Health Warning To Fellow Farangs!

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

There is as far as I know no information on the incidence of cardiovascular disease among paelolithic peoples and I fail to see how their could be any. All we have to go on is skeletons.

P.S> Moving this to the Health Forum

Sure I would agree that evidence of people living in the Paleolithic era is extremely thin. There have been some tar and ice preserved examples but its very small sample size.

There is a lot of evidence of cardiovascular health of populations that eat hunter gatherer diets devoid of neolithic foods such as grains.

Weston Price studied and documented the difference between paleolithic and neolithic type diets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weston_Price

http://www.westonaprice.org/

Interesting food for thought.

[pomozki]

Wow, so many replies. Seems to me 2 conclusions:

1) get rich so you only get to eat in posh places

2) get a kitchen cos nobody here trusts eating out in Thailand anyway

[harrry]

http://news.msn.com/science-technology/ancient-egyptians-had-modern-heart-problems-researchers-find

Looks as if it is not just Maccas

[Loptr]

anyone else with any thoughts?

Start taking statins. I'm the same age as you and take care of myself too. No junk food, very little if any processed food, veggies and fruit, etc and my top number jumped to 225 also. After I was on statins for about a year, my top number dropped to 96... Statins can cause problems with muscle pain and endurance if you work out regularly though.

[pomozki]

anyone else with any thoughts?

Start taking statins. I'm the same age as you and take care of myself too. No junk food, very little if any processed food, veggies and fruit, etc and my top number jumped to 225 also. After I was on statins for about a year, my top number dropped to 96... Statins can cause problems with muscle pain and endurance if you work out regularly though.

aha, you must be a doctor! the local doctor here in Khon Kaen just put me on 10mg of Simvastatin a day for 3 months - I don't like taking pills but sounds like they work

[Sandman77]

Hello! Topic starter!

Last year I was 4 month in all together in Chiang may, when the smog was to strong I move to Pattaya eat every day then I got same problem you report!

I make every day exercise not drink alcohol, but I have heat hunger attacks that u cannot controll , usaly I must eat around 3 thai menu small size and one soup to get full but walk and go biking around 3 our every day, then after long

Time the street fried food feel not got!

What I do, i go to a Chinese medicine doctor , he give me around 5 different herbals , and a very strong intensive herbal mixture around 1200 bath a bottle this Chlean up your body from inside!

I go to the pizza company and eat every day the salad with the name signature salad , for around 2 week, after eat and drink the herbal 2 month every thing was over!

Ps buy the brown rice in big c and cook your self, it's more healthy then the low quality white restaurant rice!

Now I live on the country side,since my gf cook for me without fat, I feel better now!

Good luck!

[Felt 35]

It's not the food you eat that's the problem, it's your lifestyle.

If you are inactive, even the best diet won't keep you fit.

The more active you are, the less you have to worry about your eating and drinking habits.

Nope, 8-10 hour training weekly,75% endurance training, 175cm, 65 Kg,dont drink or smoke,western breakfast, rest of the day Thai food, and as said in my previous post doctor warned me on two last check ups because of high cholestrol (243).

[ongchart]

Fk that shit dont eat this don't eat that excercise yada yada yada I really dont care I see super fit people dropping down dead on footbal fields my gran smoked like a trooper ate bacon and eggs every day and lived to a rip old age of 83 my Dad smokes like a trooper drinks every single day eats a good english diet and for as long as I can remember and is 70 years old, I really think if you worry about what to eat you wont be able to eat or do anything cant drink etc etc whats the point life is for living not worrying about what your eating every minute and you are a prime example, your trying hard and you still found out your not healthy

If your time is up mate its up no matter how it is coming and for me I am going to enjoy every day eat what I like and if I peg it so be it I have had a great life and i don't have to eat like a rabbit

Im off to MCDonalds for Big Mac and Fries

You need to learn to use punctuation properly!

It's your own choice what you choose to do with your life with regards to your diet. The OP is obviously conscious of their diet and health, where as you are obviously not!

I have never found Thai food to be exactly healthy. I've gained a lot of weight since living in Thailand...

