Is Shin Ramen Bad For You? (3 Tips For Weight Loss) 

It’s no question that Shin Ramen is one of the tastiest instant noodle packages you can get out there in the instant noodle world.

From spicy and chewy noodles, to savory and refreshing soup base, Shin Ramen truly is the poster boy for instant noodles. 

Although Shin Ramen is delicious, is it bad for you?

Shin Ramen is an instant noodle dish that contains some harmful ingredients with majority of its calories coming from carbs and fats. It is a dish that should be enjoyed in moderation as a single serving contains 1,790mg of Sodium, 80 grams of Carbs and ingredients such as Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein.

Although Shin Ramen is pretty bad to eat, it doesn’t mean that you can never eat a bowl of Shin Ramen again.

Shin Ramen is delicious and eating with friends and family is truly one of life’s amazing pleasures, so let’s make sure we stay healthy while eating it!

Here are some tips that you can follow to stay fit while eating your favorite instant ramen dish. 

1. Understand What Goes Inside Shin Ramen 

2. Understand How Many Calories Are In Shin Ramen 

3. Track Macronutrients & Workout Consistently 

Now that we know the three steps to stay fit while eating our favorite instant noodle dish, let’s take a deeper look at each of these key points. 

Tip 1: Understand What Goes Inside Shin Ramen 

There are many ingredients that go into a typical packet of instant Shin Ramen but we will be going over the ones that may be considered unhealthy.

Let’s take a look at each of these components and see what we need to be cautious of. 

Sodium 

Sodium is a micronutrient that occurs in most of the foods we eat. It’s fine to eat most of the time but, when eaten excessively, can cause inflammation and high blood pressure.

We would normally not focus on Sodium in our articles but Shin Ramen has 75% of our daily intake which means it carries high potential to take your sodium to the top of the charts. 

Our tip here is to just be mindful of sodium.

It’s not the end of the world if some days are higher but it will not be beneficial if sodium is high in all meals. 

Most of the sodium also occurs within the broth so make sure to drink it sparingly.

We understand that it could be hard to resist the temptation but it’s totally worth it if you want to enjoy Shin Ramen without the guilt!

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)

If you look into the nutrition label of Shin Ramen, then you can see that the first ingredient on the list is something called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein.

Since food companies are required to put the heaviest (and most used) ingredient as the first product in their ingredient list,

we can assume that HVP makes up a large portion of the soup base.

So, the next time you look at the nutrition labels of your favorite foods,

make sure to look at the first ingredient in the list as this will tell you what majority of what you’re eating is made out of.

So, what is HVP? Hydrolyzed Vegetable Proteins are created when boiling some sort of wheat, corn, or soy product where hydrochloric acid is produced (1).

Hydrochloric acid is then broken down by sodium hydroxide to create different components such as MSG

HVP, however, is not bad to eat within moderation.

In fact, hydrolyzed vegetable protein is in a lot of things we eat such as soup bases and bouillon cubes.

Just know that, if you are someone sensitive to MSG, then HVP is probably not the answer for you.

Wheat Flour

Now that we mentioned some of the ingredients that could be potentially be harmful to us, how about we talk about some good parts of Shin Ramen?

As mentioned above, we can see that the first ingredient (which is the most prominent in our food stuffs) in the Shin Ramen noodle ingredient list is Wheat Flour.

Wheat Flour is actually a really awesome ingredient they use as it is rich in fiber and is a really high protein flour.

Per the USDA nutrition facts on a cup Wheat Flour, we can see that there are 1.2 grams of fat, 95 grams of carbs (3.4 grams coming from fiber), and a whopping 13 grams of protein.

This is a whole ingredient that is found in many of the foods we eat and you can expect some benefits with eating a high protein flour such as this.

Vegetable Oil

Another ingredient that we found on the list that has actually been studied to shown some benefits is vegetable oil.

Vegetable oil is actually an oil that contains both Omega-3s and Omega-6 which are essential fatty acids that we need to consume as our bodies do not generate them on our own.

Vegetable oil, however, could be harmful to our bodies if it is hydrogenated which means that it will include trans fats.

However, there is no mention of a hydrogenated vegetable oil substance within the nutrition facts so we can see that Shin Ramen just used good old fashioned vegetable oil.

So, what does this section tell us?

Well, the major ingredients used in Shin Ramen could potentially be bad for us but, as long as we eat this on rare to medium occasions, we should totally be fine.

There are actually some good ingredients that come out of the list so we should be mindful of those as well.

Shin Ramen is such a major part of our gatherings and can comfort us at time when we craze a nice hearty bowl of spicy noodles.

So make sure to get your Shin Ramen, just eat it in moderation!

Now that we know the ingredients, let’s check out the nutrition label to see what we can find.

Tip 2: Understand How Many Calories Are In Shin Ramen 

Now that we know a little about what goes into a typical Shin Ramen dish, let’s take a look at the nutrition facts and see if we can fit it into a balanced diet.

For every 16 grams of fat, there are 80 grams of carbs and 12 grams of protein. 

As you can see, most of the calories come from fats and carbs as there are only 11.5 grams of protein per 16 grams and 80 grams respectively.

When eating a healthy diet, you want to make sure that you are getting a good balance of carbs, fats, and proteins. 

Each macronutrient has its own role and is important to consume on a daily basis.

However, when the majority of calories come from fats and carbs, you can expect a lot of weight gain and complications in health as excess can occur more often than you think. 

