Health Warning To Fellow Farangs!

[StreetCowboy]

As a young man of 47, hoping soon to be a young man of 50 rather than an old man of 50, what sort of thing should I be getting the doctor to check for whenever I go for a routine service?

SC

[diddums]

I'm on a srict seefood diet.

Watch out for the bottom feeders.

I'm on 2 diets.

Cos there ain't enough food in 1.

[Sheryl]

Apparently some members did not understand my last post.

A little flamefest has been deleted . Any more of it and the participants will be find themselves on a time out.

[diddums]

As a young man of 47, hoping soon to be a young man of 50 rather than an old man of 50, what sort of thing should I be getting the doctor to check for whenever I go for a routine service?

SC

prostate for starters.

[FritsSikkink]

The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

The French drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

attribution http://www.citehr.com/10746-speaking-english-apparently-what-kills-you.html#ixzz2Nap0OkUE

(just kidding!)

Missed post #130 ?

[robblok]

As a young man of 47, hoping soon to be a young man of 50 rather than an old man of 50, what sort of thing should I be getting the doctor to check for whenever I go for a routine service?

SC

Full blood works might not be bad to do either its not that expensive, and you can let them check for prostate cancer markers too in the blood test.

I am sure most of the major hospitals offer packages for health screening, you could choose one of those.

[infinity11]

Longevity for the sake of your family, i understand, but there rarely are rational logical or reasonable reasons to get married and/or to have kids, or are there?

[robblok]

Longevity for the sake of your family, i understand, but there rarely are rational logical or reasonable reasons to get married and/or to have kids, or are there?

Its actually not about living long, but more about the quality of life. Now one can argue that drinking and smoking and eating loads makes you happy and feel good thus giving you a high quality of life. This might be so but once the trouble that it has caused starts hitting you your quality of life goes down quite fast.

[Suradit69]

I had cholesterol issues before coming to live in Thailand full time and started on Lipitor. I never ate junk food, rarely ate beef and regularly included fruit and vegetables in my diet.

Since taking up year-round residenceThailand my blood tests have shown improvement in the "good cholesterol" and reduction in the bad, and the my dosage of Lipitor has been reduced. I eat Thai food regularly, including those things that include coconut milk.

Certainly what you eat is important, but I have friends whose diets include everything we're told to avoid and yet have no problems. Genetics seems to be a major factor.

[Davedub]

Eat what you like, drink what you like, even smoke what you like.

To me it's a simple quality of life vs quantity of life question. I just eat what I fancy and I trust my body's cravings to tell me what to eat and what not to eat. If that knocks a few years off my life, then so be it. Better to enjoy an activity I undertake three times a day than string out an extra few years of life by not. Not to say everything I crave would be considered 'unhealthy' - I'll regularly crave fruit and salad and will often cook pasta and steamed meat dishes.

I'm reminded of my Father's disgust, when having avoided eggs for a good number of years due to a high cholesterol count, his doctor one day announced that the food scientists had got it wrong. The cholesterol in egg yolks was now deemed not to be the harmful kind after all. Years of wasted, flavourless meals, when just a small dolop of mayo or scrambled eggs on the side would have transformed them into something enjoyable!

Sod what the dieticians say, live as you see fit, that's what I say.

[infinity11]

When i first came to thailand i ate practically NO dairy and NO bread and i noticed that i felt better on the local diet.

[manarak]

As a young man of 47, hoping soon to be a young man of 50 rather than an old man of 50, what sort of thing should I be getting the doctor to check for whenever I go for a routine service?

SC

prostate for starters.

colon cancer is another thing to check for, although I heard it can develop very rapidly.

also add to the list: non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, oesophagus, pancreas, stomach, bladder.

For all of the above except the lymphoma, tasty food is thought to be a risk-increasing factor.

Edited March 17, 2013 by manarak

[how241]

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!

+1

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It really comes down to a matter of choice, if you want to maintain a healthy diet or not.

Maintaining a healthy diet doesn't guarantee anyone will live a healthy and long or longer life. But it probably increases your odds.

I love Thai food. But my sense is, it's very difficult if not impossible to maintain a healthy diet eating Thai street food. And look at the huge numbers of Thais coming down with diabetes.

Too much oil and bad oil like palm, too much salt, too much fried stuff, too much sugar, too much MSG, too much bad glyciemic index carbs like Jasmine rice, which is about the worst rice in the world for raising your blood sugar, etc etc...

