Booze, Obesity Cause Most Early Deaths Among Thais

[JSixpack]

Thai food uses a lot of coconut milk which has high levels of LDL cholesterol.

Complete ignorance. Only animal products contain cholesterol, not that it matters.

Amazing how people on the forum just pull things out of their ass and post them.

Combine that with mounds of refined sugar and deep fried chicken, pork, fish etc and a lack of exercise and you have the results you see today.

No, except for the sugar and the breading, if used, on the fried dishes.

[thailand49]

First the majority poor Thais can afford to go to KFC, Big Mac.. etc... their dying from their own cooking. Go to the Thai markets... That fly chicken is good because it is fried in that grease that they use over and over. Majority of items that are sold are fried, if it isn't fried to them it doesn't taste good. Check out those cheap drinks, like their ice coffee or ice tea loaded with sugar. Just recently a doctor completed his study and rated sugar should be a ban substance because of its affect it has on people. It can be addictive and cancer studies have proven that cancer cell loves sugar.

Lets not get into the pots and pans they sell and use at these market.. full of lead. Ever wash one you will know what I mean when you actually see the lead being wash off of them. As for the motorcycle death... I learn from the years living here that if they don't die today they will tomorrow! In the end, it is what it is Thailand is a good place to live but as for the government they are all talk and this study is just another one that the government has no intend in acting on it! so 3 years from now the same professor will have the same study and it goes on and on.

Edited August 16, 2012 by metisdead
: Please do not post using bold fonts. Bold font removed.

[Kananga]

Thai food uses a lot of coconut milk which has high levels of LDL cholesterol.

Complete ignorance. Only animal products contain cholesterol, not that it matters.

Amazing how people on the forum just pull things out of their ass and post them.

Combine that with mounds of refined sugar and deep fried chicken, pork, fish etc and a lack of exercise and you have the results you see today.

No, except for the sugar and the breading, if used, on the fried dishes.

I was under the impression that Coconut milk contains a large proportion of lauric acid, a saturated fat that raises blood cholesterol levels by increasing the amount of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

[Tanuki]

For a culture whose entire spiritual belief system is based on cause and effect, the Thais do not seem to grasp the same concept in their everyday lives. If you overeat and become obese, you will be prone to be unhealthy and die early. If you get drunk, you will be more likely to get into an auto crash. Smoking tobacco will increase the probability that you will die at an earlier age, etc., etc.

How difficult is it to understand: If you do "A" then "B" will happen...and You are doing "A", therefore...?

your last line sums it up perfectly. they never get to therefore....

If I pull into this busy main road from this small soi without stopping and looking for traffic first...

[Tanuki]

For <snip's> sake. Why all the badmouthing of the USA? Look at all the Thai food stalls on the street. That isn't water boiling in those vats.

Yes it's complete ignorance. For a country of fat asses they seem to do an amazing job kicking everyone's ass in the Olympics.

[Tanuki]

I don't think they take this topic seriously. They all laugh at the grossly obese kid with the bowl cut (or is he an adult?)

I watch Thais sprinkle MSG on their food by the table spoon, mix coloured "healthy boy" syrup into a drink...Land of no consequences

[Tanuki]

We Americans are killing off the rest of the world with our fast food..

If we can't kill everyone with bullets and bombs, we will give you sugar diabetes, clogged arteries, and all sorts of diseases who

words have far too many letters to even try to make an attempt to pronounce.

If we can't kiill off the chinese with hi tech war fare we will poison all of them with fast food.

I doubt the majority of Thai fatties eat much American food. This country is obsessed with sugar. A lot of Thai food is laden in sugar, fried and high in cholesterol.

True. SUGAR everywhere all the time, rice, noodles, breading, salt. Modern Thai cuisine easily accounts for it. Not cholesterol; been debunked, that one. Nor lack of exercise, not very important for weight loss or weight maintenance.

What's with the knee-jerk anti-Americanism? Projection of self-loathing I assume.