Whilst I agree with this attitude to life and to food in general, I think we should be aware that its not the sudden 'dropping dead' that we are worried about. In fact, that is considered by Asians as a 'good death'. The worst to happen any of us is to have a heart attack, or a stroke that result in a state og vegetation or severe incapacity. For most people, that would be worst than death, considering the physical and mental suffering, financial burden, and frustration.

My motto in life is: enjoy it as much as you can, but do everything in moderation.

Eating like a rabbit every meal takes the fun out of eating, but eat like a pig all the time and you may end up like a vegetable!

[ongchart]

Wow, so many replies. Seems to me 2 conclusions:

1) get rich so you only get to eat in posh places

2) get a kitchen cos nobody here trusts eating out in Thailand anyway

Posh places serve unhealthy food too, so thats not a very good reason to get rich ;-)

We cook at home most meals, and I am lucky to have extremely good cooks at home - mother-in-law plus 3 sister-in-laws! Very little reasons to eat out, but when we are in Bangkok, for that 3-4 days when I have work to do there, we eat out at restaurants and street stalls, but still try to mix the delicious (read fried oyster omelette, BBQ squid, satay...) dishes with healhty yums.

Another point - one sure way to cut down your weight is to avoid carbos like rice and pastas after 7pm. I did that for 3 months and lost 5kg.

[Sandman77]

More info about what kind of cheap cooking fat regularly used in street kitchen that sometime taste sour would be usefull!

[Asiantravel]

pomozki Can I ask, do you exercise? If so, what kind of exercise and how frequently?

[Ijustwannateach]

To quote my Thai doctor on diet: 'Basically, Thai food is not very healthy.'

[MrWorldwide]

<p>Again, I'm confronted by folk who seem to want to live forever. I dont want to spend my final hours on a machine, but nor am I going to let the diet Nazis stop me eating the things I like - unless I suddenly turn into<em> Elvis circa 1972</em>, of course ........</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I look at Thais standing around in the hot sun selling chicken on a stick, and think 'God, what I wouldnt give to be that tough !'. I guess they figure it beats the hell out of squatting in a ricefield in 35 deg C : men, women and children.  Born tough, IMO - a little saturated fat is the least of their worries.</p>

Edited March 12, 2013 by MrWorldwide

[chiangmaikelly]

<p>Again, I'm confronted by folk who seem to want to live forever. I dont want to spend my final hours on a machine, but nor am I going to let the diet Nazis stop me eating the things I like - unless I suddenly turn into<em> Elvis circa 1972</em>, of course ........</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I look at Thais standing around in the hot sun selling chicken on a stick, and think 'God, what I wouldnt give to be that tough !'. I guess they figure it beats the hell out of squatting in a ricefield in 35 deg C : men, women and children.  Born tough, IMO - a little saturated fat is the least of their worries.</p>

I really like beer. I always thought I'd rather die than not drink beer. If the doctor had said I'd have a heart attack and die if I kept on drinking beer I think I'd have chanced it. But he didn't. He said I would have a stroke and be a vegetable in Thailand. I don't think I am tough enough to be a Thai vegetable. So after the first stroke I stopped drinking beer.

[robblok]

<p>Again, I'm confronted by folk who seem to want to live forever. I dont want to spend my final hours on a machine, but nor am I going to let the diet Nazis stop me eating the things I like - unless I suddenly turn into<em> Elvis circa 1972</em>, of course ........</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I look at Thais standing around in the hot sun selling chicken on a stick, and think 'God, what I wouldnt give to be that tough !'. I guess they figure it beats the hell out of squatting in a ricefield in 35 deg C : men, women and children.  Born tough, IMO - a little saturated fat is the least of their worries.</p>

I really like beer. I always thought I'd rather die than not drink beer. If the doctor had said I'd have a heart attack and die if I kept on drinking beer I think I'd have chanced it. But he didn't. He said I would have a stroke and be a vegetable in Thailand. I don't think I am tough enough to be a Thai vegetable. So after the first stroke I stopped drinking beer.

I love those people who think that if you neglect your body nothing is going to happen, its like not testing for AIDS because then you don't have it.