I think the only way to do it is to manage your own cooking at home, and make reasonable/smart choices. For instance, I'll cook my own Thai curries at home using some curry paste, but I'll use low-fat UHT milk mixed with water instead of coconut milk , and then a thickening agent. Likewise, never add salt or sugar to most things prepared at home.

Lately, at my Thai wife's suggestion, we began having nightly dinners of some gai yang chicken on top of a mixed salad of fresh lettuce, onion, corn and fat-free salad dressing. Tastes good, very satisfying and hopefully better than a lot of other choices, both for health and not gaining weight.

We'll still go out and pig out sometimes on something that's clearly not very healthy... But the trick is to make those meals the exception rather than the rule.

I've never had to take medications to lower my blood pressure, or blood sugars or anything else. And I'm not looking to start.

Edited March 17, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[personchester]

There are two aspects of Thai food ... that is to say Thai cuisine (in 4/5 star hotels) and the ordinary Thai cooking. Thai cuisine can hold its own image anywhere, but this is not the case with ordinary Thai cooking because invariably a lot of the food is fried in oil, oil itself is not so much the problem (unless cheap refined oil is used) but rather the heating of it into high temperature, research consistently shows that highly fried oils and other fats cause cancer and hardening of the arteries.

When oil is fried it gets smoky, thereby changing the chemistry of oil molecules, as a result the oil will oxidize so instead of being good and nutritious it generates harmful "free radicals" which attack the body cells resulting in major problems in terms of general health and longevity, the chemically changed molecules of the oil and other fried fats produce carcinogens a substance that causes cancer.

When food is fried the brown part of the food is toxic, and a lot of the vitamins, minerals, proteins, and enzymes are lost, leaving the food devitalized of essential nutrients.

Thai cooking dishes contain a lot of white rice which unlike brown rice enters the blood stream very quickly creating havoc with the insulin and causing repeated high and low blood sugar counts, low blood sugar counts cause a low level of energy, hence body tiredness, unstable insulin may eventually also cause diabetics.

A healthy body nutrition, in particular for the elderly is the Mediterranean diet.

.

[Bpuumike]

The amount of salt, sugar and msg added to Thai food is crazy. I now stick to meat, veggies and fruit. No processed foods and no starches. (That eliminates most foods in the supermarket). Keeps the weight down and don't get food comas.

It's already been said but cook at home and do it using Extra Virgin Olive Oil,which is free from cholesterol.Take regular walks,it's a very simple formula,if you burn more calories than you eat you lose weight.If you don't you gain weight.

It's just very difficult to strike a balance,that's the problem!

Better still us rice bran oil.

[pomozki]

I had cholesterol issues before coming to live in Thailand full time and started on Lipitor. I never ate junk food, rarely ate beef and regularly included fruit and vegetables in my diet.

Since taking up year-round residenceThailand my blood tests have shown improvement in the "good cholesterol" and reduction in the bad, and the my dosage of Lipitor has been reduced. I eat Thai food regularly, including those things that include coconut milk.

Certainly what you eat is important, but I have friends whose diets include everything we're told to avoid and yet have no problems. Genetics seems to be a major factor.

just when I thought there'd be a nice easy golden rule to follow

[pomozki]

It really comes down to a matter of choice, if you want to maintain a healthy diet or not.

Maintaining a healthy diet doesn't guarantee anyone will live a healthy and long or longer life. But it probably increases your odds.

I love Thai food. But my sense is, it's very difficult if not impossible to maintain a healthy diet eating Thai street food. And look at the huge numbers of Thais coming down with diabetes.

Too much oil and bad oil like palm, too much salt, too much fried stuff, too much sugar, too much MSG, too much bad glyciemic index carbs like Jasmine rice, which is about the worst rice in the world for raising your blood sugar, etc etc...

I think the only way to do it is to manage your own cooking at home, and make reasonable/smart choices. For instance, I'll cook my own Thai curries at home using some curry paste, but I'll use low-fat UHT milk mixed with water instead of coconut milk , and then a thickening agent. Likewise, never add salt or sugar to most things prepared at home.

