Too much spice, salt in Thai diet

[george]

Too much spice, salt in Thai diet

BANGKOK (dpa) - Thailand's Public Health Ministry has warned that the country's passion for highly spiced and salted foods could lead to high blood pressure and other fatal diseases.

Ministry spokesperson Nitaya Chanrueang Mahapol was quoted by The Nation newspaper Wednesday as saying Thailand's notoriously spicy foods usually contain a lot of salt, which can raise blood pressure and lead to heart disease and strokes.

She cited World Health Organisation guidelines saying a person should not consume more than six grammes of salt per day, while average salt consumption among Thais was found to be between seven and 17 grammes per day.

Nitaya singled out seasoning sauces and pickled fruits and vegetables as containing excessively high levels of salt.

She also blamed excessive salt consumption for causing the body to store too much water, leading to obesity.

Due to worsening eating habits, she said, last year Thais got sick three times a year on average, compared to twice a year five years ago.

Source: DPA

[plachon]

This is a very interesting news item George. It can't have escaped any old hands notice that obesity is on the rise in Thailand, especially among kids. Only 10 years ago, it used to be a rare sight to see an overweight Thai kid upcountry, but now it's commonplace. Snacking on sugar/salt/fat laden food and drinks is part of it, but the other part is lack of exercise. I've noticed that half the kids who used to be kicking/hitting a football/netball /takraw ball around after school, are now vegging out in front of the TV or this terribly addictive form of media - the computer, OR are forced by their parents to "rien pee-set" (take extra classes). Hence, they never burn off all that fat and calories consumed. Sadly, in another 10 years, it could be known as LOL (Land of Lard-<deleted>).

[wolf5370]

Nothing to do with the sudden appearance of American fast food establishments everywhere then. It happened in the US, Britain, Japan and now just about everywhere else. Does anyone follow the trends internationally on Obesity along side roll out of fast food chains I wonder.

Can't say that many of the Thai's I know eat a lot of salt directly. I see the pickled cabbage etc in Lotus, but have never seen anyone actually eating it regularly. Most Thai dishes are 'salted' with Nahm Pla. Thai food is rich in anticarciagens like soya (which is reputed to be a haert food!) and garlic (also a heart food).

Is this a missdirection from the above junk food explosion perhaps?

[timba]

When she refers "Thailand's notoriously spicy foods", I just think about traditional recipes then... but I cannot imagine those thai dishes would suddenly experience a significant increase in salt addition???

Anyway... "Water retention leading to obesity"... Interesting comment. Yes, sure... everyone knows it: the 'junk food generation' got nothing (no one?) to blame, except this sodium in carbohydrate drinks and french fries. The high sugar/fat content of those fast food is certainly for nothing. The lack of exercise is certainly for nothing too.

I am pretty amazed to see the gathering of people at Lumphini Park for a run/weight training / aerobics.

But do not see much of the new generation joining a sports game or exercising. Much more busy with on-line gaming, mobile phoning or window shopping,splurging in snacks, ice-creams or colas right after school.

[plachon]

You surprise me Wolf, when you say you don't know Thais who eat salt directly. EVERY Thai I know eats heaps of the stuff daily, and I don't think it's just a regional thing (I live in Isaan). They eat it in salted meats, fish (pla kem) and vegetables (esp. preserved bamboo shoots). They have loads of it in their daily favourite - somtam, along with sugar, MSG, etc, in both the fish sauce (nam pla) and fermented fish (pla rah) - which is every b/g's staple diet. And most of the other Isaan dishes contain lashings of pla rah, while central and southern Thais compensate with the equally salty shrimp paste (ga-pee).

Then there are all the other sauces and dips which all contain varying quantities of salt. Lastly, have you not noticed the common way of eating fruits like pineapple and mango - dip them in a chilli, sugar and salt combination - rather than let then natural taste of the fruit suffice. The conclusion is most Thais are addicted to extremes of taste whether it's spicy, sweet, sour or salty. In the past, with a balanced diet around rice, fish, veg and small amounts of meat and plenty of exercise (in the rice fields), this was no problem and the salt was sweated out. But now, the diet's changed along (more junk foods) with the lifestyle getting more sedentary, and blooming obesity is the inevitable result.

In the West, it's just too much sugar, fat chips and MacDonald's burgers with a couch-potato lifestyle that's to blame. Is this what Thailand really wants to emulate?

