Thai Food (news)

[Cheeky Farang]

Thai cuisine no cure for high cholesterol

If it tastes good it must be good for you, seems to be one of those natural assumptions that often prove incorrect, unfortunately.

Thai cuisine, which has made rapid strides in international popularity over the past decade, is apparently no exception to this gloomy gastronomical rule, although the good news is that it's certainly a lot healthier than junk food in the United States.

Ten years, ago the average bad cholesterol level among Thais was no more than 180 milligrammes per decilitre. Last year, it was 204 mg/dL, according to Ministry of Health figures. Anything above 200 mg/dL of LDL-cholesterol is deemed unhealthy and likely to lead to blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.

Thai physicians and medical researchers find that somewhere between 10 to 14% of all Thais today are suffering from dangerously high levels of cholesterol, which helps explain why heart disease has been the number one killer in the country for

more than a decade.

Clearly, one source of blame for the rising cholesterol may be the introduction of United States fast food chains in most urban centres such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Phuket, over the past decade but that seems insufficient to explain a nationwide phenomenon.

Part of the problem, also lies at home, doctors say.

"Thai food has a lot of variety," said Doctor Nopawan Kittivat, an endocrinologist at Bangkok's Bamrungrad Hospital.

"The cuisine itself is not high in cholesterol but it is sometimes high in saturated fats that can change into cholesterol in the body."

"For instance, coconut milk. This is a plant product. It doesn't have cholesterol, but it has saturated fats and this can change into cholesterol in the body," said Nopawan.

Coconut milk, along with lots of chilli peppers, is the base for most Thai curries such as "kaeng keow wan" (green curry), "paneang" (red curry) or special dishes such as "tom kha gai" (a spicy chicken soup).

Coconut milk is also used to make Thai ice-cream and a host of other deserts.

As the Thai people have become wealthier, the cuisine has become heavier in meats -- pork, chicken and sweetmeats, usually first fried in saturated fats, and seafood such as shrimp and cuttlefish -- the latter is a killer for cholesterol.

"Only the lower class people are still eating somtam [papaya salad] with vegetables and nam prik [a mix of shrimp paste and chillies]. That's healthy," said Nopawan.

Oddly, while cholesterol levels tend to be lower in rural Thailand than in urban areas, they are higher among rural people aged over 60 than their urban counterparts, one recent study showed.

What's clear, before you start avoiding your favourite Thai restaurant, is that there is still a lot about cholesterol that the scientific community is in the dark about.

For instance, associate professor Klaiupsorn Pongrapeeporn, a researcher at the Biochemistry Department of Bangkok's Sirirat hospital, has been studying the frequency of hypercholesterolemia among Thais for several years and has concluded that many cases are due to genetic defects on the 19th chromosome rather than just a fatty diet.

Klaiupsorn's research conducted on several sample groups of Thai people, including children at four different schools in Bangkok, have found that 10 to 14% of the those sampled have hypercholesterolemia or higher than 240 mg/dL.

But DNA tests on many of these hypercholesterolemia cases show that up to half have one of two genetic defects that make it harder for their bodies to absorb cholesterol, leaving it in the blood.

While Klaiumporn believes that people with familial hypercholesterolemia are much more prone to high LDL levels, she still believes that diet plays a role.

"I think that most Thai cuisine is good for our health, but we now eat more Western junk food and some Thai food has been modified making it sweeter, oilier with more meats, squid and shrimp, which are high in cholesterol," said Klaiumporn.

While she acknowledges that Thai cuisine may not be a remedy for high cholesterol, familial or dietary, she has more faith in Thai herbs.

Klaiumporn is currently researching the impact of a Thai herbal medicine adding proteins to defect genes, making them better cholesterol absorbers.

Initial results are encouraging, but she's keeping the name of the plant a secret until her research is published later this year. - Sapa-DPA

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=...rticleid=247345

[Buff-horns]

there is also the fact that very few thais get any minimal exercise at all.

sitting around watching TV and jump on the bike or bus .not much walking or running going on .

[aaaaaa]

many of them (my wife for instance) argue that they eat much less then farangs dairy products like cheese etc. as well as carbohydrates, and avoid too much rice (well, at least slimming minded females) and pastry, but instead eat more protein and somtams and veggies. actually they eat a lot of fatty grilled meats - like all those "mooping" and other BBQed things, rich with saturated fats and fatty acids. I don't know what are the statistics for , say, their "bara" fermented fish paste (their type of achovies) or "boo" (rotten crabs used in somtam) or that popular shrimp paste or fish / meat balls is. may be since those are sea and river products - less fats. however surely pork and chicken are not only grilled, but deep fried on every corner - and oil is smoking black ! which itself definetely of some low grades cheap oil like palm or something like that - most probably bought some used oil from KFC or McD , after it has been used to max and already got plenty of toxins.

and eggs intake is huge. (213mg of cholesterol per egg ! )

one good thing though, even comparing to other asian countries - they eat a lot of raw vegetables, normally served free as side dish on the street stalls and in most foodcourts. not mentioning - plenty of vegetables dishes and all kinds of "yam" (spicy) salads.

