Ramen is not typically considered a "healthy cuisine" in Japanese restaurants for several reasons, including the quantity of white flour-based noodles it includes per serving, making it extremely starchy and detrimental to blood sugar control.

But all ramen noodles are commonly made from wheat flour, water, salt, and kansui, an alkaline mineral. Kansui gives noodles their elasticity and chewiness. It also gives ramen its yellow color. For this reason, ramen noodles may sometimes be thought to have egg as an ingredient, but they do not.