Lately, at my Thai wife's suggestion, we began having nightly dinners of some gai yang chicken on top of a mixed salad of fresh lettuce, onion, corn and fat-free salad dressing. Tastes good, very satisfying and hopefully better than a lot of other choices, both for health and not gaining weight.

We'll still go out and pig out sometimes on something that's clearly not very healthy... But the trick is to make those meals the exception rather than the rule.

I've never had to take medications to lower my blood pressure, or blood sugars or anything else. And I'm not looking to start.

put out a cookery book of delicious Thai food without the bad stuff and you'll make a fortune!

[pomozki]

There are two aspects of Thai food ... that is to say Thai cuisine (in 4/5 star hotels) and the ordinary Thai cooking. Thai cuisine can hold its own image anywhere, but this is not the case with ordinary Thai cooking because invariably a lot of the food is fried in oil, oil itself is not so much the problem (unless cheap refined oil is used) but rather the heating of it into high temperature, research consistently shows that highly fried oils and other fats cause cancer and hardening of the arteries.

When oil is fried it gets smoky, thereby changing the chemistry of oil molecules, as a result the oil will oxidize so instead of being good and nutritious it generates harmful "free radicals" which attack the body cells resulting in major problems in terms of general health and longevity, the chemically changed molecules of the oil and other fried fats produce carcinogens a substance that causes cancer.

When food is fried the brown part of the food is toxic, and a lot of the vitamins, minerals, proteins, and enzymes are lost, leaving the food devitalized of essential nutrients.

Thai cooking dishes contain a lot of white rice which unlike brown rice enters the blood stream very quickly creating havoc with the insulin and causing repeated high and low blood sugar counts, low blood sugar counts cause a low level of energy, hence body tiredness, unstable insulin may eventually also cause diabetics.

A healthy body nutrition, in particular for the elderly is the Mediterranean diet.

.

I'm checking cheap flights to Athens as we speak - heard the cost of living has gone down there too

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The amount of salt, sugar and msg added to Thai food is crazy. I now stick to meat, veggies and fruit. No processed foods and no starches. (That eliminates most foods in the supermarket). Keeps the weight down and don't get food comas.

It's already been said but cook at home and do it using Extra Virgin Olive Oil,which is free from cholesterol.Take regular walks,it's a very simple formula,if you burn more calories than you eat you lose weight.If you don't you gain weight.

It's just very difficult to strike a balance,that's the problem!

Better still us rice bran oil.

For just plain cooking at home, I use rice bran oil 100%. But when I need to flavor a dish like hummos, I'll use extra virgin olive oil.

Pass on palm, soybean, etc oils.

[BkkMikey]

I am amazed by the fact that OP always thought he was eating healthy. I have lived here nearly ten years and cook my dinner at home at least 6 times a week. My other meals I prepare by myself during the day with good quality food To buy food sold in Thai markets, food courts or road side food stalls is just asking for health issues. Most if not all the food is prepared with the cheapest and lowest quality of ingredients, fried in greasy old palm oil and to mask all it, spoons full of sugar, chili and other spices are added. At McDonalds at least you know what you are eating.. and even more important, it is prepared in a hygienic kitchen with proper cooling equipment and a regular cleaning schedule. My advice to the OP is to stop eating all that cheap Thai food and start taking control of your own meals. You'll be off your meds in no-time.

[mandee]

There is an aussie guy here who is 100 years old, maybe 101 now. He goes to work as a DJ most days. He recently told me he was going to Pattaya for a business meeting, I see him walking on the gym treadmill, he tells jokes, and if he was given a '' Turing Test'' sort of test, an interlocutor would probably estimate his age at about 60.

I don't know his diet, but my belief is everything in moderation and Ernest Borgnine's practice to stave off prostate cancer.

[meatboy]

I had cholesterol issues before coming to live in Thailand full time and started on Lipitor. I never ate junk food, rarely ate beef and regularly included fruit and vegetables in my diet.

Since taking up year-round residenceThailand my blood tests have shown improvement in the "good cholesterol" and reduction in the bad, and the my dosage of Lipitor has been reduced. I eat Thai food regularly, including those things that include coconut milk.

Certainly what you eat is important, but I have friends whose diets include everything we're told to avoid and yet have no problems. Genetics seems to be a major factor.

just when I thought there'd be a nice easy golden rule to follow

sorry i have come in a bit late but there has been other things on my mind[rugby].