[aaaaaa]

oh, and sugar and sweets ! perhaps one of the biggest problems for Thais nowdays - especially kids consume a lot.

Low-fat, high-sugar diet and lipoprotein profiles

....with half of the carbohydrate energy derived from simple sugars...

It has long been known that simple sugars generate much more triacylglycerol than do complex carbohydrates (2), as well as less HDL cholesterol (3–5). More recently, it has been recognized that triacylglycerols are a risk factor for ischemic heart disease

triacylglycerol  or triglyceride an important energy source forming much of the fat stored by the body...

... the main constituent of vegetable oil and animal fats.

Triglycerides play an important role in metabolism as energy sources. They contain twice as much energy (8000 kcal/kg) as carbohydrates. In the intestine, triglycerides are split into glycerol and fatty acids (with the help of lipases and bile secretions), which can then move into blood vessels. The triglycerides are rebuilt in the blood from their fragments and become constituents of lipoproteins. Various tissues can release the free fatty acids and take them up as a source of energy. Fat cells can synthesize and store triglycerides. When the body requires fatty acids as an energy source, the hormone glucagon signals the breakdown of the triglycerides by hormone-sensitive lipase to release free fatty acids.

In the human body, high levels of triglycerides in the bloodstream have been linked to atherosclerosis, and, by extension, the risk of heart disease and stroke. However, the negative impact of raised levels of triglycerides is lower than that of LDL-cholesterol. The risk can be partly accounted for a strong inverse relationship between triglyceride level and HDL-cholesterol level.

Other diseases caused by high triglycerides include pancreatitis.

well, yeah - relation to HDL which isn't bad.... however it has its own negative effect. sugar intake definetely encreases one's "adipose" - which in turn is "being more prone to induce insulin resistance"

so, high sugar causes obesity and insulin resistance - which lowers HDL cholesterol and therefore prevents HDL (which is sort of broom for taking out LDL) from decreasing LDL - which rises accordingly.

Relation of fasting plasma insulin concentration to high density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in men.

insulin resistance

[aughie]

Sugars and refined carbohydrates wreak havoc with insulin levels. Here's a good read on the subject.

"Carbohydrate intake causes a rise in blood sugar. A rise in blood sugar causes a rise in insulin.

The high intake of carbohydrates and resulting insulin production results in the cells becoming less and less responsive to insulin.

In excess amounts insulin causes the body to store both fat and blood sugar as fat.

Some people do not gain weight as their insulin rises, but do develop high blood pressure or heart disease.

Insulin lowers high blood sugar.

Insulin puts the metabolism in storage mode.

Insulin converts protein and blood sugar to fat.

Insulin causes fat in the diet to be stored in fat cells.

Insulin increases the production of cholesterol by the body.

Insulin causes the kidneys to retain water in the body.

Insulin stimulates the growth of artery wall cells.

Insulin stimulates the use of blood sugar for energy.

There is a second hormone involved in these processes. It is

called glucagon. Glucagon works in opposition to insulin and has

the opposite effects:

Glucagon raises low blood sugar.

Glucagon puts the metabolism in burning mode.

Glucagon converts protein and fat to glucose.

Glucagon causes dietary fat to be used for energy.

Glucagon releases fat from fat cells to be used for energy.

Glucagon reduces cholesterol production.

Glucagon causes the kidneys to release water from the body.

Glucagon causes artery wall cells to return to normal.

Glucagon stimulates the use of fat for energy.

It does not take a towering IQ to see that reducing insulin and

raising glucagon is in our best interests! The goal is the

correct balance of both hormones. There is a cheap, safe, and

effective way to do this. It is not a shot or pill. It is a

matter of keeping protein intake at the correct level, and

reducing carbohydrate intake to the level that is needed."

Read more here. http://www.royalrife.com/protein.html

Coconut oil not so bad. Hydrogenated coconut oil bad. Read here. http://www.templeofthai.com/food/coconut_a...holesterol.html

Refined sugars, highly processed flour and hydrogenated oil are found in processed and packaged foods. These are the items that contribute to ill health.

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