Food security report points to increasing malnourishment and obesity in Thailand

[Brunolem]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

True that. But they send the rice out to the mills, for processing. The rice does not grow white. They could be eating their own whole grain rice, if only they were educated, and learned the benefits. Does anyone care? Certainly not anyone in a position of power. The little guy amply demonstrates that daily. The gorgeous wholegrain rices here ranges from 40 bt. to about 60 bt per kilo. The crappy white rice is at least 30 bt per kilo, or more. Not alot of difference. Also, the whole grain rice is more filling, as you are eating real food.

I don't know much about rice.

Are you saying that the thin brown "shell" that envelops each grain of rice should be kept and eaten, instead of being removed by a machine?

[spidermike007]

3 hours ago, Brunolem said:

I don't know much about rice.

Are you saying that the thin brown "shell" that envelops each grain of rice should be kept and eaten, instead of being removed by a machine?

 

Let’s start here: what makes white rice white and brown rice brown, other than color? It all depends on the milling process. You can see here highlighted by Riceland, which is less fun than Disneyland but probably safer than Zombieland:

In milling, brown rice loses only a bit of the top layer above; the non-edible hull goes, but the bran and germ remain. White rice removes it all; the hull, awn, bran and berm are all gone, leaving behind the endosperm.

So let’s take a look at our two candidates for the Rice-idency: On one side of the ballot, we have 1 cup of cooked enriched white rice, and on the other side we have 1 cup of cooked brown rice.

They both are running on the platform of “Make carbs great again!” but they have some distinguishing characteristics that make their campaigns slightly different:

• Brown rice has 43 more calories per cup than white rice.
• Brown rice has 7g more carbohydrates per cup than white rice.
• Brown rice has more micronutrients: magnesium (79mg vs 19mg), more phosphorus (208mg vs 68gm), and more potassium (174mg vs 55). It also has a lot of manganese, selenium, and copper.
• Brown rice has a lower glycemic index than white rice, meaning it is broken down by your body slower – and causes a lower insulin response.

[Brunolem]

21 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

Let’s start here: what makes white rice white and brown rice brown, other than color? It all depends on the milling process. You can see here highlighted by Riceland, which is less fun than Disneyland but probably safer than Zombieland:

In milling, brown rice loses only a bit of the top layer above; the non-edible hull goes, but the bran and germ remain. White rice removes it all; the hull, awn, bran and berm are all gone, leaving behind the endosperm.

So let’s take a look at our two candidates for the Rice-idency: On one side of the ballot, we have 1 cup of cooked enriched white rice, and on the other side we have 1 cup of cooked brown rice.

They both are running on the platform of “Make carbs great again!” but they have some distinguishing characteristics that make their campaigns slightly different:

• Brown rice has 43 more calories per cup than white rice.
• Brown rice has 7g more carbohydrates per cup than white rice.
• Brown rice has more micronutrients: magnesium (79mg vs 19mg), more phosphorus (208mg vs 68gm), and more potassium (174mg vs 55). It also has a lot of manganese, selenium, and copper.
• Brown rice has a lower glycemic index than white rice, meaning it is broken down by your body slower – and causes a lower insulin response.

Well, thanks for this information.

I didn't know about the distinction between the hull and the bran, thinking it was all hull.

Now, in my area, "mills" are in fact farmers who own a basic machine, and they do not offer a choice!

Their machines give back white rice, without any other options.

This is probably the main reason why people around here, myself included, eat white rice...not for lack of knowledge, but for lack of adequate machines.

I imagine that machines able to remove only the hull, while leaving the bran, must be more sophisticated, thus more expensive, which would explain why small farmers don't buy them...

[CharlesSwann]

Rich people can afford to eat healthy food as they tend to be most expensive such as low fat versions and organic vegetables. Governments should do something to make the healthy foods cheaper than the unhealthy foods - promoting and subsidising healthy foods and taxing unhealthy foods.

As to tackling inequality - that will take a socialist government. No prospect of that on the horizon in Thailand.

[jak2002003]

8 minutes ago, CharlesSwann said:

Rich people can afford to eat healthy food as they tend to be most expensive such as low fat versions and organic vegetables. Governments should do something to make the healthy foods cheaper than the unhealthy foods - promoting and subsidising healthy foods and taxing unhealthy foods.