12yrs.ago i had very bad cholesterol uk.reading of 9,the good reading should be between 4-5 so i was on 80mg.of statins a day.

it didnt shock me at all being from the valleys in wales i didnt even know what was good food or bad i just had what i fancied,

everything that you call bad i would eat,pies,dripping,sausages,bacon,curry's and all meats with fat.

when over here i used to have my blood checked regular allways around 300 their readings,as i measured this with the uk redings it was around 37pr scale with the uk of 1.had this checked regular over 6yrs.uk.-thailand till 2007 i had to have a double by pass and a new aota valve.after a yr my cholesterol was 4.5 very good.so now was the time to move to thailand 2009,as i have to have my blood checked every 4weeks as i am on warfarin for life[same blood lab] i have been going to for 10yrs or more.and have my cholesterol checked yrly.last reading 175.

now i have told you my experiance did you have a second appinion and where did you have the test done.

you say you were horrified but your reading was only around 6 bad yes,nothing maybe statins cant control.

my mate came from the uk.last yr to visit and he was having chol.problems so i took him to the blood lab.his reading uk.was 9,thai.reading 330 so he was worried.he has now told me he is to have bypass surgery.he also liked his food.admittingly some of the food cooked outside contains bucket loads of fat and oil [i often wonder how many times they change it also check the pork that you get with stir fries some of it is 100%fat.i avoid all deep fried or stir fries.

i think we were all unaware of what was good or bad in the forties and fifties to eat so everybody in their sixties should get their blood checked never how well they feel.

what medication are you taking? good luck and dont worry.

been there done it and got the t-shirt.

t.i.t.taffy in thailand.

[phutoie2]

The amount of salt, sugar and msg added to Thai food is crazy. I now stick to meat, veggies and fruit. No processed foods and no starches. (That eliminates most foods in the supermarket). Keeps the weight down and don't get food comas.

It's already been said but cook at home and do it using Extra Virgin Olive Oil,which is free from cholesterol.Take regular walks,it's a very simple formula,if you burn more calories than you eat you lose weight.If you don't you gain weight.

It's just very difficult to strike a balance,that's the problem!

Better still us rice bran oil.

For just plain cooking at home, I use rice bran oil 100%. But when I need to flavor a dish like hummos, I'll use extra virgin olive oil.

Pass on palm, soybean, etc oils.

Tesco stock Canola oil now, I use it in baking bread and frying + salad dressings.

[phutoie2]

There is an aussie guy here who is 100 years old, maybe 101 now. He goes to work as a DJ most days. He recently told me he was going to Pattaya for a business meeting, I see him walking on the gym treadmill, he tells jokes, and if he was given a '' Turing Test'' sort of test, an interlocutor would probably estimate his age at about 60. I don't know his diet, but my belief is everything in moderation and Ernest Borgnine's practice to stave off prostate cancer.

My last few years in the military were spent with a medical unit just outside London, one of the team was a senior ranking RAF Officer who was also the UK's senior pathologist's. One of his favourite sayings was "everybody gets issued with a certain amount of heartbeats, some just get more than others".

[Tomtomtom69]

Mcdonalds and KFC are probably healthier and have more nutrition than most Thai street food.

Think about it. Chicken skin is pure cholestoral same as squid and most non-fish seafood served with tiny bits of meat which are usually the fat and skin deep fried first in high cholestoral oil. All either fried again in lots of high cholestoral oil or like the OP says in water flavoured by animal fat or served in very high cholestoral coconut milk or just plain deep fried.

Served with none or very little vegetables with have often sat cooking in liquid all day having all the vitamins removed and either high starch rice or dried noodles which are dehydrated by deep frying them at the factory.

At least mcdonalds actually has sonme meat and potatoes. Not saying it's healthy at all but better than most street food.

Coconut milk being a plant based product does not and can not contain cholesterol. This is a bad myth perpetuated by the FDA to get consumers to switch to unhealthy vegetable oils. Coconut milk (and oil) may contain a lot of saturated fat, but interestingly the traditional diets of some Pacific Islanders, which included a large amount of coconut based products including coconut milk and oil, fish, bananas and taro roots was keeping them healthy; in fact, heart disease, diabetes etc. was virtually unknown amongst those peoples until sugary soft drinks, fried foods etc. entered the market and now rates of cardio-vascular disease, dementia, alzheimer's etc. are skyrocketing.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Mcdonalds and KFC are probably healthier and have more nutrition than most Thai street food.

