Field of Science


The Shambulance: Zero-Calorie Noodles?






















  1. The shirataki noodle packages I buy (not the same brand) are always in bags filled with liquid. Doesn't this saturate the fiber?

    Just because a dried powder or pill warrants warnings and advisories about drinking water or choking hazard, hardly means the same goes for a water saturated foodstuff.

    Sure, they don't taste like much -- but the taste of noodles dishes is all about the sauce. Standard refined noodles are just bland starch. Sure you could eat spaghetti and vegetables for fiber, but you can eat shirataki and vegetables just as easy.

  2. I actually find the taste of Konjac noodles to be quite agreeable. I'm not familiar with the brands you mention, but the noodles I get from the Asian grocers are really quite good when drenched with some nice sauce or other. They are more 'noodley' than pasta, but I prefer it, particularly as I don't eat wheat pasta due to the ridiculous amount of high GI carbohydrate contained in it.

  3. This article is certainly NOT well-informed. Get some facts next time, eh?
    1. Konjac powder is a very hydrophyllic food ingredient, and there have been choking deaths caused by consuming the unhydrated gum. But shirataki noodle is a completely safe food - confirmed by millions of Japanese.
    2. Foods high in insoluble fiber reduce cholesterol (hinder absorption of bile acids), post prandial blood sugar (decrease rate of sugar absorption), blood pressure (fermentation by probiotic bacteria to short-chain fatty acids), colon cancer risk (reduced transit time in the digestive tract), and appetite for MORE FOOD (swells in the gut). Same as oatmeal.
    3. American diets are undersupplied with fiber, and soluble fiber is particularly lacking. FDA recommends 25 grams fiber/day (= 8 apples).
    4. FDA applies basic rounding principle to allow a zero calorie label statement (less than 5 rounds down to zero). So promoting a 20-cal plateful of food is somehow deceitful to consumers? Really?
    5. Had you wanted to provide useful advice regarding shirataki noodles, why not mention that sources commonly sold in Asian markets are much cheaper, compared with new brands marketed as "health foods"?
    6. Finally, you obviously had some fun comparing the noodles in their most basic state - without sauce or condiment to improve palatability - to "rubber bands" or "a glass of metamucil". But a more thoughtful writer would have consulted an expert in the use of the product - Japanese chef perhaps - who knows how to present the food to best advantage.

    Good that this valuable alternative to high carb pasta gets some mention, but your contribution was nothing, really, to be all that proud of.

    1. " So promoting a 20-cal plateful of food is somehow deceitful to consumers? Really? "

      Promoting it as having zero calories, is, yes. Duh.

    2. It's basic mathematics. Anything less than four rounds down to zero, anything between five-nine rounds to ten. All food manufacturers do it. Have you ever seen a label that lists their product as having 14 calories, or 96, or 311? No, it's called rounded. There is nothing deceitful if it is a well-known fact that ALL food manufacturers do it.

  4. Anonymous #2 here again.
    Sorry, I note a typo in item 2 which should read "Foods high in soluble fiber...". Insoluble fiber, while important, mainly adds bulk to the stool, though there are also important soluble phenolics in most brans.

    Also, veteran legman to the core, I reconfirmed the tech lit regards various positive physiologic responses to soluble fiber in the diet. And frankly I'm surprised your two academic "co-captains" didn't have more relevant info to offer on these issues.

    Finally, if the purpose of your column is "to find the truth about overhyped health products" I'd say you were off-message here. Looking for overhyped items, shirataki noodle is a poor candidate.

    Maybe better stick to kid science.

  5. Their claims about reducing the total caloric absorption of the nutrients is probably in comparison to taking a nutritional meal replacement shake, which is absolutely true (and is a fact that can be well exploited when dealing with people who can't seem to lose fat while consuming those things).

    It's just not relevant when you're comparing Real Food to Real Food With Shirataki Noodles.

  6. Max and The DieteersDecember 14, 2012 at 3:52 PM


    Your condescension is irritating. Please shut up. Thanks.

  7. I think that in an industrialized world where states spend billions because of obesity, where half of all adults and a third of kids are overweight, noodles with 20 calories per serving represent a great opportunity for fighting obesity. I'm sure that there are many that have been struggling with weight problems for ages that would gladly overlook a rubbery texture in order to shed some pounds. The fact that you can store them and cook them with any vegetable or meat sauce makes them very appealing.

  8. As for the 20 calorie claims... you realize that even somebody on a seriously low caloric intake range of 1100-1300 a day still have to get their calories from somewhere, right?


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