As to tackling inequality - that will take a socialist government. No prospect of that on the horizon in Thailand.

Some truth in that.

 

However, the most fat people about are not really poor here.  They are not poor if they are eating in KFC and McDonalds!

 

Also going out eating sugary snacks, toast with sugar and honey on it, and all that Bingsu.. together with adults drinking beer and kids drinking sugar sodas.  These things are more expensive than their traditional food or rice, vegetables and cheap meat.

 

I think its the eating habits that have changed rather than being poor to blame.

 

 

[The manic]

On 3/10/2018 at 9:39 AM, Xonax said:

Import duties on imported healthy oils are still sky high, so only palm oil is affordable for cooking in Thailand.

Thai Rice Bran Oil is cheap and, healthy 

[spidermike007]

35 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

Well, thanks for this information.

I didn't know about the distinction between the hull and the bran, thinking it was all hull.

Now, in my area, "mills" are in fact farmers who own a basic machine, and they do not offer a choice!

Their machines give back white rice, without any other options.

This is probably the main reason why people around here, myself included, eat white rice...not for lack of knowledge, but for lack of adequate machines.

I imagine that machines able to remove only the hull, while leaving the bran, must be more sophisticated, thus more expensive, which would explain why small farmers don't buy them...

I know I am stating the obvious, but you could sell the rice that you normally consume for yourself and your family, and purchase high quality, whole grain rice at Tesco, or Tops, or many other markets, for 50 baht per kilo. A kilo of rice goes pretty far. Just a thought. Health is a precious gift. And the rice taste so much better, than the "air" version of white rice.

Edited March 11, 2018 by spidermike007

[The manic]

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

I know I am stating the obvious, but you could sell the rice that you normally consume for yourself and your family, and purchase high quality, whole grain rice at Tesco, or Tops, or many other markets, for 50 baht per kilo. A kilo of rice goes pretty far. Just a thought. Health is a precious gift. And the rice taste so much better, than the "air" version of white rice.

and red rice and black rice from places called shops or markets. 

[CharlesSwann]

12 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

Some truth in that.

 

However, the most fat people about are not really poor here.  They are not poor if they are eating in KFC and McDonalds!

 

Also going out eating sugary snacks, toast with sugar and honey on it, and all that Bingsu.. together with adults drinking beer and kids drinking sugar sodas.  These things are more expensive than their traditional food or rice, vegetables and cheap meat.

 

I think its the eating habits that have changed rather than being poor to blame.

 

 

Sure, those who eat in McDonalds are not poor, but the poor people are not the fat people. The report, rather confusingly, is identifying two different groups - the mis-nourished and the under-nourished and not clearly differentiating. It claims there is a large number of under-nourished people in Thailand - those that can't afford to eat enough in the first place, never mind eat heathily.

[Brunolem]

6 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I know I am stating the obvious, but you could sell the rice that you normally consume for yourself and your family, and purchase high quality, whole grain rice at Tesco, or Tops, or many other markets, for 50 baht per kilo. A kilo of rice goes pretty far. Just a thought. Health is a precious gift. And the rice taste so much better, than the "air" version of white rice.

Personally I eat very little rice, maybe one plate per week...while the rest of the family, and of the village, eat more like 3 to 5 plates per day!

So changing habits is not my decision to make, but I will try to buy good rice at least for myself in the future.

[Taggart]

The vast majority of east asian restaurants in farangland still serve white rice, and I've never ever seen brown rice in the meal tray put in front of me on an airplane. 

 

I don't see Thais all of a sudden changing en masse to whole grain rice as part of their diet.

 

One thing I find strange in well over thirty years of visiting Thailand is that except for in their sweet desserts, I've never seen Thais eating beans as part of a meal.  

[jerojero]

The tentacles of American junk food have spread to every province, why kids love this rubbish I will never know. And that drink that comes in the red and silver can that is very good for cleaning rusty nails is not helping the obesity problem either!

Fat, sugar and salt. Addictive foodstuffs. Add instant readiness, that is why billions eat at McDonald's.

[HLover]

45 minutes ago, jerojero said:

On 3/10/2018 at 9:47 AM, PatOngo said:

The tentacles of American junk food have spread to every province, why kids love this rubbish I will never know. And that drink that comes in the red and silver can that is very good for cleaning rusty nails is not helping the obesity problem either!

