WebQoof: Can Your Gut Really Not Digest Instant Noodles?

A WhatsApp video claims noodles are indigestible and they’ll have to be surgically removed if you eat them.

A video circulating since 2015 claims noodles are indigestible and they’ll have to be surgically removed if you eat them.

(Photo: iStock)

Instant noodles, burgers, pizzas, we all know junk food isn’t healthy. Enough studies have insisted that we reduce our junk food consumption if we want to improve our overall health. And you may have come across a lot of related posts on social media as well.

We also received a forward on WhatsApp, urging everyone to spread the message. It read:
‘This video was made by Apollo Hospital’s doctor Harish Shukla during the operation. Our digestion system is not able to digest noodles. That’s why noodles were surgically removed from a patient. Protect your children from noodles, pizzas, pasta. Please watch the video and share it for humanity’s sake.’

This video has been circulating on WhatsApp since 2015.(Photo Courtesy: WhatsApp Screenshot)

Is This Video From Apollo Hospital?

The message may say the video is from Apollo Hospital, but the Delhi hospital’s PRO denied that any of their doctor has made any such video. In fact, there’s no doctor named Harish Shukla working in the hospital.

Were Noodles Really Being Removed In the Video?

(Photo Courtesy: Video Screenshot)

No. After seeing the video, Dr Ashwini Setya, a senior gastroenterologist at Max Hospital, says that these aren’t noodles but worms being removed from the intestine of a patient. He explains that if you notice closely, you’ll see the worms moving as well.

An internet search revealed that this video has been circulating on Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp since 2015. Sadly, many articles have been done on this video as well, stating how noodles are indigestible in the human body and will have to be surgically removed from the stomach.

Folks, you’ve just been had. This video is a webqoof.

There’s no doubting the fact that packaged or processed foods aren’t healthy and should be consumed as less as possible. But when it comes to digestion, the process of digesting any food, including junk, starts the moment you have the first bite.

Dr Setya adds that noodles are also made of maida, wheat or rice. So, our body will process it the same way.

Having said that, processed foods are definitely difficult to digest.

Excess of anything is harmful. Noodles aren’t healthy per se because of the preservatives in them. And they lack fibre. The way these food items are processed to increase their shelf life is problematic and makes them difficult to digest.

Dr Ashwini Setya, Gastroenterologist, Max Hospital

We Don’t Advise Consumption of Instant Noodles

To enhance the taste and shelf life of noodles, chemicals like MSG (monosodium glutamate) and TBHQ (tertiary-butyl hydroquinone) are mostly added to them. According to doctors, these elements can be taken in limited quantities, but their daily or frequent use can be harmful.

A South Korean study from 2016 talks about the affect of instant noodles on our health. Instant noodles are easy to make and taste good but the high amounts of sodium and saturated fats present in them are harmful. The study said that excessive intake of instant noodles can cause not only obesity but also diabetes, high BP, hypertension and heart diseases.

(This article was first published on FitHindi. It has been translated to English by Sameeksha Khare.)