A good macronutrient ratio should come in the form of 33% protein, 45% carbs and 22% fats.

When you look at the nutrition label of something like Shin Ramen, however, you can see that it does not fit this mix at all and really neglects protein. 

Now this doesn’t mean that we can never enjoy a bowl of Shin Ramen again.

It just means that we should eat it in moderation on days where we can afford to eat higher carbs or higher fats.

Weight loss or weight control is all really a numbers game and you can still fit in Shin Ramen into your diet if you are careful. 

For example, we know that Shin Ramen is 510 calories with 80 grams of carbs, 16 grams of fats, and 11.5 grams of protein.

It’s still possible to get a good daily balance if your next meals or your previous meals have high protein with low carbs and fats. 

This will be very difficult to do as there aren’t many foods that offer protein without fats out there so choosing better options overall is your best bet.

Shin Ramen is delicious and extremely satisfying but it's best eaten when controlled and in moderation! 

Tip 3: Track Macronutrients & Workout Consistently 

Now that we know how many calories go into a Shin Ramen packet, let’s take a look at the importance of tracking macronutrients and working out consistently.

We went over the imbalance of macronutrients that occur when eating foods that are high in fats and carbs. 

Sadly, most of the foods you find in restaurants and get togethers are going to be focused on these two macronutrients.

The best thing to do is to make sure that you get a balance by keeping track of your macronutrients day to day.

It takes practice but it will definitely be beneficial in the long run. 

In order to track your macronutrients, you must find out how many grams of each macronutrient you should eat in a day.

You can use an online TDEE calculator where they provide your macronutrients after answering some questions or you can check out this article here where we go over a step by step process on tracking and finding your daily allotted macronutrients. 

https://www.aspirefitnesswalnut.com/how-to-actually-get-a-six-pack-after-30

Now, let’s go over the importance of staying active and working out when you eat foods like Shin Ramen or foods in general.

Our goal when staying healthy is to eat as much as we can while maintaining or shedding fat.

There are two factors you can directly control that allow you to do so: muscle and movement. 

There’s something called TDEE which stands for your Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

This basically tracks how much energy you expend in a day which equates to how many calories your body burns.

15-30% of our TDEE is determined by something called TEPA which is the Thermic Effect of Physical Activity.

This means that we are in charge of 15-30% of the calories we burn in a day.

This might not seem like much but it really is a huge difference in how much you can eat in a day. 

This is why having a consistent workout schedule is so crucial as it allows us to build muscle and stay active which, thus, burns more calories in the long run and day by day.

Muscle burns calories at rest which means we burn more calories as we carry more muscle on our frame. 

Here is a workout plan that you can use if you are someone who is looking to start building some muscle.

It can be daunting to start resistance training but it’s a lot better when you have a simple workout that teaches you the basics of each muscle group.

Take a look! 

WOMEN 

Monday (Full Upper):  

• Seated Shoulder Press: 4x20 

• Lateral Raises: 4x15

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12

• Dumbbell Row: 3x10

• Dumbbell Fly: 3x10 

• Knee Push Ups: 4x20

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

Wednesday (Back/Hamstrings/Biceps) 

• Assisted Pull Ups: 3x10

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12 

• Cable Row: 4x15

• Stiff Leg Deadlift: 4x15

• Hamstring Curl: 4x15

• Bicep Curls: 3x10

• Hammer Curls: 3x10

Friday: (Legs/Butt/Abs): 

• Squats: 5x5 

• Goblet Squats: 4x20

• Glute Bridge: 4x20

• Glute Kickbacks: 4x20 each leg

• Jump Squats: 4x20

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

• Leg Lifts: 3x35

MEN 

Mon: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Abs (Push Day) 

• Bench Press: 3 sets 10 reps

• Dumbbell Press: 4 sets 12 reps

• Shoulder Press: 3 sets 10 reps

• Lateral Raises: 3 sets 15 reps

• Triceps Rope Push Down: 3 sets 15 reps

• Cable Crunches: 4 sets 15 reps 

Wed: Legs & Abs

• Goblet Squats: 4 sets 20 reps

• Weighted Walking Lunges: 2 sets 20 steps

• Stiff Leg DeadLift (Romanian Deadlift): 4 sets 15 reps

• Glute Bridges With Weight: 4 sets 20 reps

• Jumping Squats With Resistance Bands: 5 sets 20 reps

• Weighted Sit Ups: 4 sets 25 reps

• Weighted Toe Touches: 4 sets 25 reps

Fri: Back & Biceps (Pull Day)

• Assisted Pull Ups: 3 sets 10 reps

• Lat Pulldowns: 4 sets 12 reps

• Dumbbell Rows: 4 sets 10 reps (Each Side)

• Seated Cable Rows: 4 sets 15 reps

• Bicep Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

• Hammer Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

You can look online to learn each of these movements or you can get yourself a personal trainer who will guide you through a routine similar to this.

If you’re someone that doesn’t like the gym and would like to build one for your own, then make sure to check out this article where we go over the few pieces of equipment you need to get in shape. 

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

So, just to summarize, Shin Ramen is a delicious food but it has its flaws in the form of harmful ingredients and a bad balance of macronutrients.

We can still eat this flavorful dish but we need to make sure that it’s in a controlled environment where we are tracking our macros and staying active. 

Make sure to be working out consistently and staying healthy out there.

If you’re interested in finding healthier versions of Asian foods or want to know more about the nutrition facts, then make sure to check out our other articles! 

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