Ramen and cholesterol: I am a world authority!

Mind the palm oil.

A little over a year ago, I wrote a blog post titled "Ramen, my cholesterol and the history of the world," explaining how I'd been blithely treating instant ramen noodles as a health food, when in fact they're chock-full of palm oil, which is basically the stuff you put in your veins when your goal is to help your local cardiac surgeons pay off their student loans early. 

The post got a fair number of hits, which is always nice. Then, a couple of months ago, I noticed something weird: It had become the No. 1 result for the Google search on the words "ramen" and "cholesterol." Try it! As of this writing, it was still the case. 

That should tell you something about the reliability of the Internet. I'm not a nutritionist, and make no pretense of being one. Nor have I delved deeply into the ramen-cholesterol link: I read one NPR article, photographed the back of a package, and wrote a single post. But as far as Google's search algorithm is concerned, I'm your go-to guy.

So, on Tuesday, I get this:

Hi,

I hope all is well with you.  Healthline just published an infographic detailing the effects of high cholesterol on the body.  This is an interactive chart allowing the reader to pick the side effect they want to learn more about. You can see the overview of the report here. 

Our users have found our guide very useful and I thought it would be a great resource for your page: "Ramen, my cholesterol levels and the history of the world."

I would appreciate it if you could review our request and consider adding this visual representation of the effects of high cholesterol to your site or sharing it on your social media feeds.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

All the best,

Maggie Danhakl • Assistant Marketing Manager

Become a scare-quote "expert," and you get solicitations from real ones! I went and checked out Healthline's site. Their cholesterol graphic is indeed attractive (click it to visit the original):

On their site, when you point to the various organs, you get a popup with more information. Also, their information, unlike mine, has been medically reviewed by an actual doctor, George Krucik, MD, MBA.

So by all means, check out Healthline. Happy to oblige, Maggie! Also, go easy on the instant ramen.