Thai food uses a lot of coconut milk which has high levels of LDL cholesterol. Combine that with mounds of refined sugar and deep fried chicken, pork, fish etc and a lack of exercise and you have the results you see today.

thai food uses a lot of coconut milk??? som tam, phad thai, phad kaprow, kai jeaw, tom yum, gai phad med mamuang, keang jued, keang som, phad phak ruam, phad phak boong, larb.......I can think of more dishes without coconut milk than with it mate.

[NoshowJones]

The government needed to improve safer transportation systems and people should have convenient pathways for walking or bicycling so they can exercise and enhance their well-being, he said.

In my area, footpaths are so crowded with vendors that it is often necessary to walk on the roadway, and risk being run down by road traffic. Footpaths are so crowded and in such poor condition that they constitute a major health hazard in themselves. There are few parks in which to seek tranquility and passive recreation. Bicycle paths have reverted to vendor stalls without enforcement of their status as bicycle paths. Noise and other types of pollution are unrestrained. The list of factors militating against good physical and mental health are voluminous. One wonders what priority administrations place on people's health, other than throwing megabaht at treatment, rather than prevention of disease.

There actually is something Thailand is doing to give people exercise if they want it. there is fitness equipment in parks all over the country. I use them five days a week.

[NoshowJones]

'people should have convenient pathways for walking or bicycling so they can exercise and enhance their well-being', like that's ever going to happen!

There are exercise machines in parks all over Thailand. It's up to the people to use them.

[metisdead]

An overly derogatory post directed at Thais has been removed:

8) Not to post extremely negative views of Thailand or derogatory comments directed towards all Thais.

[Andre0720]

KFC, McDonald, imported from America.

Deep frying, imported from China.

Some decades ago, these did not exist in Thailand.

And now many restaurants think that adding sugar to dishes will improve them. Many times, I refuse the dish, saying that I do taste sugar in them. They agree that sugar is added, but are bemused that I do not like that.

Tobacco, well, that must be the killer number one in the world, or soon will be. It just takes more time.

A friend told me that he got an ice cream cone at McDonald. I went to get one. I was surprised to see farangs and Thais eating there. I never even thought of eating there in 8 years.

And looking at the customers there....hummm...all too fat.

[freedom4life]

We Americans are killing off the rest of the world with our fast food..

If we can't kill everyone with bullets and bombs, we will give you sugar diabetes, clogged arteries, and all sorts of diseases who

words have far too many letters to even try to make an attempt to pronounce.

If we can't kiill off the chinese with hi tech war fare we will poison all of them with fast food.

I doubt the majority of Thai fatties eat much American food. This country is obsessed with sugar. A lot of Thai food is laden in sugar, fried and high in cholesterol.

True. SUGAR everywhere all the time, rice, noodles, breading, salt. Modern Thai cuisine easily accounts for it. Not cholesterol; been debunked, that one. Nor lack of exercise, not very important for weight loss or weight maintenance.

What's with the knee-jerk anti-Americanism? Projection of self-loathing I assume.

I don't like ameri(k)an-pop-culture, their foreign-policies..along with the deadly fast-food chains to boot.

[JSixpack]

Thai food uses a lot of coconut milk which has high levels of LDL cholesterol.

Complete ignorance. Only animal products contain cholesterol, not that it matters.

Amazing how people on the forum just pull things out of their ass and post them.

Combine that with mounds of refined sugar and deep fried chicken, pork, fish etc and a lack of exercise and you have the results you see today.

No, except for the sugar and the breading, if used, on the fried dishes.

I was under the impression that Coconut milk contains a large proportion of lauric acid, a saturated fat that raises blood cholesterol levels by increasing the amount of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

But that's totally NOT what you said before. Lauric acid isn't LDL cholesterol.

Re your NEW point, it's really not true either. You have much to learn. Start here w/ a New York Times article: What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?

Watch

Watch

.

And if you need more detail and research, you can read Why We Get Fat.

Then things will start to become clear and you'll understand the real reason for the growing problem w/ obesity in Thailand (as well as elsewhere).

Besides, as another poster observes, Thais don't use coconut milk in most dishes.

[rijb]

Processed food is more responsible for world-wide obesity than fast food.

Years ago, the Japanese used seaweed as their favorite flavor enhancer without realizing that it was the glutamic acid in the seaweed that made food taste better.

