Are Glass Noodles Vegan? (3 Tips for Weight Loss)

Glass noodles, also known as cellophane noodles, are used in several different Asian dishes and can vary greatly in taste, texture, and size, depending on the type of starch used to make the noodles.

Whether you prefer it stir-fried or boiled in a warm broth, glass noodles are super delicious and definitely rank as one of the more unique types of noodles. 

Glass noodles are delicious food, but is it vegan? Glass noodles are made of either mung bean, potato, tapioca, or other vegetable starches, so it is definitely a vegan food. This makes it accessible when you are on a strict vegan diet. 

However, are glass noodles the best food to eat when you are on a diet? 

Glass noodles are primarily made up of carbohydrates, similar to rice, making it very easy to overeat. Just because glass noodles are predominately carbohydrates, this does not mean you can not eat it when you are on a diet. 

Finding the right foods when you are on a vegan diet can be difficult, especially when you are trying to lose weight.

However, your weight loss goals can still be achieved even if you have certain dietary restrictions or preferences! 

In this article, we will be covering three tips that can help you incorporate glass noodles into your vegan diet while still losing weight:

1. Understand the Nutrition Behind Glass Noodles

2. Learn which Vegan Glass Noodle Dishes are Healthy 

3. How to Eat a Balanced Vegan Diet

Tip 1: Understand the Nutrition Behind Glass Noodles 

Glass noodles, also known as cellophane noodles, or fěnsī (粉絲), looks exactly like what the name entails.

Like glass, glass noodles are flat or round transparent noodles that are famously used in several popular Chinese dishes.

Unlike most noodles, glass noodles use starch, usually mung bean or potato starch as the main ingredient.

Now that you know the typical ingredients that makeup glass noodles, you can see that regardless of whether it is made up of mung beans or sweet potato, glass noodles are made up of purely vegetable starches.

This definitely meets the criteria for it being a vegan food and a great addition to your diet! 

One serving of glass noodles, which is around 54 grams of dried noodles or ½ a cup of dried noodles is about 200 calories with 0 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, and 50 grams of carbohydrates.

When one serving of glass noodles is cooked, they expand to around 1 cup of noodles, so it is somewhat comparable to white rice.  

In terms of how satiating glass noodle is, or how full and satisfied you feel after you eat glass noodles is relatively low compared to other higher carbohydrate foods.

This is another important factor to consider when you are on a diet.

For example, even though potatoes are mainly made up of carbohydrates and have around the same calorie count compared to glass noodles, eating a potato will make you more full compared to eating a cup of noodles.  

However, if you really want to eat glass noodles it should not be detrimental to your diet goals as long as you are eating mindfully and watching your portion sizes.

As long as you make sure you are not overeating glass noodles it's perfectly okay to eat them in your diet.

Tip 2: Learn Which Glass Noodle Dishes are Healthy 

There are several different recipes that utilize glass noodles and use other ingredients to compliment the noodles.

Using vegetables, tofu, or beans, glass noodles go excellently with these ingredients, making it a great vegan dish.

In this section, we will be covering three different vegan dishes that use glass noodles and determine whether or not they are ideal foods to be consumed when dieting. 

Japchae

Commonly a side dish, Japchae is a popular Korean dish that highlights the glass noodle as the main ingredient and incorporates a few extra proteins or vegetables and is typically served cold or at room temperature.

One serving of Japchae is 450 calories and contains 8 grams of fat, 84 grams of carbohydrates and 20 grams of protein.

This makes Japchae a relatively higher calorie dish that is packed with carbohydrates. 

I highly recommend that instead of eating one serving of Japchae, you instead eat half a serving to reduce the amount of calories and carbohydrates, and pair it with a source of protein like tofu or fibrous vegetables.

Since higher carbohydrate foods like Japchae will not make you feel satiated, it is important to incorporate higher nutrient and lower calorie veggies to make you feel more energized throughout the day. 

20 grams of protein is a great addition to your diet but ideally you want to have the carbohydrates and protein count relatively around the same (maybe slightly more carbohydrates) to have a more balanced meal.

Glass Noodle Veggie Stir Fry 

Glass Noodle Veggie Stir Fry is a super quick and easy recipe that mixes a variety of different vegetables and sauces making it a very vegan-friendly dish.