Anyway strike a good balance but is ee far to many foreigners so obese and looking unhealthy drinking and drinking. Its the party lifestyle here and no need to keep in shape as you can always rent a girl telling you you look great. Guess what its not about how you look, though for me it counts, but more how healthy and fit you are.

Like others said I dont't worry about dropping dead.. that is a good way to go but vegetating is.

It is easier to ignore it all and party, instead of eating realtively healthy and working out a bit.

Just think 80% 20% rule be healthy 80% of the time the other 20% does not matter so much anymore then.

[exeter]

Fk that shit dont eat this don't eat that excercise yada yada yada I really dont care I see super fit people dropping down dead on footbal fields my gran smoked like a trooper ate bacon and eggs every day and lived to a rip old age of 83 my Dad smokes like a trooper drinks every single day eats a good english diet and for as long as I can remember and is 70 years old, I really think if you worry about what to eat you wont be able to eat or do anything cant drink etc etc whats the point life is for living not worrying about what your eating every minute and you are a prime example, your trying hard and you still found out your not healthy

If your time is up mate its up no matter how it is coming and for me I am going to enjoy every day eat what I like and if I peg it so be it I have had a great life and i don't have to eat like a rabbit

Im off to MCDonalds for Big Mac and Fries

We dont have a McDonalds in Nakhon Sawan so that avenue of pleasure is not open to us here

[YLPO]

Yes, a lot of people are under the impression Thai food is very healthy but in reality a lot of it is fried and a lot contains various oils, it's very tastey though!

very true. The other thing most expats fail to recognize is that 80% of the thai food restaurants in Thailand use high amount of M.S.G in the food they prepare. Fish sauce (Naam pla) is the most common source of M.S.G

[jocko]

<p>Again, I'm confronted by folk who seem to want to live forever. I dont want to spend my final hours on a machine, but nor am I going to let the diet Nazis stop me eating the things I like - unless I suddenly turn into<em> Elvis circa 1972</em>, of course ........</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I look at Thais standing around in the hot sun selling chicken on a stick, and think 'God, what I wouldnt give to be that tough !'. I guess they figure it beats the hell out of squatting in a ricefield in 35 deg C : men, women and children. Born tough, IMO - a little saturated fat is the least of their worries.</p>

I really like beer. I always thought I'd rather die than not drink beer. If the doctor had said I'd have a heart attack and die if I kept on drinking beer I think I'd have chanced it. But he didn't. He said I would have a stroke and be a vegetable in Thailand. I don't think I am tough enough to be a Thai vegetable. So after the first stroke I stopped drinking beer.

I love those people who think that if you neglect your body nothing is going to happen, its like not testing for AIDS because then you don't have it.

Anyway strike a good balance but is ee far to many foreigners so obese and looking unhealthy drinking and drinking. Its the party lifestyle here and no need to keep in shape as you can always rent a girl telling you you look great. Guess what its not about how you look, though for me it counts, but more how healthy and fit you are.

Like others said I dont't worry about dropping dead.. that is a good way to go but vegetating is.

It is easier to ignore it all and party, instead of eating realtively healthy and working out a bit.

Just think 80% 20% rule be healthy 80% of the time the other 20% does not matter so much anymore then.

There has been many studies over the years why some countries people live longer and I am always interested in there findings now I can't remember all the countries but I can say they are not in western world and the common denominator among them all was fruit and vegetables ,fish ,active life style , not thinking about retirement they all just seem to carry on on saying that they had no exposure to Mac's or fast food joints or bar culture just almost a village life walking where they need to go not many gym's too be seen I mean how fit does a 70+ have to be.

I drink a little I smoke a few small cigars I try to eat healthy I

am 70 and feel fit and I don't put on weight but I will maybe regret it all later but my thinking is I enjoy my bad habits and so far so good.