Fat, sugar and salt. Addictive foodstuffs. Add instant readiness, that is why billions eat at McDonald's.

Carbohydrates, sugar and salt.

Unprocessed fat has been around for decades.

Hence the low fat and diet (zero or low sugar) foods introduced in the past years that have ballooned the obesity problem.

I laugh when my fat friend trims the fat from his meat and orders a Coke zero.

[jak2002003]

1 hour ago, HLover said:

Carbohydrates, sugar and salt.

Unprocessed fat has been around for decades.

Hence the low fat and diet (zero or low sugar) foods introduced in the past years that have ballooned the obesity problem.

I laugh when my fat friend trims the fat from his meat and orders a Coke zero.

Are you saying that eating lots of fat, drinking full sugar soda drinks will not cause weight gain?

 

Thais and Asians have always eaten lots of carbohydrates... rice is the stable of their traditional diet.. and there were not having this obesity problem then.

 

Fats have always been around.... animal fats.. and the animals were hunted or farmed traditionally and were traditional breeds.  This means they had less fat content on them compared to todays factory farmed animals and breeds developed for weight / higher fat content, like most chickens, beef and pigs.

 

People eat more meat now then they did in the past as it used to be more expensive.  Now its so cheap so people eat it every day.

 

Sugar too, yes its always been around, but in the past there were no sugary soda drinks, sugary sweet alcopops, ice cream shops and the masses of sweet deserts you see today.  Also sugar is now added to almost all savoury processed foods.. again something that was not about years ago.

 

Salt will not cause weight gain!

 

 

 

 

[Taggart]

We're all different, but for the last few years I've observed plenty of people who have lost a lot of weight and are not limiting carbs.   Most of them seem to also improve their health at the same time.    

[kevozman1]

I have noticed a rise in obesity specifically with teenage boys and women over 30. Chunky Thais, really not a good look.

[HLover]

12 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Are you saying that eating lots of fat, drinking full sugar soda drinks will not cause weight gain?

 

Thais and Asians have always eaten lots of carbohydrates... rice is the stable of their traditional diet.. and there were not having this obesity problem then.

 

Fats have always been around.... animal fats.. and the animals were hunted or farmed traditionally and were traditional breeds.  This means they had less fat content on them compared to todays factory farmed animals and breeds developed for weight / higher fat content, like most chickens, beef and pigs.

 

People eat more meat now then they did in the past as it used to be more expensive.  Now its so cheap so people eat it every day.

 

Sugar too, yes its always been around, but in the past there were no sugary soda drinks, sugary sweet alcopops, ice cream shops and the masses of sweet deserts you see today.  Also sugar is now added to almost all savoury processed foods.. again something that was not about years ago.

 

Salt will not cause weight gain!

 

 

 

 

No, that is not what I said. Anybody who thinks soda is remotely healthy is a knob.

[jak2002003]

4 hours ago, HLover said:

No, that is not what I said. Anybody who thinks soda is remotely healthy is a knob.

Sorry, I am not sure what you were trying to say.  And, I never said I think soda drinks are healthy... quite the opposite. 

 

 

[wazzupnow]

obesis and malnutrition can be found in the same person if they feed on junkfood only

put a tag on fat people and ban them from : KFC  MAC D. BURGERKING, AND ALL OTHER WESTERN FOOD

thai people are food addicted , so do not give them these drugs

thaifood for thai people !!!( u can replace the word thai for asian any time it is the same all over asia)

[kaorop]

One things for sure, none of that is getting fixed..

Most at the top have fingers in the pies that benefit from these sorts of problems.

 

I eat reasonable well, so its the pestercideds and herbisides that affect me...

And as im out in the farms a lot you see empty bags and bottles of chemicals everywhere just laying around in piles or spread where ever. 

Im loath to eat anything uncooked i havent washed myself...

[Brunolem]

3 hours ago, wazzupnow said:

 

thai people are food addicted

Addicted?

 

 

[marquis22]

On 09/03/2018 at 8:16 PM, snoop1130 said:

MORE THAN 815 million people around the world still suffer from malnutrition and hunger – 6.5 million in Thailand

Yet, walk through any market or street side food stalls at night, surely they do not sell all the food that is still on display?

Amazes me the huge amount of food that is available in Thailand.