I know this might sound slightly heretical for somebody with a physical connection to Thailand, but I do not actually eat Thai food very often.

Before anybody accuses me of rejecting Thai culture or disrespecting one of the world’s great cuisines, that is not really the issue.

I think a lot of Thai food tastes fantastic. My only request is that the chilli content remains below the threshold where my tongue becomes a crime scene and I can still identify at least some of the other ingredients.

The real issue is nutritional value. Over the years I have become far more interested in macros than flavor alone. These days I tend to build most of my meals around protein, followed by healthy fats, fibre, and nutrient density. I generally avoid simple carbohydrates and pure starches with empty calories, whenever possible.

That is where my relationship with a lot of Thai food starts becoming complicated. Take a typical meal. You might get a mountain of rice or noodles, a relatively modest amount of vegetables, and a surprisingly small portion of meat. Quite often the meat itself is also a fatty cut of pork rather than something particularly protein rich.

It tastes great. That is not the problem. The problem is that I can easily look at the plate and see a huge carb load, modest protein, and not much else that fits particularly well with how I prefer to eat.

I am not somebody who counts calories obsessively. I am more interested in what those calories consist of.

Two very different meals can contain exactly the same number of calories and leave me feeling completely different about what I just put into my body.

As a result, most of my day to day meals are fairly boring by comparison. Lots of eggs. Chicken. Vegetables. Nuts. Some fruit.

The sort of food that nutritionists applaud and food photographers might immediately lose interest in.

So I am curious what others choose to eat, and are you mainly thinking about taste and enjoyment, or do you also pay strong attention to the nutritional value of what is on the plate?

8 minutes ago, Kyoto Kyle said:

The real issue is nutritional value. ,,, These days I tend to build most of my meals around protein, followed by healthy fats, fibre, and nutrient density. I generally avoid simple carbohydrates and pure starches with empty calories, whenever possible. ,,, You might get a mountain of rice or noodles, a relatively modest amount of vegetables, and a surprisingly small portion of meat. ,,,The problem is that I can easily look at the plate and see a huge carb load

Agree, and why we rarely eat out, when at home. Only when O&A, and try to be as picky as possible.

If I'm going to eat empty carbs, it's going to be something I enjoy, pastry, instead of rice or rice noodles with little to no nutritional value. A tastier trade off for me.

Edited 46 minutes ago46 min by KhunLA

You can always add eggs to any Thai dish or ask for extra meat.

I have never met a 95yo who counted macros. They just eat whatever.

4 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Agree, and why we rarely eat out, when at home. Only when O&A, and try to be as picky as possible.

If I'm going to eat empty carbs, it's going to be something I enjoy, pastry, instead of rice or rice noodles with little to no nutritional value. A tastier trade off for me.

I rarely eat out for the same reason, and also because I generally have sanitary concerns.

I’m the same when it comes to cheat meals. I much prefer pasta, pizza, or even egg noodles over anything rice-based. I do eat locally grown sweet potatoes regularly, though, and don’t put those in the same empty, simple-carb category.

I also recently discovered that you can buy a kilo of either pea or soy protein isolate in Thailand for between 400 and 500 baht from many online sellers. It works out to half the price of whey protein, or even less. I generally avoid dairy anyway, so these plant-based protein supplements have become a very good and inexpensive alternative to whey for me and no digestion issues. I often mix a scoop of each into a shake to make sure I’m getting a complete amino acid profile.

You also don’t need to be into bodybuilding or heavy into fitness to use protein supplements. As we age, I think it’s important to make sure we’re getting enough protein to support functional strength and bone density.

4 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Agree, and why we rarely eat out, when at home. Only when O&A, and try to be as picky as possible.

If I'm going to eat empty carbs, it's going to be something I enjoy, pastry, instead of rice or rice noodles with little to no nutritional value. A tastier trade off for me.

Now I don't live in Thailand full-time, and I don't like Thai food at all, but when I am in Thailand, which is very often because my wife is Thai, I also like pastries. I do like pasta or potatoes, but I hate rice. At home. I mostly cook for myself.

5 minutes ago, Kyoto Kyle said:

I rarely eat out for the same reason, and also because I generally have sanitary concerns.

I’m the same when it comes to cheat meals. I much prefer pasta, pizza, or even egg noodles over anything rice-based. I do eat locally grown sweet potatoes regularly, though, and don’t put those in the same empty, simple-carb category.

I also recently discovered that you can buy a kilo of either pea or soy protein isolate in Thailand for between 400 and 500 baht from many online sellers. It works out to half the price of whey protein, or even less. I generally avoid dairy anyway, so these plant-based protein supplements have become a very good and inexpensive alternative to whey for me and no digestion issues. I often mix a scoop of each into a shake to make sure I’m getting a complete amino acid profile.

You also don’t need to be into bodybuilding or heavy into fitness to use protein supplements. As we age, I think it’s important to make sure we’re getting enough protein to support functional strength and bone density.

I replaced pasta with egg noodles, almost exclusively. Pizza is almost healthy food for me, and only eat it a couple times a month.

I love Thai food, you can replace the non nutritional white rice with brown or red. For every chicken fish or meat dish there is a matching vegetable dish. The lemon grass soups have proven to help prevent esophageal cancers.

Funny story regarding food and longevity. Some years back a study came out that for every American hot dog you eat, you lose a day or two of life considering all the cancer causing unhealthy nitrates. My stepfather loved his hot dogs, ate them regularly, lunch dinner, snack. He lived to be 93.

12 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I replaced pasta with egg noodles, almost exclusively. Pizza is almost healthy food for me, and only eat it a couple times a month.

Another concern with a lot of Thai food is the deep fried issue and the fact that almost all stir fried Thai food is cooked in some form of vegetable oil that is high in unhealthy omega 6.

We eat out quite often and we've been able to find some really extraordinary Thai restaurants, that serve absolutely gorgeous Thai food at very reasonable prices.