Average Thai consumes 26 teaspoons of sugar per day: officials

[wabothai]

It is not a revelation that sugar is bad and makes you fat.

We westerners are the problem...look at all the fatties at the airport...all westerners !!!

Thais shold not follow the same path, but too much money in it. Western foods are a prime example of a millenium of bad choices. We are plagued with dieseases that are just now reaching over to asia.

Let us be a walking warning of changing to a fatty, sugary diet

We should be studying their diet, 30 years ago..before western Foods contaminated asia.

What a nonsense. The Mediterranean and Nordic diets are among the healthiest in the world.

Wake up...and smell the coffee....

Asia always had the healthiest of diets. Australia, England, Germany, USA...etc....gluttons who love sugary donuts, fatty meats, buttery bread and lol...bacon, bacon and bacon. Oh, don't forget sodas, candy, chips, burgers...pizza...and sugar in ever can of vegies.

I have been to scandinavian countries...and they have sugary treats just the same...and shelves full of starchy, sugary canned stuff. Oily tuna...you name it. Pastries galore.

cream filled stuff......yuck.

Before western people got here...it was all fresh fruits, vegies, fish, poultry and pork...with some healthy insects and such. We ruined it...so why blame them?

its no secret. We contaminated asia with our food ideas...thats the problem

and easily adapted.

[Emster23]

When I was teacher in USA I once took students to cafeteria to look at contents in vending machines. Everything had some form of sugar in it, including potato chips!

All forms of food kill. Everyone who has died once ate food, and even when they stopped eating they still died, showing long term effects.

[TheCruncher]

Reading through this thread about how bad 99% of the foods are, that any average human consumes daily, I'm surprised that any of us is still alive.

Could it be that the TV community is a bit exaggerating, as usual?

[TheCruncher]

When I was teacher in USA I once took students to cafeteria to look at contents in vending machines. Everything had some form of sugar in it, including potato chips!

All forms of food kill. Everyone who has died once ate food, and even when they stopped eating they still died, showing long term effects.

I would think that those who stop eating food die much faster.

[Aussie123]

LOL , they should ban restaurants as well. They look at you like you some alien when you say "No sugar please". Mai sai namtan!!!!

[Asheron]

Milk, unsweetened green tea, Gatorade, water, diet drinks...

Gatorade has about the same sugar content as the soft drinks though.

Coke light and Coke zero are the two choices for the people like me who wants something sweet to drink but are constantly fretting about calorie intake.

Wrong my friend!!

Zero and light drinks cause more obesity than sugar - don't believe me, then check the literature from independent scientists and health officials (not the drink producers though as they are manipulative liars).

If you are going to live unhealthily then don't deceive yourself by taking the zero calorie route.

I know someone who drinks several cans of pepsi max/diet coke everyday for the last decade. Still as fat as ever.

Personally I'm cutting down one sugar and carbohydrates in general, especially in the evenings an tending towards a paleo diet now - mostly fish / meats + vegetables and some fruit.

So what if someone has drank diet coke several decades and is still fat, it doesn't prove anything at all. It only means that he/she is still eating more calories than he/she burns or that he/she did before eat way too many calories, got fat, and now is eating at his/her "maintenance level".

[tuanku]

How does it make more sense to ban advertising than regulate the sugar content?

Or introduce a sugar tax and make money out of making people healthier

[GAZZPA]

Blimey, how much scaremongering do we all want... If you read everything and try to live by the medical advice you would eat nothing!

I am not a doctor but I am overweight and the advice I got from the doctor is simple. Eat plenty of fruit and veg, lay off fatty stuff and sugary treats and eat in moderation. Simple. What goes in your mouth goes onto your stomach.

I am currently losing about 1kg a month. I was at 125kg and 5"10",, (I am a broad frame but carrying too much beef for sure), I am comfortable at about 95 to 100kg.

All I do is eat in moderation, leave junk food alone and (very importantly) I stop eating when my hunger disappears not when my stomach is stretched to oblivion. I have noticed that I get hungry less, I need smaller portions now and I don't eat meals after 6:00pm. But I do like ice lemon tea when its hot and one every now and then is fine..

