What are your eating habits? Lifestyle?

[FolkGuitar]

FG has some good advice some which might be considered common sense but I understand the need to mention it. I'm not sure what plastic trays your referring to but I read a report (smiley face) about how dangerous the styrofoam trays are here because the hot food melts them hence the ingestion of this poison. Love how the MO was the cause of your bout, sure proves your theory (smiley face #2). But your implication that money is the only factor in mankind's endeavors I'd like to again use my father as an example. He was a honest and wholesome individual who turned down many offers from major corporations to pursue his noble work while living on a university professor's salary of at least ten times less than the other offers. As one of the first people to work on Alzheimer's disease his work lead to some major scientific break throughs on this and other studies. So I differ with you as I know personally his work was unbiased and his refusal to play politics was probably the reason he didn't receive a noble prize. Luckily there are other like minded people who gave him grants so he could operate his laboratories in the USA, Hungary and Israel. Tough I realize capitalism and the pursuit of the might dollar or baht is the driving force of the modern world I still believe that there is lots of good on the earth, not that all business is bad by any means, and have hope in the future and teach this to my children as well.

I agree with you 100%. But please don't misquote me. I never said there was NO unbiased studies. My wording was "It's not often that studies are made that are completely unbiased." Obviously there are many that are done. They are just not in the majority. Hence we get someone like the poster who tries to tell us that MSG is unhealthy despite the fact that virtually all unbiased scientific study proves that normal amounts have no harmful effects on the body. If it did, there would be a heck of a lot of typical foods that we would not be able to eat because of the glutamic acid they contain, one of the most abundant naturally occurring amino acids found in foods.

A poster said sugar is harmful.

The idea that sugar is harmful... That's simply preposterous. The ONLY nutrient that the human cell can use for energy is sugar. Without it you die. Period. Almost all foods are eventually broken down to glucose, because the cells can only use glucose. Not fructose, maltose, dextrose, lactose, etc., etc. etc. Every one of those gets broken down into glucose and waste products. Every carbohydrate we eat gets broken down into sugar...

It would, however, be correct to say that TOO MUCH sugar is harmful. But then, too much of anything is harmful. Too much protein, a needed food substance, can lead to Gout. Too many carrots will cause Carotene Poisoning. Too much short-chain carbohydrates leads to obesity.

Sodium is a poison. Yet the body requires it. Chlorine is deadly, yet without it, the body can't process Sodium. Put the two together and you get Sodium Chloride, table salt. The body needs 'some' of it, but too much and you die. It's easy to short-circuit the body's electrical system with too much potassium. That's one of the main ingredient in the "Lethal Injection" many states use on condemned prisoners. Yet bananas are quite high in potassium. So is spinach, dried appricots, yogurt, and salmon. Eat too much of any of these puts us at risk.

Unless a person has a specific medical reason to reduce specific foods, eating 'reasonable' amounts of them will do no damage, be it soy sauce, fish sauce, coconut milk, sugar, salt, or bananas. Eating ridiculous amounts of any of these can cause problems. And unfortunately, almost all processed foods already contain ridiculous amounts of them, especially sugars in several different forms. Two-three tablespoons of sugar in a can of soft drink? Times how many cans a day? Three spoonfuls of sugar in your coffee, times how many cups a day? How many chocolate bars? How many frozen meals? Add all these together. THIS is where the idea that 'sugar is bad' comes from. Not from the sugar itself. One teaspoon of sugar is less than 16 calories. Two or three a day isn't going to harm anyone except perhaps a diabetic. One shot of whiskey isn't going to hurt anyone. But half a bottle a day, every day will.

Edited September 12, 2013 by FolkGuitar

[cloudhopper]

Too much, by definition, is bad. The real culprit in many foods is not what most people think. Worth watching IMO -

[junglechef]

Folk Guitar I couldn't agree with you more. As it is said "take everything in moderation including moderation"

[Crazy chef 1]

I don't eat Thai food because the most is to spicy and I can't afford to ruin my taste buds,many other Thai food is just over seasoned what I quiet don't like.there are a few realy lovely dishes like the kao soy what you guys in the north have but the central is just odd white sugar in everything,mostly deep fried and spicy as hell- not to forget the " fermented/dried stuff" just not my thing.actualy I would love to participate more in my host countries food I just can't-sad.btw most of the time I eat at work and if I be off we go out for a meal I don't bother to cook at home- I am a chef.same as a porn star,not quiet sure how interested he is about sex on his of days off 5555.

[Duvidl]

Too much, by definition, is bad. The real culprit in many foods is not what most people think. Worth watching IMO -

Thanks so much. I learned a lot from this lecture.

[junglechef]

Crazy Chef 1, I was amused when I read that you don't want to ruin your taste buds but after seeing that you are a Chef I'm intrigued. Understanding that strong flavors can, for the lack of a better word, numb them to the the subtler ones when eating together, but I don't see how say on a day off it could be a risk. Actually I have found the opposite to be true as I have had to furher train my pallet to taste through these and get enjoy the diversity in many Thai dishes. I've also acquired a taste for pla ra and many of the other exciting foodstuffs I've discovered here with the same principle. Out of interest what kind of cooking do you do and at what kind place? I've always enjoyed cooking with my fellow Chefs on our days off and actually dated girls "in the movies" who loved to practice thier trade whenever MY occasion would arise!

[A1Str8]

I eat everything that passes my mouth.

[wolf5370]

"Read the article - the anti microwave myth is still strong it seems!"

There are scientific studies that "prove" one side of a argument and other's to refute it. Just look at the global warming discussion. One can easily find an article to back up one's claims on any topic. Many are published by concerns that have a vested interest in the results. And how many times do we see a reversal by the experts in matters of health when it comes to what's good for us and what's not. Food trends and fads are also a factor in determining what people eat at any given period in time, the recent raw food movement is a good example.

As I'm not a scientist but a Chef I'm not realy qualified to argue the point of how microwaving effects food and subsequently those who eat it. But I feel comfort from the belief that the meals I prepare for my family are wholesome and nutritious.

Sorry these are completely different things. (and Global warming is happening - the main argument is whether its a natural cycle, the cycle is out of whack, or it is all our fault). It is not exactly hard to cook the same food in several different ways including a microwave and test the results - and all the earlier reports that said it was bad and destroys nutrients has been debunked (unless over cooking - but then so does over boiling!). To get the best for your family, use good quality foods to start with and cook properly with whatever mechanism you prefer - that's all, the rest is just luddite BS that is espouse over all new technology, remembered, and when actually investigated, debunked.

This is similar to the still well believed and debunked fear that water in plastic bottles contain carcinogens and cause cancer. It turned out to be bumpkins - all came from a student's thesis (not a qualified scientist) and the bottles did not even contain the plastic that he "discovered" in the results, the testing equipment did however. Further checks have found it to be complete tosh. Yet so many people still believe it.