Glutamic acid combined with sodium forms MSG. MSG has a number of side effects, especially weight gain. Rats fed MSG become grotesquely obese.

MSG arrived in America and Europe when mass production of processed food was booming. And now the dirty secret of the food processing industry is the use of MSG in just about everything.

PS: Let's hope the Thais don't start eating Marmite. Marmite has more glutamate in it than any other manufactured product on the planet.

Edited August 16, 2012 by rijb

[Bagwan]

We Americans are killing off the rest of the world with our fast food..

If we can't kill everyone with bullets and bombs, we will give you sugar diabetes, clogged arteries, and all sorts of diseases who

words have far too many letters to even try to make an attempt to pronounce.

If we can't kiill off the chinese with hi tech war fare we will poison all of them with fast food.

I doubt the majority of Thai fatties eat much American food. This country is obsessed with sugar. A lot of Thai food is laden in sugar, fried and high in cholesterol.

A lack of addressing problems head on, no education on the benefits of being healthy and eating bad food in moderation, a more sedentary lifestyle brought on by an increased disposable income are far more likely contributors than the humble hamburger.

So McDonalds, Pizza Hut. Svensons, KFC and others of that ilk wax rich on just farang custom then?

If it is any comfort I agree with the rest of your post.

[Kananga]

I doubt the majority of Thai fatties eat much American food. This country is obsessed with sugar. A lot of Thai food is laden in sugar, fried and high in cholesterol.

True. SUGAR everywhere all the time, rice, noodles, breading, salt. Modern Thai cuisine easily accounts for it. Not cholesterol; been debunked, that one. Nor lack of exercise, not very important for weight loss or weight maintenance.

What's with the knee-jerk anti-Americanism? Projection of self-loathing I assume.

Thai food uses a lot of coconut milk which has high levels of LDL cholesterol. Combine that with mounds of refined sugar and deep fried chicken, pork, fish etc and a lack of exercise and you have the results you see today.

thai food uses a lot of coconut milk??? som tam, phad thai, phad kaprow, kai jeaw, tom yum, gai phad med mamuang, keang jued, keang som, phad phak ruam, phad phak boong, larb.......I can think of more dishes without coconut milk than with it mate.

Umm never said there wasn't. But for your efforts of naming some thai food that doesnt contain coconut milk (although funnily enough many of your examples are often fried in dirty old carcinogenic oil) there's a grilled pig's ear in the mail.

[Kananga]

We Americans are killing off the rest of the world with our fast food..

If we can't kill everyone with bullets and bombs, we will give you sugar diabetes, clogged arteries, and all sorts of diseases who

words have far too many letters to even try to make an attempt to pronounce.

If we can't kiill off the chinese with hi tech war fare we will poison all of them with fast food.

I doubt the majority of Thai fatties eat much American food. This country is obsessed with sugar. A lot of Thai food is laden in sugar, fried and high in cholesterol.

A lack of addressing problems head on, no education on the benefits of being healthy and eating bad food in moderation, a more sedentary lifestyle brought on by an increased disposable income are far more likely contributors than the humble hamburger.

So McDonalds, Pizza Hut. Svensons, KFC and others of that ilk wax rich on just farang custom then?

If it is any comfort I agree with the rest of your post.

No, but the examples you provided do not represent the majority of restaurants and food stalls in Thailand.

[Kananga]

Complete ignorance. Only animal products contain cholesterol, not that it matters.

Amazing how people on the forum just pull things out of their ass and post them.

Combine that with mounds of refined sugar and deep fried chicken, pork, fish etc and a lack of exercise and you have the results you see today.

No, except for the sugar and the breading, if used, on the fried dishes.

I was under the impression that Coconut milk contains a large proportion of lauric acid, a saturated fat that raises blood cholesterol levels by increasing the amount of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

But that's totally NOT what you said before. Lauric acid isn't LDL cholesterol.

Re your NEW point, it's really not true either. You have much to learn. Start here w/ a New York Times article: What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?

Watch

Watch

.

And if you need more detail and research, you can read Why We Get Fat.

