Thais Consume Too Much Salt: Survey

[Arkady]

They also seem to eat too much sugar judging by the sugar that gets dumped into virtually every dish of Thai food in the kitchen with more being stacked onto noodles by the diners themselves. That is not to mention the sickly sweet instant coffee served up to visitors, mounds of sugar added to fruit juices, yoghurts and just about everything else that sugar can be dissolved into plus quite a few that it can't. The sugar lobby does famously out of it, as do the private hospitals treating the epidemic of type 2 diabetes in young people.

[Thai at Heart]

They also seem to eat too much sugar judging by the sugar that gets dumped into virtually every dish of Thai food in the kitchen with more being stacked onto noodles by the diners themselves. That is not to mention the sickly sweet instant coffee served up to visitors, mounds of sugar added to fruit juices, yoghurts and just about everything else that sugar can be dissolved into plus quite a few that it can't. The sugar lobby does famously out of it, as do the private hospitals treating the epidemic of type 2 diabetes in young people.

Now now, they actually subsidize domestic sugar. Bizarre huh?

[Lancelot]

Anyway, I've never gone in for this idea that Thai food is inherently healthy. Stir fry, deep fry, coconut milk, palm oil, sugar and msg.

+1 I agree

I see Thais eating a lot of fruit and perhaps this off sets some of the negative effects of deep fried food, sugar, salt, etc...

[Thai at Heart]

Anyway, I've never gone in for this idea that Thai food is inherently healthy. Stir fry, deep fry, coconut milk, palm oil, sugar and msg.

+1 I agree

I see Thais eating a lot of fruit and perhaps this off sets some of the negative effects of deep fried food, sugar, salt, etc...

Well, it tastes good, and an awful lot of it is basically white rice, which whilst not the healthiest, isn't the worst staple food in the world. I really have issue with them keeping domestic sugar prices low though, as though this is some kind of necessary beneficial product to be consuming in extra volume. They have whacked the tobacco industry from pillar to post, I have little doubt that the next is going to be the refined sugar industry.

Packaged sweet foods in Thailand are extremely sweet, it gets added into savoury foods all the time, a spoon here, a pinch there, and fizzy sodas are still very cheap in Thailand. It wouldn't hurt one little bit if the average Thai person reduced the amount of sugar they consume. Yup, we have a lot of good fruit around it is fresh and available, but I really wouldn't want to know how much pesticide goes on it.

[Tim7]

I'm not sure if this the case about salt but i do know Thais consume more sugar than anything else. They prefer more sugar than salt in their foods. I had once watched a Phad Thai man frying the noodles with a handful of sugar so i decided to ran away instead of waiting for my order. Everytime when me and girlfriend sits together for a meal,she would try not to touch the sugar provided on the table unless im not dinning with her. It really freaks you out the way they put amount of sugar in one bowl of noodle. I have not seen this else where except Thailand.

[cloudhopper]

What I find interesting is this guy is recommending 5000mg /day. The Mayo clinic recommends a maximum of 2300mg/day, dropping to 1500 after age 50.

[Thai at Heart]

I'm not sure if this the case about salt but i do know Thais consume more sugar than anything else. They prefer more sugar than salt in their foods. I had once watched a Phad Thai man frying the noodles with a handful of sugar so i decided to ran away instead of waiting for my order. Everytime when me and girlfriend sits together for a meal,she would try not to touch the sugar provided on the table unless im not dinning with her. It really freaks you out the way they put amount of sugar in one bowl of noodle. I have not seen this else where except Thailand.

If you actually stand and watch a Padthai being produced, anyone who really worries about their fat, sugar or sodium intake wouldn't ever eat it.

[cloudhopper]

Next they'll be telling us we consume too much sugar and coriander!

There is a difference between consumption and 'daily intake'. Less than 2,300mg daily intake is usually fine, without affect.

-mel.

