Eating ramen noodles 3 or more times a week increases mortality risk : Japan study

Eating ramen three or more times a week increases the risk of death by approximately 1.52 times, a team of researchers in north Japan’s Yamagata Prefecture has found.

The city of Yamagata has ranked first in Japan for annual household expenditure on ramen for three consecutive years. The latest study was jointly conducted by researchers from Yamagata University and Yamagata Prefectural Yonezawa University of Nutrition Sciences.

According to the team, the study targeted 6,725 people in the prefecture aged 40 and over who underwent health checkups. Results were based on data from a “Yamagata cohort study,” which tracked individuals from 2009 to 2023.

Subjects were categorized into four groups based on how often they ate ramen: “fewer than once a month,” “once to three times a month,” “once or twice a week” and “three or more times a week.” The team studied the relations between the frequency of ramen consumption and mortality risk.

Those who consumed ramen “three or more times a week” had a 1.52 times higher mortality risk compared to the “once or twice a week” group. However, the results were reportedly not statistically significant enough to declare it a “definite danger.”

Increased mortality risk may be influenced by lifestyle habits common among frequent ramen eaters, such as excessive salt intake, alcohol consumption and smoking. Further analysis showed higher mortality risks among groups including men, those under 70, those who drink more than half of the soup and frequent drinkers.

The 2024 Family Income and Expenditure Survey, released in February by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, reported that the city of Yamagata had maintained its top position for three consecutive years in ramen spending among prefectural capitals and government-designated cities across the country.

Miho Suzuki, a lecturer at Yonezawa University of Nutrition Sciences and a member of the research team, commented, “I hope people will enjoy ramen by refraining from too much soup intake to reduce salt consumption and considering nutritional balance with vegetables and other toppings.”

The research team’s paper was published in the Aug. 4 issue of The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging