How Healthy Is Thai Food?

Lacessit · May 17

Thai food is quite healthy if one avoids sugar and rice, both contribute to obesity.

It is usually served in smaller quantities, which is another plus.

The Thai addiction to sugar is illustrated by the fact Thailand has a population of 72 million, yet Mitr Phol is the fifth largest producer of sugar world-wide.

Thais use sugar in most dishes to soften the bite of chili. They look nonplussed when I ask them to omit it.

scubascuba3 · May 17

38 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Thai food is quite healthy if one avoids sugar and rice, both contribute to obesity.

It is usually served in smaller quantities, which is another plus.

The Thai addiction to sugar is illustrated by the fact Thailand has a population of 72 million, yet Mitr Phol is the fifth largest producer of sugar world-wide.

Thais use sugar in most dishes to soften the bite of chili. They look nonplussed when I ask them to omit it.

Thais have been eating rice for hundreds of years, obesity started relatively recently. They've been slim for a long time on rice. Just because you're carb phobic doesn't mean rice is bad

Angus55 · May 17

3 hours ago, Robert Paulson said:

I can visualize all the obese keyboard warriors now, telling us all the ins and out of which foods are bad.

The truth is thai food has a ton of good stuff in it. Herbs and raw or half cooked vegetables. I think where they go wrong is too much rice.

Thai food isn’t perfect but it’s WAY better than your diets in western countries. It’s not even close. The thing I laugh at over and over again in the west is you get an old guy and he says “my diet is great now” and ask him what he’s eating and he’s like “I have cereal and yogurt for breakfasts, a banana and a sandwich for lunch… blah blah blah”. It’s like when westerners get off McDonald’s they think they are golden but they don’t realize all the dairy and cereals are tremendously bad. And with all that sugar they have a banana, even the banana is bad at that point. But these fat guys will continue to tell you how well they are eating.

i got news for you, if you’re fat, you’re not eating right. And no it’s not because you’re aren’t in the gym. If you’re fat you diet is way outta kilter. That’s a huge hint for anyone willing to put in a little self help work.

Nowt wrong with milk and sugar free yoghurt . Oats and bananas are also fine.

Robert Paulson · May 17

1 minute ago, Angus55 said:

Nowt wrong with milk and sugar free yoghurt . Oats and bananas are also fine.

Sadly you’re mistaken. Who told you that anyway, your doctor? Oats are arguable and bananas aren’t fine for an old fat guy who’s eating too much sugar all day. But they are ok otherwise.

Robert Paulson · May 17

22 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Thais have been eating rice for hundreds of years, obesity started relatively recently. They've been slim for a long time on rice. Just because you're carb phobic doesn't mean rice is bad

Rice prob isn’t too bad but in the amounts they eat it I’d say it is bad.

Robert Paulson · May 17

People really think yogurt and milk are good for them. It amazes me. You should look up the % of lactose intolerant people. If milk is so good for us why can’t most people even digest it? And why would it be good for us our distant ancestors never drank it or had any dairy. Our genes evolved without it so I dont know where people get these hare brained ideas. I’ll admit it tastes good though and it’s easy to listen to and buy into the bs your doctors tell you.

KhunLA · May 17

Rice debate ... as I've stated before, a lot depends on what, how, when you eat.

Eat your crappy food (carbs/sugar), after your fats & protein...

I linked his Tik Tok in description ... excellent stuff

I'm not allowed to post FB links on the forum as he has a FB also, though I think they are trying to censor him.

Edited May 17 by KhunLA

tethys · May 18

I eat mostly kebabs, its lean chicken, grilled without fat + veggies.

Hummin · May 18

Eat home or at quality restaurants!

Just look at the BMI on thai population the last 20 years, and you see how helthy their food have become.

susanlea · May 18

Life is short, just eat foods you enjoy. You never see people living to 150 and if you don't like salad don't eat it.

save the frogs · May 18

On 5/16/2024 at 11:24 PM, Angus55 said:

Seems there was at least 40-50% fat in those dishes...I imagine the vendor didnt use the healthiest of oils either

Exactly. Restaurants use crappy cooking oils to save money and this will degrade your health.

Restaurant meals are cheat meals and should be few and far between.

scubascuba3 · May 18

6 minutes ago, susanlea said:

Life is short, just eat foods you enjoy. You never see people living to 150 and if you don't like salad don't eat it.

Maybe ask farang who have had heart attacks or strokes caused by their poor diet and see whether they're still happy about it

Hummin · May 18

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Maybe ask farang who have had heart attacks or strokes caused by their poor diet and see whether they're still happy about it

Invalide for decades caused by lifestyle

susanlea · May 18

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Maybe ask farang who have had heart attacks or strokes caused by their poor diet and see whether they're still happy about it

Lots of europeans eat many desserts and don't have any excess issues which indicates diet is not that important if you don't eat in excess. Eat what you want but not in excess.

Lorry · May 18

On 5/17/2024 at 4:06 PM, Robert Paulson said:

People really think yogurt and milk are good for them. It amazes me. You should look up the % of lactose intolerant people. If milk is so good for us why can’t most people even digest it? And why would it be good for us our distant ancestors never drank it or had any dairy. Our genes evolved without it so I dont know where people get these hare brained ideas. I’ll admit it tastes good though and it’s easy to listen to and buy into the bs your doctors tell you.

Cow milk is very good if you want to turn a calf into a cow.

Human children obviously are no calves, and we see in real time what happens if you feed them cow milk: all Asians now are getting taller, stronger, fatter...

For an impoverished, undernourished kid in the industrial slums of Europe and North America around 1900 cow milk was a very efficient way to turn the kid into a strong industrial worker. And the calcium in milk helped to offset vitamin-D deficiency in their dark dwellings

cmjl · May 18

The problem with Thailand,as with a lot of countries now,is the ever increasing use of fast food restaurants,fizzy drinks and idleness caused by an addiction to the smart phone,too much food and not enough exercise is generally the cause of weight gain.

Dairy fats are a lot better for you than manufactured fats and cows milk is better for you and the environment than the likes of Almond 'milk'.

kwilco · May 18

THai food like any other food from round the world is fine - the problem lies with those who consume it. You can spot them - they believe in fad diets and have no idea wht obesity is , what causes it and what the dangers are.

This thread is an opportunity for every food crank and conspiracy thoeirist to put forward there nut job ideas.

Edited May 18 by kwilco

Everyman · May 27

Curries are made from coconut milk which is a solid when it is cold. That’s it.

Regarding the scientific paper somebody posted, it does not support their claim at all, at least not in the abstract.

gargamon · May 27

12 minutes ago, Everyman said:

Curries are made from coconut milk which is a solid when it is cold. That’s it.

Coconut milk comes as a liquid in cans or boxes. Try and get your facts straight.

Everyman · May 28

5 hours ago, gargamon said:

Coconut milk comes as a liquid in cans or boxes. Try and get your facts straight.

For crissake put the box in the fridge and see what happens.

noobexpat · May 28

I eat rice or noodles 5 times per week. Milk, sugar, bananas, oats ...every day. Pizza, burgers, beer ...at weekends. I eat everything.

25 years of looking this great. My ability for consistency is off the scale.

scubascuba3 · May 28

49 minutes ago, noobexpat said:

I eat rice or noodles 5 times per week. Milk, sugar, bananas, oats ...every day. Pizza, burgers, beer ...at weekends. I eat everything.

25 years of looking this great. My ability for consistency is off the scale.

That diet will work well, high carb low fat most days

noobexpat · May 28

21 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

That diet will work well, high carb low fat most days

I'm pretty lazy, virtually no cardio exercise (unlike yourself, i believe).

One little hack i have adopted is swap out 50% of the rice with lots of tomatoes.

Its taken a bit of time to find my calorie neutral point just by looking at food. But the talk of unhealthy thai food is nonsense, as you already know.

scubascuba3 · May 28

12 minutes ago, noobexpat said:

I'm pretty lazy, virtually no cardio exercise (unlike yourself, i believe).

One little hack i have adopted is swap out 50% of the rice with lots of tomatoes.

Its taken a bit of time to find my calorie neutral point just by looking at food. But the talk of unhealthy thai food is nonsense, as you already know.

What's your blood test results like on that diet and no exercise? probably still good but maybe not everything