[Orac]

<p>Again, I'm confronted by folk who seem to want to live forever. I dont want to spend my final hours on a machine, but nor am I going to let the diet Nazis stop me eating the things I like - unless I suddenly turn into<em> Elvis circa 1972</em>, of course ........</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I look at Thais standing around in the hot sun selling chicken on a stick, and think 'God, what I wouldnt give to be that tough !'. I guess they figure it beats the hell out of squatting in a ricefield in 35 deg C : men, women and children. Born tough, IMO - a little saturated fat is the least of their worries.</p>

I really like beer. I always thought I'd rather die than not drink beer. If the doctor had said I'd have a heart attack and die if I kept on drinking beer I think I'd have chanced it. But he didn't. He said I would have a stroke and be a vegetable in Thailand. I don't think I am tough enough to be a Thai vegetable. So after the first stroke I stopped drinking beer.

I love those people who think that if you neglect your body nothing is going to happen, its like not testing for AIDS because then you don't have it.

Anyway strike a good balance but is ee far to many foreigners so obese and looking unhealthy drinking and drinking. Its the party lifestyle here and no need to keep in shape as you can always rent a girl telling you you look great. Guess what its not about how you look, though for me it counts, but more how healthy and fit you are.

Like others said I dont't worry about dropping dead.. that is a good way to go but vegetating is.

It is easier to ignore it all and party, instead of eating realtively healthy and working out a bit.

Just think 80% 20% rule be healthy 80% of the time the other 20% does not matter so much anymore then.

There has been many studies over the years why some countries people live longer and I am always interested in there findings now I can't remember all the countries but I can say they are not in western world and the common denominator among them all was fruit and vegetables ,fish ,active life style , not thinking about retirement they all just seem to carry on on saying that they had no exposure to Mac's or fast food joints or bar culture just almost a village life walking where they need to go not many gym's too be seen I mean how fit does a 70+ have to be.

I drink a little I smoke a few small cigars I try to eat healthy I

am 70 and feel fit and I don't put on weight but I will maybe regret it all later but my thinking is I enjoy my bad habits and so far so good.

Though I would agree that the lifestyle you identify is benificial, I am not sure the stats back up your claim about longevity. Switzerland ranks number 2 (after Japan) and there are several other western countries in the top 10 including Sweden, Italy and France which has a retirement age of 62.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

[robblok]

<p>Again, I'm confronted by folk who seem to want to live forever. I dont want to spend my final hours on a machine, but nor am I going to let the diet Nazis stop me eating the things I like - unless I suddenly turn into<em> Elvis circa 1972</em>, of course ........</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I look at Thais standing around in the hot sun selling chicken on a stick, and think 'God, what I wouldnt give to be that tough !'. I guess they figure it beats the hell out of squatting in a ricefield in 35 deg C : men, women and children. Born tough, IMO - a little saturated fat is the least of their worries.</p>

I really like beer. I always thought I'd rather die than not drink beer. If the doctor had said I'd have a heart attack and die if I kept on drinking beer I think I'd have chanced it. But he didn't. He said I would have a stroke and be a vegetable in Thailand. I don't think I am tough enough to be a Thai vegetable. So after the first stroke I stopped drinking beer.

I love those people who think that if you neglect your body nothing is going to happen, its like not testing for AIDS because then you don't have it.

Anyway strike a good balance but is ee far to many foreigners so obese and looking unhealthy drinking and drinking. Its the party lifestyle here and no need to keep in shape as you can always rent a girl telling you you look great. Guess what its not about how you look, though for me it counts, but more how healthy and fit you are.

Like others said I dont't worry about dropping dead.. that is a good way to go but vegetating is.

It is easier to ignore it all and party, instead of eating realtively healthy and working out a bit.

Just think 80% 20% rule be healthy 80% of the time the other 20% does not matter so much anymore then.

There has been many studies over the years why some countries people live longer and I am always interested in there findings now I can't remember all the countries but I can say they are not in western world and the common denominator among them all was fruit and vegetables ,fish ,active life style , not thinking about retirement they all just seem to carry on on saying that they had no exposure to Mac's or fast food joints or bar culture just almost a village life walking where they need to go not many gym's too be seen I mean how fit does a 70+ have to be.

I drink a little I smoke a few small cigars I try to eat healthy I

am 70 and feel fit and I don't put on weight but I will maybe regret it all later but my thinking is I enjoy my bad habits and so far so good.