Sorry I don't get that difference - would you explain? Does 1gm of table salt consumption = 1 gm of sodium intake or does it yield half that?

[Orac]

Next they'll be telling us we consume too much sugar and coriander!

There is a difference between consumption and 'daily intake'. Less than 2,300mg daily intake is usually fine, without affect.

-mel.

Sorry I don't get that difference - would you explain? Does 1gm of table salt consumption = 1 gm of sodium intake or does it yield half that?

Slightly less than half - 5000mg salt is 2400mg sodium.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect App

[cloudhopper]

Next they'll be telling us we consume too much sugar and coriander!

There is a difference between consumption and 'daily intake'. Less than 2,300mg daily intake is usually fine, without affect.

-mel.

Sorry I don't get that difference - would you explain? Does 1gm of table salt consumption = 1 gm of sodium intake or does it yield half that?

Slightly less than half - 5000mg salt is 2400mg sodium.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect App

OK now it's clear which terms everyone is using ta for that Orac

[TheWalkingMan]

I just took a look at a package of some Black Pepper Sauce in the drawer. 5% salt and 8.9% sugar.

[impulse]

Of all the things in Thailand the world, excessive salt is about #250 on the list of things that I worry about killing me...

Of all the things that I eat, MSG is the one that affects me (negatively) the most. I'd rather they gave up the MSG and doubled the salt.

[Konini]

Most of the sodium is on the form of msg surely.

Ever seen a Thai use a salt shaker?

Yes, my wife and the shaker gets all clogged up because she use it when she's cooking her soups when the soup is boiling hot.

Put some grains of uncooked rice in the shaker!

Last few months I've kept mine in the fridge - seems to work OK.

[puipuitom]

Most of the sodium is on the form of msg surely.

Ever seen a Thai use a salt shaker?

Not necessary: Thai manufacturers of whatever food put salt ( NaCl) in nealry everything. Look at even sweet chili sacue, used for chicken etc: Even tehre 4-5 g / 100 g content is ... salt.

As importer of quite some Thaim foods, with nearly everythign I habve to let the salt level being reduced. Without.. many retailers do not accept it in EU.

[Jingthing]

The Thai vendors can learn something from Americans. Sell a "reduced salt" version of their products, label it "healthy" and charge 50 percent more for putting in less.

[phetaroi]

Most of the sodium is on the form of msg surely.

Ever seen a Thai use a salt shaker?

The salt is already in things like soy sauce, fish sauce, almost all process food, etc. If they don't add any, they will still get too much, as many foods are absolutely loaded with salt. Usually used but people that have lost much of their sense of taste. Also used to cover up the taste of bad food.

Exactly. I've moved back to the States, but I have had to find substitutes for soy sauce, fish sauce, and oyster sauce. Sends my BP sky high.

[JSixpack]

What I find interesting is this guy is recommending 5000mg /day. The Mayo clinic recommends a maximum of 2300mg/day, dropping to 1500 after age 50.

Everybody responding in the thread has taken it as a given. Actually, it's not so clear.

" . . . a slew of studies suggesting that reducing sodium to anything like what government policy refers to as a “safe upper limit” is likely to do more harm than good. These covered some 100,000 people in more than 30 countries and showed that salt consumption is remarkably stable among populations over time."

We Only Think We Know the Truth About Salt - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/opinion/sunday/we-only-think-we-know-the-truth-about-salt.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

But at least no one has yet blamed the problem, if it is a problem, on McDonalds and Starbucks. Yet.

[sirchai]

"In addition, he said, these diseases were among the chronic problems that cost the country up to Bt100 billion in medical care each year."

​I thought a disease is caused by a virus or bacteria. Hub of unidentified diseases?

[Jingthing]

"In addition, he said, these diseases were among the chronic problems that cost the country up to Bt100 billion in medical care each year."

​I thought a disease is caused by a virus or bacteria. Hub of unidentified diseases?

Smoking?