Then things will start to become clear and you'll understand the real reason for the growing problem w/ obesity in Thailand (as well as elsewhere).

Besides, as another poster observes, Thais don't use coconut milk in most dishes.

I never said they did use coconut milk in most dishes. Lets start with getting the basics right shall we?

[swlondonmum]

I have been with my Thai husband for 10 years (mostly in the UK but now in Thailand) - I had an image of Thai people eating lots of fresh, healthy food and that is often the case even though our generation (in our 30s) and older have developed a taste for more sweet food/processed food/junk food. Fine in moderation. But looking around there are a lot of kids in our children's generation who are being brought up on more and more rubbish, it reminds me of the UK in the 70s and 80s when processed food was a novelty then started to get cheap and became an everyday thing. As one poster said Thai people have always liked sweet things - again the problem is the same as when English people at stodgy sweet puddings - they were doing physical work all day and burnt up those calories but now they are living more sedentary lives they are not using the energy but still have the sweet tastes and consume even more as it's cheaper and more available. I am not going to claim to be an expert on the causes - though it's pretty clear sugar is a big factor. Just like in the Uk you see people guzzling litres of sugary fizzy water and consuming tons of extra calories and sugar that they don't need. Fried meat I don;t know as people have always eaten fried meat and not got fat - I guess it's the quantity involved if this is a problem. And although I am happy to use and eat MSG (though I don't tend to use it a lot) I agree that in general processed food and additives are not great. It's kind of sad to see Thailand going through what the Uk and other countries have been through but that's life I guess - we all crave the same things at the end of the day. It's tough trying to protect my kids from the junk in a country where people happily shove any kind of junk food down their throats without having any idea what they have already eaten that day - all well intentioned I know but that doesn't make it any healthier.

[Andre0720]

Processed food is more responsible for world-wide obesity than fast food.

Years ago, the Japanese used seaweed as their favorite flavor enhancer without realizing that it was the glutamic acid in the seaweed that made food taste better.

Glutamic acid combined with sodium forms MSG. MSG has a number of side effects, especially weight gain. Rats fed MSG become grotesquely obese.

MSG arrived in America and Europe when mass production of processed food was booming. And now the dirty secret of the food processing industry is the use of MSG in just about everything.

PS: Let's hope the Thais don't start eating Marmite. Marmite has more glutamate in it than any other manufactured product on the planet.

I did some researh some years ago on that topic. And a related study on rats being given MSG and its consequences. While the title of the article was Rats, Msg, and obese rats. When you read the study, it does not conclude that MSG made the rats obese. Most people did not read the study itsel, just the title.

Japan is known for the use of MSG, but not known for obesity. MSG became known to the western hemisphere during the war. When asian soldiers were killed, and their rations taken, the question was then asked as to why the rations of the asians were more tasteful.

I do not mind some MSG in my food. Some people are allergic to MSG, just like allergy to peanuts. I am not.

If someone can correct me, I do not mind learning...

[rijb]

Google 'MSG obese' and learn all you want.

[koto]

We Americans are killing off the rest of the world with our fast food..

If we can't kill everyone with bullets and bombs, we will give you sugar diabetes, clogged arteries, and all sorts of diseases who

words have far too many letters to even try to make an attempt to pronounce.

If we can't kill off the Chinese with hi tech war fare we will poison all of them with fast food.

So true

Who brought over the McDonald's, coke, filters for cigarettes, plastic, disposable lighters, disposable diapers? Was it just for profit? Or was it to help other countries like Thailand, to have a healthier, cleaner, safer life style? Then we bitch on how they don't take care, seems to me, they did OK before the Farang sold them a bill of junk foods, drinks and other garbage that is trashing their country, seems to me, years ago Thais, ate off of a leaf, when finished threw it on the ground and it would help other things grow and then we came.

Hey what do I know! I could be wrong, I could be crazy or both, I'm just not proud of the soooooooooo many things we have done to other countries.

We find beautiful unspoiled places and try to change them to our way, Hawaii is a good example, the Aloha spirit has left and it has become another California and an asphalt, cement jungle.