Adding a couple of garnishes and spices like green onions and sesame seeds pack the stir fry with flavor making it super delicious

One serving of Glass Noodle Veggie Stir Fry has 300 calories with 7 grams of fat, 54 grams of carbohydrates, and 8 grams of protein.

This is a lower calorie dish compared to the Japchae, but similar to the previous dish, Glass Noodle Veggie Stir Fry is mainly composed of carbohydrates.

Miso Vegan Glass Noodle Soup 

Glass Noodle does not only need to be served as a dry noodle dish, but it can also be cooked in a warm broth.

A very popular and vegan-friendly version of the soup is miso soup, which is made up of miso paste and fasho stock.

Miso soup is not only a popular staple in the Japanese diet, but a delicious and healthy soup that you can easily incorporate into your vegan diet. 

One bowl of Miso Glass Noodle Soup is 380 calories with 10 grams of fat, 64 grams of carbohydrates, and 8 grams of protein.

Higher in calories and carbohydrates, Miso Glass Noodle Soup lacks an adequate amount of protein in your overall meal. 

I recommend when making this recipe, you increase the amount of vegetables used, like spinach, reduce the overall amount of glass noodles, and slightly increase the amount of tofu to add in a bit more additional protein.

Tip 3: How to Eat a Balanced Vegan Diet

Since a vegan diet does not give you the luxury of accessing high protein foods which lie within the animal product zone, it is important to do your research to find which vegan foods are higher in protein.

Protein is an essential macronutrient that helps you retain muscle, feel energized, and also is the most satiating macronutrient out of the three. 

In this section, we will be going into detail about which higher protein vegan foods you should be incorporating into your weight loss plan to make sure you are hitting your protein needs and losing weight. 

Tofu 

As a popular replacement to meat, many vegans and vegetarians love to add tofu into many of their meals.

Tofu does have an adequate amount of protein, but it is actually mainly composed of fat and has just as much carbohydrates compared to protein. 

Tofu is definitely a healthy food to incorporate into your diet, but since it is high in fat, it is important to be aware that eating too much can be detrimental to weight loss.

Tofu is not considered a lean source of protein, so just keep that in mind if you have eaten several other foods high in fat throughout the day.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas are an excellent replacement to rice because they are lower in calorie and carbohydrates, and higher in protein and fiber.

This is a great way to significantly reduce the amount of calories in one meal and make it easier to hit your protein goals for the day.

Watercress

If you have never heard of this amazing vegetable before, Watercress is a super low calorie and high protein green that you can easily add into your salad or one of your meals.

Packed with nutrients and fiber, watercress is a great way to add protein into your meal.

By sprinkling just a bit in every meal (since most people do not eat watercress by itself) you can add a bit more fiber and protein to make you feel more satiated throughout the day. 

Small adjustments and changes like these are what makes the big difference in the end.

By being aware of what replacements you can make in each of your meals, you can enjoy all of your favorite foods while still losing weight!

CONCLUSION 

Remember, although nutrition is a huge factor that influences weight loss, it is important to pair this journey with exercise as well. Especially strength training.

Several years of research on the benefits of weight training have shown that individuals that do some sort of consistent resistance training at least 3-5 times a week have shown not only a great amount of weight loss but are also able to keep the weight off! 

The secret to this phenomena is that strength training leads to a build-up of muscle.

Not only does your body recomposition into a more fitting and athletic-looking aesthetic, but having more muscle also increases your resting metabolic rate which essentially means you burn more calories at rest! 

Now that we know the importance of muscle we need to make sure we stay on track with our workouts.

Consistency and longevity are the two key factors when building muscle so there will be some commitment involved.

We understand that not everyone has access to a gym membership or feels comfortable starting off in such an intimidating environment.

Although I would strongly recommend that everyone should get a gym membership, don’t worry we got your back!

You can either go to the gym or build one for yourself.

It really just comes down to 3 pieces of equipment that you need to do most workouts.

These three are the workout bench, dumbbells, and gym flooring.

Check out our recommended gear page to see our best picks for these pieces of equipment here. 

https://www.aspirefitnesswalnut.com/home-workout-equipment

If a home gym is not for you then getting a membership somewhere works too.

As long as you are starting your muscle-building journey, we’re happy! 

Stick with it for the long run and you’ll see how amazing the results can be. 

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