps. “The taste, the smell, the chewiness — it’s just perfect.” Instant noodles carry a broke college student aura in America, but they are an essential, even passionate, part of life for many in South Korea and across Asia. Hence the emotional heartburn caused by a Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital study in the United States that linked instant-noodle consumption by South Koreans to some risks for heart disease. The study has provoked feelings of wounded pride, mild guilt, stubborn resistance, even nationalism among South Koreans, who eat more instant noodles per capita than anyone in the world. Many of those interviewed vowed, like Kim, not to quit. Other noodle lovers offered up tech- niques they swore kept them healthy: taking Omega-3, adding vegetables, using less seasoning, avoiding the soup. Some dismissed the study because the hospital involved is based in cheeseburger-gobbling America. The heated reaction is partly explained by the omnipresence of instant noodles, which, for South Koreans, usually mean the spicy, salty ramyeon that costs less than a dollar per package. Individually wrapped disposable bowls and cups are everywhere: internet cafés, libraries, trains, ice-skating rinks. Even at the halfway point of a trail snaking up South Korea’s highest mountain, hikers can refresh themselves with cup noodles. Elderly South Koreans often feel deep nostalgia for instant noodles, which en- tered the local market in the 1960s as the country began clawing its way out of the poverty and destruction of the Korean War into what’s now Asia’s fourth-biggest econ- omy. Many vividly remember their first taste of the once-exotic treat, and hard- drinking South Koreans consider instant noodles an ideal remedy for aching, alcohol-laden bellies and subsequent hangovers. Some people won’t leave the country without them, worried they’ll have to eat inferior noodles abroad. What could be better at relieving homesickness than a salty shot of ramyeon? “Ramyeon is like kimchi to Koreans,” says Ko Dong-ryun, 36, an engineer from Seoul, referring to the spicy, fermented vegetable dish that graces most Korean meals. “The smell and taste create an instant sense of home.” INSTANT COMFORT. Japanese instant- ramen-noodle expert Masaya “Sokusekisai” Oyama, 55, eats instant ramen noodles at a shop and restau- rant specializing only in varieties of instant noodles in Tokyo. Oyama knows a lot about the instant noodle. He eats more than 400 servings of instant noodles a year, and he usually goes by his nickname “Soku- sekisai,” which means “instant.” He agrees eating only instant noodles is not good for your health, be- cause eating one thing all the time isn’t healthy, no matter what it is. “You need nutritional balance,” he said. “You should eat other things, too.” (AP Photo/ Koji Sasahara) Ko fills half his luggage with instant noodles for his international business travels, a lesson he learned after assuming on his first trip that three packages would suffice for six days. “Man, was I wrong. Since then, I always make sure I pack enough.” The U.S. study was based on South Korean surveys from 2007 to 2009 of more than 10,700 adults between 19 and 64 years old, about half of them women. It found that people who ate a diet rich in meat, soda, and fried and fast foods, including instant noodles, were associated with an increase in abdominal obesity and LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol. Eating instant noodles more than twice a week was associated with a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome, another heart risk factor, in women but not in men. The study raises important questions, but can’t prove that instant noodles are to blame rather than the overall diets of people who eat lots of them, cautions Alice Lichtenstein, director of the cardiovas- cular nutrition lab at Tufts University in Boston. “What’s jumping out is the sodium (in- take) is higher in those who are consuming ramen noodles,” she says. “What we don’t Continued on page 11 HAVE YOUR SAY ON A NEW LAND USE MAP FOR PORTLAND THE CITY’S NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WILL INCLUDE LAND USE CHANGES TO CREATE A HEALTHIER, SAFER, MORE CONNECTED CITY. Testify on the proposed land use changes at upcoming public hearings held by the Planning and Sustainability Commission (PSC). PUBLIC HEARINGS ON THE DRAFT 2035 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Tuesday, September 23 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The 1900 Building 1900 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 2500A Tuesday, October 14 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Parkrose High School – Student Center 12003 NE Shaver Street Tuesday, October 28 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Portland Community College – SE Campus Community Hall, 2305 SE 82nd Avenue Tuesday, November 4 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The 1900 Building 1900 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 2500A You can also share your feedback with the PSC: y Through the online Map App at www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/mapapp y Submit written comments y Tips for Testifying: www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/383947 Open Houses Open houses in September will help Portlanders understand the proposal and prepare testimony. After considering public testimony, the PSC will forward a Recommended Plan to City Council in early 2015. For information about the open houses and more, visit: www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/pdxcompplan or call 503-823-7700. The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is committed to providing equal access to information and hearings. If you need special accommodation, translation or interpretation, please call 503-823-7700, the City’s TTY at 503-823-6868, or the Oregon Relay Service at 711.