Think about it. Chicken skin is pure cholestoral same as squid and most non-fish seafood served with tiny bits of meat which are usually the fat and skin deep fried first in high cholestoral oil. All either fried again in lots of high cholestoral oil or like the OP says in water flavoured by animal fat or served in very high cholestoral coconut milk or just plain deep fried.

Served with none or very little vegetables with have often sat cooking in liquid all day having all the vitamins removed and either high starch rice or dried noodles which are dehydrated by deep frying them at the factory.

At least mcdonalds actually has sonme meat and potatoes. Not saying it's healthy at all but better than most street food.

Coconut milk being a plant based product does not and can not contain cholesterol. This is a bad myth perpetuated by the FDA to get consumers to switch to unhealthy vegetable oils. Coconut milk (and oil) may contain a lot of saturated fat, but interestingly the traditional diets of some Pacific Islanders, which included a large amount of coconut based products including coconut milk and oil, fish, bananas and taro roots was keeping them healthy; in fact, heart disease, diabetes etc. was virtually unknown amongst those peoples until sugary soft drinks, fried foods etc. entered the market and now rates of cardio-vascular disease, dementia, alzheimer's etc. are skyrocketing.

the dietary cholesterol myth has been long since debunked. There is very little correlation between intake and serum levels.

The human body needs cholesterol to make its sex hormones. If a person doesn't consumer cholesterol then the body will make it...

The problem is when the body or dietary intake produces unhealthy cholesterol types or levels and that is still controversial about what causes what.

Healthy sources of cholesterol consumed undamaged or unmodified are worth pursuing for better health.

The devil is in the details. Eat a raw egg yoke or soft boiled egg and that is pretty good source. Eat hour old scrambled eggs and that is problem as the fats have been damaged by oxidation from heat and air exposure.

[infinity11]

The use of msg in so many things cooked and packaged gets to me.

Can you say mai sai pung shu rut?

[pomozki]

I am amazed by the fact that OP always thought he was eating healthy. I have lived here nearly ten years and cook my dinner at home at least 6 times a week. My other meals I prepare by myself during the day with good quality food To buy food sold in Thai markets, food courts or road side food stalls is just asking for health issues. Most if not all the food is prepared with the cheapest and lowest quality of ingredients, fried in greasy old palm oil and to mask all it, spoons full of sugar, chili and other spices are added. At McDonalds at least you know what you are eating.. and even more important, it is prepared in a hygienic kitchen with proper cooling equipment and a regular cleaning schedule. My advice to the OP is to stop eating all that cheap Thai food and start taking control of your own meals. You'll be off your meds in no-time.

thanks - I'm sure you're right. I/we really need a proper "farang kitchen" with hob and oven. Meanwhile, I'm changing my diet already

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Mcdonalds and KFC are probably healthier and have more nutrition than most Thai street food.

Think about it. Chicken skin is pure cholestoral same as squid and most non-fish seafood served with tiny bits of meat which are usually the fat and skin deep fried first in high cholestoral oil. All either fried again in lots of high cholestoral oil or like the OP says in water flavoured by animal fat or served in very high cholestoral coconut milk or just plain deep fried.

Served with none or very little vegetables with have often sat cooking in liquid all day having all the vitamins removed and either high starch rice or dried noodles which are dehydrated by deep frying them at the factory.

At least mcdonalds actually has sonme meat and potatoes. Not saying it's healthy at all but better than most street food.

Coconut milk being a plant based product does not and can not contain cholesterol. This is a bad myth perpetuated by the FDA to get consumers to switch to unhealthy vegetable oils. Coconut milk (and oil) may contain a lot of saturated fat, but interestingly the traditional diets of some Pacific Islanders, which included a large amount of coconut based products including coconut milk and oil, fish, bananas and taro roots was keeping them healthy; in fact, heart disease, diabetes etc. was virtually unknown amongst those peoples until sugary soft drinks, fried foods etc. entered the market and now rates of cardio-vascular disease, dementia, alzheimer's etc. are skyrocketing.

Yes, the problem with coconut milk is it contains a huge amount of saturated fat per serving. And if you keep eating it a lot over a period of time, it's surely going to elevate one's risk for heart and circulatory problems.

Edited March 18, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK