Healthy Foods/supplements Available?

[pineapplegirl]

I'll be moving to BKK in a few weeks, wondering what I need to bring.

Could we also possibly do a sticky with health foods/supplements available (and where)? Might be helpful to others too - I haven't seen one, apologies if I missed it!

I'm looking for:

Pure buckwheat (noodles/flour/groats)

Rice/arrow root/potato/chick pea flour (or any other gluten free flours)

Quinoa

Digestive enzymes

Preservative, colour, gluten, sugar free, vegan vitamins (I found them in Jakarta so hoping in bkk too!)

Yerba Mate tea (this should also go in the weight loss section?)

Raw cacao

Cacao butter

Agave syrup

Coconut oil

Also, is there a decent selection in general of healthy foods ie sugar/gluten/dye/preservative free foods in the health food shops?

Thanks!

[Jingthing]

Most of those will be difficult to find. Coconut oil is available all over the place here.

[pineapplegirl]

Most of those will be difficult to find. Coconut oil is available all over the place here.

Thanks for the reply. I actually found an online supplier in Chiang Mai for the yerba mate and a friend told me buckwheat is available in most stores, so that's a start. Too bad about the rest. Am really surprised about the vitamins...I found them in Jakarta, assumed somewhere like bkk would have them.

[billzant]

I would strongly recommend adapting your diet to what is available, and then with some searching you can eat healthily.

I followed a vegan macrobiotic diet for a while, now just macrobiotic. The Thai herbs that are added to many foods such as Tom Yam are very beneficial.

There is also available healthy organic brown rice.

I have found Aden health shop very useful. I believe Lemon Farm can offer some good foods but I don't have one in my area - I don't live in Bkk.

There are some healthy foods in Siam Paragon and Emporium, as well as Villa supermarkets.

But for me the way to diet was to decide what I needed, see what was available and adapt.

Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best,

BillZ

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

there is finding something and then the case of finding something imported that is heavily taxed and expensive.

Trying to adapt is good advice or shipping your own needs in is good also.

digestive enzyme supplements are tough but some local products like kombucha tea and noni fruit fermented enzyme beverage are available and not expensive. I have found a helpful three culture probiotic liquid that is fermented on molassas that is very good and cheap also. It was traditionally used for agriculture and now adapted for health purposes. Only 22 baht for about 100ml at health shop here in CM.

Raw organic goats milk/yogurt is fairly easy to find

Raw cacao I have never found at any price but can find non organic powder or 99% bars. Anybody out there with cacao sources?

Never seen agave but north american organic grade B maple syrup at a little higher price is readily available.

of the so called Superfoods that are the rage these days

Goji or Wolfberries are common and cheap but often not organic

Spirulina is relatively cheap and easy to find because its mfg'd in Thailand

Ginseng is available but relatively expensive import from Korea or China

jiaogulan is common and called the immortality herb in China. Usually brewed as tea or supplement capsule

Stevia powder is cheap

A long list of chinese medicine herbs too long to discuss here but worth investigating for the health curious and mostly very affordable.

[pineapplegirl]

I would strongly recommend adapting your diet to what is available, and then with some searching you can eat healthily.

I followed a vegan macrobiotic diet for a while, now just macrobiotic. The Thai herbs that are added to many foods such as Tom Yam are very beneficial.

There is also available healthy organic brown rice.

I have found Aden health shop very useful. I believe Lemon Farm can offer some good foods but I don't have one in my area - I don't live in Bkk.

There are some healthy foods in Siam Paragon and Emporium, as well as Villa supermarkets.

But for me the way to diet was to decide what I needed, see what was available and adapt.

Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best,

BillZ

Hi Billz,

Thanks for info! My diet is fairly easy...I just try to eat as many raw foods as possible with a few macrobiotic items. I don't eat meat but I'm not vegan. I know on my last trip I pretty much lived off the street fruit vendors, but there's a couple of dishes I like making once in a while. I am really looking forward to the fish....

Re the spices, I'll explain in my next reply....

[pineapplegirl]

there is finding something and then the case of finding something imported that is heavily taxed and expensive.

Trying to adapt is good advice or shipping your own needs in is good also.

digestive enzyme supplements are tough but some local products like kombucha tea and noni fruit fermented enzyme beverage are available and not expensive. I have found a helpful three culture probiotic liquid that is fermented on molassas that is very good and cheap also. It was traditionally used for agriculture and now adapted for health purposes. Only 22 baht for about 100ml at health shop here in CM.

Raw organic goats milk/yogurt is fairly easy to find

Raw cacao I have never found at any price but can find non organic powder or 99% bars. Anybody out there with cacao sources?

Never seen agave but north american organic grade B maple syrup at a little higher price is readily available.

of the so called Superfoods that are the rage these days

Goji or Wolfberries are common and cheap but often not organic

Spirulina is relatively cheap and easy to find because its mfg'd in Thailand

Ginseng is available but relatively expensive import from Korea or China

jiaogulan is common and called the immortality herb in China. Usually brewed as tea or supplement capsule

Stevia powder is cheap

A long list of chinese medicine herbs too long to discuss here but worth investigating for the health curious and mostly very affordable.

Oops, I messed something up in the message formatting!

Hi,

Thanks so much for the detailed response. Great to know about the spirulina and goji...

I love maple syrup. I use it in my recipes (I love to "un-cook") but I find agave has a smoother taste that doesn't over power the dish, but maple is great to start with. I'm a partner in a raw foods business in the middle east and there was nothing there either but I got local businesses to stock the items I needed and became the distributor for the ones I couldn't live without. Other than that maybe I can bribe house guests to bring what I need? Seems like everyone I know is planning to come visit!

Unfortunately I'm one of those freaks who has a dietary problem...I'm histamine intolerant which means I can't have anything that raises the histamine level in my body because I don't have the necessary enzymes in my body to process it. An excess of histamine causes me major probs including shaking, hives all over, hair loss, hormonal imbalances, diabetes like symptoms, dizziness, tinnitus and many others.

A major culprit is fermented foods, which I love. I eat organic mainly because pesticides/colours/preservatives cause a spike in histamine levels and I'd really rather enjoy some fermented foods than waste it on chemicals I don't need. I'm on a 6 month course of enzymes to heal my body (I was on 6 months of antibiotics which is what did me in) and then I'm hoping I'll be much better. I'm really hoping some TCM and acupuncture will help.

Have either of you been to Raysana cafe?

Thanks again!

Edited February 23, 2010 by pineapplegirl

[wpcoe]

I have found a helpful three culture probiotic liquid that is fermented on molassas that is very good and cheap also. It was traditionally used for agriculture and now adapted for health purposes. Only 22 baht for about 100ml at health shop here in CM.

What is that product called? Is it a commercially packaged product available nationwide, or something your local pharmacist "brews" up?

[wpcoe]

Thanks for info! My diet is fairly easy...I just try to eat as many raw foods as possible with a few macrobiotic items.

Have either of you been to Raysana cafe?

Funny you should ask. I was going to recommend you try the Rasayana's Raw Cafe (http://www.rasayanaretreat.com/raws/) based on your reference to raw foods in your earlier post. Then you ask about it in a subsequent post.

Although in general I try to eat healthy foods, I'm not a raw foods devotee. However, when I lived in Bangkok, I used to enjoy taking visiting friends who were also into healthy lifestyles to the Rasayana Raw Cafe. While I have never eaten at another raw foods restaurant, so had nothing to compare it to, my friends quite liked the place.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

I have found a helpful three culture probiotic liquid that is fermented on molassas that is very good and cheap also. It was traditionally used for agriculture and now adapted for health purposes. Only 22 baht for about 100ml at health shop here in CM.

What is that product called? Is it a commercially packaged product available nationwide, or something your local pharmacist "brews" up?

It's definitely not a major brand. It comes in a small brown bottles and is delivered by a vendor to the local health food store(s) where they slap a label on it.

As best as i can tell its based on this mother culture or something close to it. I suppose anyone could make their own by using the probiotic as a starter or maybe have to obtain a piece of the scooby(mushroom) or whatever they call it.

as promising as the cultures are they may not be that effective at actually arriving at the large intestine via of oral ingestion as the stomach acids will kill most of them.

It probably makes a lot more sense to introduce via diluted enema to the colon and large intestine.

SCD mother cultures info

if it is the same culture then contains the following

* Bacillus subtilis var natto

* Bifidobacterium animalis

* Bifidobacterium bifidum

* Bifidobacterium longum

* Lactobacillus acidophilus

* Lactobacillus bulgaricus

* Lactobacillus casei

* Lactobacillus delbrueckii

* Lactobacillus fermentum

* Lactobacillus plantarum

* Lactococcus lactis

* Lactococcus lactis subsp.diacetylactis

* Saccharomyces cerevisiae

* Streptococcus thermophilus

[pineapplegirl]

Thanks for info! My diet is fairly easy...I just try to eat as many raw foods as possible with a few macrobiotic items.

Have either of you been to Raysana cafe?

Funny you should ask. I was going to recommend you try the Rasayana's Raw Cafe (http://www.rasayanaretreat.com/raws/) based on your reference to raw foods in your earlier post. Then you ask about it in a subsequent post.

Although in general I try to eat healthy foods, I'm not a raw foods devotee. However, when I lived in Bangkok, I used to enjoy taking visiting friends who were also into healthy lifestyles to the Rasayana Raw Cafe. While I have never eaten at another raw foods restaurant, so had nothing to compare it to, my friends quite liked the place.

The reviews for Raysana look pretty good, I think I'll head out there before looking anywhere else, I'm hoping they'll know where I can get a few things...