Sodium
Grab-and-go Asian bowls
Draft · dietitian review pending
What actually happens
Soy, gochujang or miso plus brined protein plus noodles: assume 2,000+ mg.
The fix
Build it at home.
The numbers
- Sodium, store-bought bowl
- 2,000+ mg
- Sodium, home shrimp noodle bowl
- about 300–400 mg
They're an easy lunch. Noodles, a bit of chicken or shrimp, some vegetables, a glossy sauce, all in a neat container in the cooler. They look like the healthiest thing in the store.
Then I added up what's in them. Soy sauce, gochujang or miso in the sauce. Protein that was brined before it was cooked. Noodles on top of that. Any one of those is a problem. Together, I assume 2,000 mg of sodium or more per bowl, and I've stopped hoping the label will prove me wrong.
The fix was to build it at home. My shrimp noodle bowl keeps the idea: noodles, shrimp, crunchy vegetables, something tangy on top. It comes in at about 300 to 400 mg instead of 2,000+.
It doesn't taste like a sacrifice. It tastes like lunch.