[Dexlowe]

Go into any corner grocery store and notice the amount of salt packets on display. Drive along the major arteries leading into Bangkok and notice the number of road-side stalls that have huge bags of salt for sale. Along with sugar (god, how Thais love sugar!), salt is now a major part of the Thai diet. Order food from a road-side stall and request no salt or sugar, and you're more than just a smelly, hairy creature from another planet -- you're bloody weird. Oh well, email me and I'll give you great recipes for making your own salt-free, sugar-free som tam tai, laap, nam tok moo, gai yang, tom yam testicles, and yam tonsils. But then, don't bother, you're not going to make your own, anyway.

Dex

[MaiChai]

Since I started living in Thailand, and living with my Thai family, I have become conditioned to eating much more salt. For example, virtually everything has fish sauce in it, of which the primary ingredient is salt. Now I am in the UK, and nothing tastes right unless it has loads of salt in it.

When I take my kids to school, it never ceases to amazing me how fat Thai kids are now, and a lot of it has to do with increased wealth of Thais combined with the Thai cultural trait of spoiling your kids and never saying no to whatever they want. Much Thai food is also deep fried, particularly from food vendors.

My Thai wife has a stomach ulcer, which is primarily due to her addiction to chilli. Her mother was the same, and in her old age had a very bad stomach ulcer before she died. Stomach ulcers are a common ailment in Thailand; policemen seem to be particularly suseptable to them; I suspect its the stress combined with fast living and enjoying the fruits of being a policeman (eating and drinking).

Stomach cancer also seems to be a big killer, although I suspect part of the problem here is that it is not diagnosed early enough/very little screening for it. Stomach cancer if not diagnosed early enough, leads to a slow but certain death. It happened to one of my wifes close relatives, and it was really sad seeing the guy slowly die. I also know another Thai with it, although I'm not sure how progressed it is.

[Edward B]

Sorry about your wife, MaiChai. My dad also has an addiction to chilli but I think his stomach has developed a thick lining that prevents any ulcers developing! His favourite party trick is to eat a whole chilli without shedding a tear.

My local drinks outlet sells soy milk for 3 baht a glass. They pre-mix it with sugar added. If you don't want sugar put in it costs an extra 2 baht!  TIT.

[wolf5370]

plachon,

I did say eat salt directly - I countered by stating that they salt most food usong Nahm Pla.

I agree about the geen mango dipping etc - I see that a lot.

I just don't see them eat salt (white crystals rather than in a sauce). So what? Well, I would have thought the sauces they eat are the same as the sauces they've eaten for generations - so what's changed?

Two things:

1) Western junkfood, snacks and chocolate. When I was a school kid in the UK, I had a Thai friend (he moved to the UK aged 5 y/o). His mother sent him to school with 'sweets'. They ranged from dried chillis (amazingly so!) to small unsugared sweets (made from cashew nuts usually). He did not have chocolate until he was well acustomed to western life as a child - i.e. we introduced him to it. Incidently, he is very overweight now - he is a chef and restaurant owner - my fault I suppose!  

2) As MaiChai said, they can afford to buy all in 1.

That's just what I see. I have never lived in Isaan (only visited Kon Kearn for a couiple of weeks once). I have friends from Issan though, and yes they give me pickled fish etc too - I don't eat meat other than seafood, so have limit experience as to the taste/ingredients of Isaan foods containing red meat/foul etc.

[plachon]

There's no need to sprinkle it on from a salt cellar, 'cos the food is so heavily laden with it already, from half a dozen sources/sauces! But what really has changed in recent decades has been the wholesale conversion of Thais to "pong chu rot" - the dreaded MSG. I love Thai food and think the combination of flavours are great (with certain exceptions like dipping fruit in sugar, chilli, salt mixture), but I'm now really starting to watch what I eat out the home, because I know that most restaurants are really ladeling the MSG in their dishes. There's a good chance that this maybe why intestinal related illnesses and cancers are on the rise, but it's likely to be a whole combination of factors.

Anyway, I no longer regard Thai food eaten out of the home as a healthy option and get bored of telling restaurants to leave the MSG out of our food. The message rarely gets back to the cook in any case. Anyway, it would be an interesting piece of research for somebody to do for a PhD - are people really addicted to MSG and like other "drugs", does this mean that doses have been steadily rising over the years? We're the only h/hold I know that doesn't keep any MSG on our kitchen shelves. Eat in for healthy food!

[MaiChai]

Most Thais can't afford western junk food. Instead they eat a lot of Thai "junk food", all that deep fried stuff, etc. Not to mention most Thais can afford to eat and eat and eat, what with so many food vendors everywhere and it being so cheap (even for Thais).