Im not saying live like a monk and go full out that is reserved for only a select few that can manage that. But in general being sensible about food and leading an active lifestyle helps a lot. Drinking is ok if not too much.(but people seem bo differ on what is not too much) . smoking.. not that great a habit.

[robblok]

if you want to have lower triglycerides try cutting down on all plant sugars (carbohydrates) and exercise more.

Tryglercides are mostly from eating more energy than you burning.

Exactly.....burn baby burn...get off your ass and exercise...walk everywhere etc.

As for thai food making you fat.....I have to struggle to gain 1lb.....seriously....

How on earth people get fat here is a mystery to me...unless you gorge fried shit all day and beer all night that is.

You need to learn that you cant compare everyone with yourself, some people react different too foods then others. I Did not drink beer or eat fried shit but got fat from normal Thai food. Its the white rice that did it for me and of course all the addetives. Now that i got my diet under control im lean as hell but i can still gain weight easy if i go back to my old ways.

Edited March 12, 2013 by robblok

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

if you want to have lower triglycerides try cutting down on all plant sugars (carbohydrates) and exercise more.

Tryglercides are mostly from eating more energy than you burning.

Exactly.....burn baby burn...get off your ass and exercise...walk everywhere etc.

As for thai food making you fat.....I have to struggle to gain 1lb.....seriously....

How on earth people get fat here is a mystery to me...unless you gorge fried shit all day and beer all night that is.

You need to learn that you cant compare everyone with yourself, some people react different too foods then others. I Did not drink beer or eat fried shit but got fat from normal Thai food. Its the white rice that did it for me and of course all the addetives. Now that i got my diet under control im lean as hell but i can still gain weight easy if i go back to my old ways.

that's my advice is adjust the carb levels.

The first step is to measure how many carbs are being consumed.

I coach people on improving their body composition and most don't have a good idea of how much of their diet is carb.

I will ask them how many grams of carb or what percentage of their diet is carb and they tend to be way off.

Just doing a food diary for a week or so and calculating the carbs is really helpful. Don't have to do it long term.

There is a saying.

If you don't measure it then you can't manage it.

For a lot of people getting the carbs down or just improving the carb quality helps a lot.

[pomozki]

Wow, so many replies. Seems to me 2 conclusions:

1) get rich so you only get to eat in posh places

2) get a kitchen cos nobody here trusts eating out in Thailand anyway

Posh places serve unhealthy food too, so thats not a very good reason to get rich ;-)

We cook at home most meals, and I am lucky to have extremely good cooks at home - mother-in-law plus 3 sister-in-laws! Very little reasons to eat out, but when we are in Bangkok, for that 3-4 days when I have work to do there, we eat out at restaurants and street stalls, but still try to mix the delicious (read fried oyster omelette, BBQ squid, satay...) dishes with healhty yums.

Another point - one sure way to cut down your weight is to avoid carbos like rice and pastas after 7pm. I did that for 3 months and lost 5kg.

ah! well that comment about posh places was tongue in cheek - but I've heard about less carbos at night so that makes sense!

[pomozki]

pomozki Can I ask, do you exercise? If so, what kind of exercise and how frequently?

yes, exercise 3-4 times weekly, walk and run (mostly brisk walk) on a treadmill in the gym - around 1-2 hours each time

[pomozki]

To quote my Thai doctor on diet: 'Basically, Thai food is not very healthy.'

that's an eye-opener. Tell that to foreigners overseas and they wouldn't believe it

[pomozki]

<p>Again, I'm confronted by folk who seem to want to live forever. I dont want to spend my final hours on a machine, but nor am I going to let the diet Nazis stop me eating the things I like - unless I suddenly turn into<em> Elvis circa 1972</em>, of course ........</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I look at Thais standing around in the hot sun selling chicken on a stick, and think 'God, what I wouldnt give to be that tough !'. I guess they figure it beats the hell out of squatting in a ricefield in 35 deg C : men, women and children.  Born tough, IMO - a little saturated fat is the least of their worries.</p>

you're completely missing the point - it isn't an eternal life I'm after, it's a high quality of life - always been very healthy and want to stay that way

[pomozki]

if you want to have lower triglycerides try cutting down on all plant sugars (carbohydrates) and exercise more.

