What Thai Foods Are Ideal For A Diet Meal?

[simon43]

I'm not a great one for cooking and now living on my own means that it's easiest to buy food from the Thai street stalls for my evening meal.

I know to avoid fried foods. Any suggestions as to what Thai foods are low in calories, fat etc? (I like things like Guay Dio etc).

Thanks

Simon

[Riley'sLife]

Maybe Som Tam. Try it with fruit too. If you Take Away, get them to separate the liquid as it will keep longer without becoming a slimey mess. I usually add my own home-roasted peanuts, but skip the crab, and just have a couple of chili. Eat with BBQ chicken and sticky rice.

Sour Mango with a soy sauce dip, very refreshing snack. There's so much delicious fruit about at the moment too. Buy a blender and make yourself a different fruit smoothie every day. Healthy, nutritious and delicious. Add plain yoghurt. Quick and easy.

Keep away from Satay, coconut milk sauces etc if you are worried about calories.

I find it healthier to eat small amounts often, rather than have huge meals, and most importantly keep the water intake high and exercise at least 5 times a week for a couple of hours each time. Cycling is my favourite. That way I don't have to worry too much about calories.

[harrry]

My doctor said to cut down on the rice...only eat half of it.

[getgoin]

The big problem with eating Thai food at the street stalls and most Thai restaurants is the palm oil that is used in most Thai cooking. Palm oil has the highest percentage of saturated fat than any other vegetable oil, more than double the saturated fat of its nearest competitor, cotton seed oil, and more than 3 times more than soybean oil. In fact, palm oil is more saturated than lard and beef fat. Only butter has more saturated fat.

Why is palm oil the most wisely used oil in Thailand? It is cheaper.

So if you plan to have a fried dish or a Thai dish that uses oil you'd better check if they use palm oil. Chances are of the restaurant uses soybean oil, plenty of fresh vegetables and they always give you a small amount of protein, it will be a healthy dish.

[madcatlady]

It's a good idea to cut down on carbs, especially white rice. It causes your blood sugar to skyrocket and an hour later you're hungry again for more carbs!

Thai spicy salads -som tam, cucumber salad - are usually good, as long as they don't add too much sugar.

You could always try 'gao lao' which is noodle soup but without the noodles. You get all the other bits and the veggies but no noodles. Yummy!

Avoid Phad Thai like the plague! And anything with coconut milk.

If you do weaken and order street food, order any dish 'sai nam mun nit noy' and hopefully they'll cook it with less oil.

Good luck!

MCL

[mauiguy90]

Yam wun sen is a thai favorite for low calories. Its basically glass noodles which are boiled first, then seafood, meats and a number of veggies are added along with a thai sauce presumably of fish sauce... Its often mixed with muu saap, which is grinded pork but you can avoid this by ordering yam wun sen thalee, which is only seafood.

[londonthai]

no any carb (rice, noodles, bread, pizza), no sugar, fat and salt.

instead of supper get some fruits or any soup with a lots of fresh (bean sprouts, cabbage etc) or marinated vegetables.

my favourite is pat pak ro meet (fried mixed vegetables), without rice. Tell the cook how you want it to be done.

instead of meat, fish and seafood try to get tofu and mushrooms (both reach in proteins), because they don't have any fats. In meat there might be 20% fat.

[Hokie1200]

I always find that Pomelo is a good detox as well as some really spicy Som Tom. There are a few restaurants out there that have some soups made from various chinese herbs, spices and mushrooms. I use to go to one around Thonglor Soi 17, but it closed a few months back. I would image you could find something similar in China Town though. I heard that a soup made with Bitter Gourd is also very dietary, however personally I don't like the taste.

[L33tsp33k]

Som tam, less rice (I find that sticky rice fills me up more), morning glory, any vegetable dish that is stir-fried (not in a curry), spring rolls (the Viet, non-fried way),tom yum, pho (it's Viet but I've seen it at many food courts), fruit, some sushi, many of the spicy salads...

I think the important thing to do is just watch out for: lots of oil/sauce, fatty meats, things cooked with coconut milk, lots of rice/noodles.

Portion size is a big thing too, but I feel like in Thailand it isn't much of a problem like it is elsewhere. Good luck to you!

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

The soups are good, but can be high in sodium. Don't eat anything made with coconut milk. Probably the healthiest dish is chicken and squash over noodles (sorry, don't know the Thai name for that dish).