[Jobo]

Thailand can become the hub of diabetes, obesity and heart disease soon. Consider HIV obsolescent at this point.

+1+1+1+1

[h5kaf]

Thailand can become the hub of diabetes, obesity and heart disease soon. Consider HIV obsolescent at this point.

I would have thought that in such a tropical climate, and especially when the humidity is high, salt is very necessary. I remember having to take salt tablets each day when working in the middle east in the 1960s. But sugar is another story. The excessive use of sugar in Thailand must be a major health hazard!!! Wonder what the Thai diabetes stats are compared to other nations.

[theslime]

So many Thai have a tyroid problem, caused by MSG.

Yes a lot of South Asians have a Thyroid problem and also The Greeks for some unknown reason.

[Jingthing]

So many Thai have a tyroid problem, caused by MSG.

Yes a lot of South Asians have a Thyroid problem and also The Greeks for some unknown reason.

Low or high hormone mostly?

[song0674]

I agree - my girlfriends loads the salt/fish sauce/maggi sauce on everything.

Every food either has to be very salty or very sweet or both

Every time i cook she's either adding salt or sugar to my finished dish!

'Subtlety' in all in its meanings, does not exist in Thai vocabularly.........

[pepi2005]

That's just normal, because they have to take everything their government tells them with a good bit of salt ...

[regine]

Most of the sodium is on the form of msg surely.

Ever seen a Thai use a salt shaker?

MSG only contains 13% sodium compared to 40% in NaCl. MSG can reduce sodium intake if used in place of table salt. In addition MSG is used in smaller amounts in food compared to table salt.

[Thai at Heart]

Most of the sodium is on the form of msg surely.

Ever seen a Thai use a salt shaker?

MSG only contains 13% sodium compared to 40% in NaCl. MSG can reduce sodium intake if used in place of table salt. In addition MSG is used in smaller amounts in food compared to table salt.

Not on most restaurants I've seen . It is hardly put in by the pinch.

[regine]

Some interesting info from the U.S. CDC. Interestingly, the U.S. guidelines are MUCH LOWER than the Thai ones if you are ALREADY in a risk group. I definitely believe that most salt comes from processed foods and already cooked in the food as opposed to the salt shaker.

And where exactly did you find the Thai guideline for the same risk groups that the CDC mentions? (+51, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease) How is it fair to make such a comparison? Or is this just another "Thailand vs USA/UK/Australia, Thailand bad!" rant with no actual evidence to back it up.

Thai guidelines are exactly in line with the US ones for regular folk.

[regine]

Most of the sodium is on the form of msg surely.

Ever seen a Thai use a salt shaker?

MSG only contains 13% sodium compared to 40% in NaCl. MSG can reduce sodium intake if used in place of table salt. In addition MSG is used in smaller amounts in food compared to table salt.

Not on most restaurants I've seen . It is hardly put in by the pinch.

You'd have to put in over 3 times more MSG than salt to get the same sodium levels. I highly doubt the restaurants that you frequent add that much MSG unless they're adding it by the cupful to your individual dish.

[Thai at Heart]

Most of the sodium is on the form of msg surely.

Ever seen a Thai use a salt shaker?

MSG only contains 13% sodium compared to 40% in NaCl. MSG can reduce sodium intake if used in place of table salt. In addition MSG is used in smaller amounts in food compared to table salt.

Not on most restaurants I've seen . It is hardly put in by the pinch.

You'd have to put in over 3 times more MSG than salt to get the same sodium levels. I highly doubt the restaurants that you frequent add that much MSG unless they're adding it by the cupful to your individual dish.

I have been 1000 times and watched my local somtaam lady make somtaam. No msg for mine, but everything is done by the teaspoon or soup spoon full. In salt terms to season a single portion of somtaam would need a few grams of salt i.e. a pinch, but slosh in a spoonfull of msg, I believe, but am willing to be proven wrong, that it equates to at least triple the salt value.