Tryglercides are mostly from eating more energy than you burning.

Exactly.....burn baby burn...get off your ass and exercise...walk everywhere etc.

As for thai food making you fat.....I have to struggle to gain 1lb.....seriously....

How on earth people get fat here is a mystery to me...unless you gorge fried shit all day and beer all night that is.

You need to learn that you cant compare everyone with yourself, some people react different too foods then others. I Did not drink beer or eat fried shit but got fat from normal Thai food. Its the white rice that did it for me and of course all the addetives. Now that i got my diet under control im lean as hell but i can still gain weight easy if i go back to my old ways.

that's my advice is adjust the carb levels.

The first step is to measure how many carbs are being consumed.

I coach people on improving their body composition and most don't have a good idea of how much of their diet is carb.

I will ask them how many grams of carb or what percentage of their diet is carb and they tend to be way off.

Just doing a food diary for a week or so and calculating the carbs is really helpful. Don't have to do it long term.

There is a saying.

If you don't measure it then you can't manage it.

For a lot of people getting the carbs down or just improving the carb quality helps a lot.

that sounds great and very interesting - but be careful or that other poster will be calling you a "diet Nazi"

[rucus7]

I am unclear as to why there is so much concern of the use of MSG in asian cooking. Japan, where MSG originated and is used very widely. Has the longest life expectancy of all countries. While some people are allergic to MSG and can not eat it, the vast majority of people can consume it with no proven ill effects. I am old enough to remember when the MSG hysteria started. From all the reading I have done in the past few years, MSG appears to be a harmless flavor enhancer.

[partington]

rucus7, on 12 Mar 2013 - 13:59, said:

I am unclear as to why there is so much concern of the use of MSG in asian cooking. Japan, where MSG originated and is used very widely. Has the longest life expectancy of all countries. While some people are allergic to MSG and can not eat it, the vast majority of people can consume it with no proven ill effects. I am old enough to remember when the MSG hysteria started. From all the reading I have done in the past few years, MSG appears to be a harmless flavor enhancer.

I've often thought this too. As the old question goes "If MSG is so bad for you, why doesn't all of Asia have a headache?"

The source of this unscientific belief is a single report from the 50's or early 60's about so called "chinese restaurant syndrome" from a doctor in the US, that suddenly took off in the public consciousness. All studies since then have indicated that (rare individuals aside) MSG has no harmful effects, and that people who identify themselves as allergic to, or intolerant of, MSG do not show these symptoms in blind tests (i.e. when they are not told whethere the test meal contains MSG or not).

There are so many genuine health risks, it's not helpful to be worried about non-existent ones!

Interesting article here that may be a gateway to look up the science (if you care): http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/12/msg-allergy-chinese-restaurant-syndrome-myth

Some extracts:

"In May this year, the medical journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy published a review of more than a decade of scientific research into "the possible role of MSG in the so-called 'Chinese restaurant syndrome'".... What is amazing about the publication of this research is not that it concludes MSG allergy is a myth, but that a scientific journal still needs to bother debunking such pseudoscience at all. As the New York Times put it in an article by Julia Moskin published last year, "'Chinese restaurant syndrome' has been thoroughly debunked (virtually all studies since then confirm that monosodium glutamate in normal concentrations has no effect on the overwhelming majority of people)".

"In China, where I live, you don't hear many complaints about MSG allergy. They're too busy gorging themselves on the stuff. Chinese people consume 1.6m to 1.8m tonnes of MSG crystals every year..."

Edited March 12, 2013 by partington

[pomozki]

I am unclear as to why there is so much concern of the use of MSG in asian cooking. Japan, where MSG originated and is used very widely. Has the longest life expectancy of all countries. While some people are allergic to MSG and can not eat it, the vast majority of people can consume it with no proven ill effects. I am old enough to remember when the MSG hysteria started. From all the reading I have done in the past few years, MSG appears to be a harmless flavor enhancer.

wow, that would shock most people