The study examined the data of 10,711 adults – just over half of whom were women – in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The researchers from Harvard University found that there was a 68 per cent higher risk of metabolic syndrome among women who ate instant noodles more than twice per week regardless of whether the rest of their diet consisted of rice, fish and vegetables, or a diet rich in meat and fried foods.
“The consumption of instant noodles was associated with increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome in women, independent of major dietary patterns,” said the study in the Journal of Nutrition.
But this was not the case in men.
Senior author, Dr. Frank B. Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard, told The New York Times the results could be attributed to women reporting their diet more accurately or because postmenopausal women were more sensitive to the effects of carbohydrates, sodium and saturated fat.