[hellodolly]

For a culture whose entire spiritual belief system is based on cause and effect, the Thais do not seem to grasp the same concept in their everyday lives. If you overeat and become obese, you will be prone to be unhealthy and die early. If you get drunk, you will be more likely to get into an auto crash. Smoking tobacco will increase the probability that you will die at an earlier age, etc., etc.

How difficult is it to understand: If you do "A" then "B" will happen...and You are doing "A", therefore...?

Well it is Thailand and they are not worried about how long they can live. They are a bit more concerned with enjoying there life.

By the way if A is not done B will be done any how so enjoy it and quit worrying about it. If it bothers you do some thing about it.

Does any one know what the average life expectancy is in Thailand say compared to Canada or Afghanistan? It might be that we are doing better than we thought.

[Kananga]

For a culture whose entire spiritual belief system is based on cause and effect, the Thais do not seem to grasp the same concept in their everyday lives. If you overeat and become obese, you will be prone to be unhealthy and die early. If you get drunk, you will be more likely to get into an auto crash. Smoking tobacco will increase the probability that you will die at an earlier age, etc., etc.

How difficult is it to understand: If you do "A" then "B" will happen...and You are doing "A", therefore...?

Well it is Thailand and they are not worried about how long they can live. They are a bit more concerned with enjoying there life.

By the way if A is not done B will be done any how so enjoy it and quit worrying about it. If it bothers you do some thing about it.

Does any one know what the average life expectancy is in Thailand say compared to Canada or Afghanistan? It might be that we are doing better than we thought.

The average life expectancy in Canada is 80.7

In Thailand it is 70.6. For Thai males it is just 66.5

Fourteen years is a long time.

[Rob8891]

deleted..... got beaten to the response....

Edited August 16, 2012 by Rob8891

[Geekfreaklover]

Unfortunately Booze and Obesity problems in Thailand is a good example on how Yingluck policy went wrong.

She should tax more on food and booze to reduce unnecessary consumption.

Yingluck's taxing the poor policy seems to be doing quite well. Bangkok bus fares increased, increase in energy costs. Nice of you to point out that the cost of food should be increased, and yes booze. The problem with those potential tax increases are that folks tend to work better when they have something to eat and tend to not question the miserable status quo they find themselves in after a few bottles of Chang.

Old school economics, dear boy. Keep 'em fed and hungry for more..

Edited August 16, 2012 by Geekfreaklover

[mrfill]

im surprised that it isnt drugs, accident or violence that cause early death for most

Which proves that drugs are REALLY dangerous and kids had better stick to alcohol as that is legal and safe.

Well, that how the argument of the hang/flog pious morons goes..... it just doesnt stand any analysis but consumes huge amounts of money that could be used better elsewhere.

[Andre0720]

Google 'MSG obese' and learn all you want.

I took your advice:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamic_acid_(flavor)

Obesity

In 2008, a collaboration between American and Chinese researchers found a positive statistical association between MSG intake and obesity in humans: Prevalence of overweight was significantly higher in MSG users than in non-users. The population in this study was 752 healthy rural Chinese villagers between the ages of 40 and 59, of whom 48.7% were women.^[28][29][30] The results of this study, however, were challenged in another Chinese study released in April 2010. The new study took two measurements, one in 2002, and one in 2007. By comparing weights of 1282 Chinese men and women and controlling for other food intake, the researchers showed that there was no correlation between MSG and weight gain over a five year period.^[31]

[bkkjames]

So will the Govt crackdown on eating fatty foods or drinking in public places and fine those who do 5k?

In the name of public health = we want answers... you want the truth? you cant handle the truth lol

[NowImEasy]

We Americans are killing off the rest of the world with our fast food..

If we can't kill everyone with bullets and bombs, we will give you sugar diabetes, clogged arteries, and all sorts of diseases who

words have far too many letters to even try to make an attempt to pronounce.

If we can't kiill off the chinese with hi tech war fare we will poison all of them with fast food.

Speak for yourself. Another loser who blames America for the world's problems as if everyone in the world can't think for themselves and look to America for answers. Read "Lay of the Last Minstral" by Sir Walter Scott. And no, it's not about sex.