Well, it's a continuum, really. One quote I like to refer to (from the South Beach diet, of all things) is, "There are no bad foods, only bad habits."
True, there are bad foods out there. But unless you are eating only the "bad" food, by itself, constantly, it tends to balance out with other things. For example, lard. Lard is not considered by many people to be a "health food." But I don't know anyone who eats just spoonfuls of lard every day. Most of the time, when you are consuming lard, you are eating it as an ingredient in other things; for example pie crust. So in this context, it's not as horrible for you as straight lard would be. If anything, the fat in the lard mitigates the sugars and carbs in the flour in the crust, and the sugars in the filling. So it sort of balances things out.
Now, if you ate pie every day, you would not be in an optimized diet, obviously. Avoiding lard in favor of lean meats and vegetables is preferable. But still, life is such that once in a while we encounter pie, and there's no reason you shouldn't have some pie once in a while (with all it's sugary lardy goodness).
The issue with noodles is that most people eat way more carbs than they need. So it's not that ramen itself is "bad" per se; it's that there is so little in ramen that's *good*, that it should truly be a once-in-a-while thing. Yes, most people still eat noodles and they are quite content. However most people also are at risk for weight problems, diabetes, heart disease, etc.
DIET IS THE #1 FACTOR FOR YOUR HEALTH!!! It is the one thing you can most easily control and it affects *everything*. So that is why we advocate eating well on APK, not only for "intense" athletes but for everyone. Honestly, I am a traceuse, but I don't consider myself an "intense" athlete. I would love to be able to train more than 4 hours per week, but really I'm more of a "normal" person than an "intense athlete." Still, I try to avoid ramen (and noodles in general) when I can. If anything, more "intense" athletes can afford to eat noodles more than the average person--if weight control is the goal. But if the goal is building strength and muscle, probably not. (The details of that train of thought are best left to the likes of Chris, Steve, Charles, etc.)
Again, it's a continuum:
Starving<Rotten food<Processed "white" carbs<Processed "whole grain" carbs<Processed meats<Fatty meats<Whole/fresh fruits & nuts/fats<Lean meats & whole vegetables
People may disagree on the exact ordering of the continuum but that's how I see it.
There are two articles stickied here in the diet forum that should clarify this idea in greater detail.
But to get back to your main question, there's not a lot in ramen that your body actually needs except for calories, and you might as well get those calories from other foods that will also give you nutrients along with the calories. Just because people eat ramen and ar "content" doesn't mean they are also "healthy."
The real question about whether or not to eat something is, "How healthy do I want to be?"
another continuum:
Surviving<Living<Thriving<Optimized
