low sodium ramen
We recently received this email asking for ramen help.
Meredith wrote:
I hope you can help! My friend has a 16-year-old son who has been diagnosed
with heart failure, he is waiting for a transplant and they expect it will go well. Part of his treatment is that he has to be on a low-sodium diet for the rest of his life. This kid LOVES ramen, he was eating 4 or 5 cups a day at first because the hospital doctors said his sodium was very low. Now it’s normal, and he has to cut back almost entirely. They were willing to give him 1 a week but he’s trying to bargain for more often! I figured I’d help by researching low-sodium ramen. Surely such a thing exists, and I figured you guys would know about it! Is it out there anywhere in the world? I can use Craigslist to recruit somebody to send it to me, wherever it could be found!
Well, Meredith, our hearts go out to your friend and her son! To start with, I was about to post a link to this article, so you’re timing is perfect. The article has tips on how to reduce the sodium in instant ramen. The tip about not using the entire seasoning packet is a quick and easy way to reduce the amount of salt in instant ramen. I’m not sure that “washing” the brick ramen will help much, but “washing” Cup Noodles should help immensely, since the seasoning is already mixed in with the noodles.
I’ve also looked through my pantry, and did some research, and you’re in luck. Nissin has a new Choice Ramen that’s low in fat and sodium. I bought a few packs recently that I haven’t gotten around to review yet, but according to the info on the back, one brick is 2 servings, and each serving has 400mg of sodium (that’s for the beef flavor. The chicken flavor has 480mg). That might still be high for your young friend, but if you cut back on the seasoning packet, that’ll reduce the salt content even more. I bought mine at a local Albertson’s so I imagine they should be pretty easy to find. For something more exotic, it looks likeKorean ramen makers are also getting into the low sodium act.
So now I want to open this up to all our readers. Can anyone else help Meredith out? Are there other low-sodium instant ramen out there? Please post a comment below and help out a worthy ramen fan!
(Also, for anyone who’s concerned about wax in instant ramen (gee, like sodium isn’t bad enough)…don’t worry. It’s a false alarm!)
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I have high blood pressure, so the Salt in the seasoning packet in Ramen noodles, I don’t even use with my noodles. (sorry) I make them in the microwave in a bowl with water, add frozen peas and zap it. Then I add either Fat Free butter, yes, they have it, or butter made with Olive oil. You can add garlic, Parmesan cheese, etc. Any low sodium cream soup. Scrambled eggs and LOW Sodium Soy Sauce. There are lots of things to flavor Ramen noodles, without using the seasoning packet. I use that when I make a crock pot of beans though!!!
Reply to SandyThanks Sandy! Unfortunately this kid doesn’t like ramen without the seasoning packet. I think they’re compromising on giving him half the packet, and I was also able to locate some Nong Shim Chapaghetti at my local Korean market. It’s not exactly LOW sodium…but it’s LESS sodium than his usual Nissin.
Reply to MeredithMaruchan now makes a low-sodium version of Chicken and Beef. They are both in a light-blue package and are marked 35% less sodium. I haven’t tried the beef since I prefer the chicken, but the chicken is 440mg vs 780mg per serving. Could be wrong but that’s more than 35%, more like 43% less. I originally saw it at several Walmarts, but lately only at one. Not sure if they’re selectively stocking it or it’s doing so well they are running out.
Reply to MarkThanks for the tip, Mark. I’ll keep an eye out for the Maruchan one.
Reply to edjusted