Sorry a bit longwinded but my advice is stop reading all this rubbish and just use your common sense to moderate and balance your diet (don't overthink it, we all know the golden rules really)

[jaywalker]

And the Thais always commented on the beer guts of fat Farangs............now Thai kids have big guts.....but don't ever comment!

My wife likes mine. Says it makes me look like Buddha.

I had a friend who has passed on, that was rather rotund.

He also caught some rare disease when he was about 30 (he was 60 when I met him) that caused all the hair on his body to fall out.

He had no eyebrows & just zero hair. He told me stories of visiting Issan & how they all thought he was some kind of Buddhist Messiah.

[Thai at Heart]

Blimey, how much scaremongering do we all want... If you read everything and try to live by the medical advice you would eat nothing!

I am not a doctor but I am overweight and the advice I got from the doctor is simple. Eat plenty of fruit and veg, lay off fatty stuff and sugary treats and eat in moderation. Simple. What goes in your mouth goes onto your stomach.

I am currently losing about 1kg a month. I was at 125kg and 5"10",, (I am a broad frame but carrying too much beef for sure), I am comfortable at about 95 to 100kg.

All I do is eat in moderation, leave junk food alone and (very importantly) I stop eating when my hunger disappears not when my stomach is stretched to oblivion. I have noticed that I get hungry less, I need smaller portions now and I don't eat meals after 6:00pm. But I do like ice lemon tea when its hot and one every now and then is fine..

Sorry a bit longwinded but my advice is stop reading all this rubbish and just use your common sense to moderate and balance your diet (don't overthink it, we all know the golden rules really)

26 teaspoons of sugar as a statement isn't rubbish though is it?

[Jingthing]

Mexico is leading the way to fight "Big Sugar"

How one of the most obese countries on earth took on the soda giants

...

In fact, Mexicans drink more soda than nearly anyone else in the world; their top three daily sources of calories in 2012 were all high-calorie drinks. Mexico also has by far the world’s highest death rate from chronic diseases caused by consumption of sugary drinks – nearly triple that of the runner-up, South Africa. In other words, excessive consumption of soda kills twice as many Mexicans as trade in the other kind of coke that Mexico is famous for.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/nov/03/obese-soda-sugar-tax-mexico

[ozyjon]

what do you expect when people want to eat or drink for 5, 10 or 30 baths.

most of the time cheap is synonime of c.h.i.t

I don't understand ?

eat or drink for 5, 10 or 30 baths.

so

eat or drink for 5, 10 or 30 baths. full of what ? I'm lost.

[Jingthing]

...high- fructose corn syrup is a killer....read up on it....

Agree. This stuff is really really bad.

This is a common myth that it's worse than other sugars.

It's pretty much the same as ANY sugar.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/high-fructose-corn-syrup-vs-sugar/2013/06/18/fdbedb90-c488-11e2-914f-a7aba60512a7_story.html

Recently concerns have been raised about potential health consequences of high-fructose corn syrup. But there’s insufficient science to vilify it. “Human studies, though short-term and small, consistently show no different impact on measures of health compared with other sugars. Though it’d be nice to have more research, we can confidently say people’s health will benefit most from limiting all sources of calorie-containing sweeteners,” says Cindy Fitch, a nutrition professor at West Virginia University and co-author of an Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics position paper on the topic.

High-fructose corn syrup, sucrose and other sweetening ingredients such as brown sugar, molasses, fruit nectar, cane juice, honey and agave nectar are added to processed foods. As a group they’re called “added sugars.” Those concerns about high-fructose corn syrup — unhealthy weight, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease — relate to any kind of added sugars.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Research on the links between artificial sweeteners (as in "Diet" sodas) and obesity will continue. But for the time being, consider they may be harmful and are certainly no panacea. Best to limit actual sugars and also to AVOID artificial sugars entirely.

http://time.com/3380013/artificial-sweeteners-obesity/

Artificial Sweeteners Aren’t the Answer to Obesity: Here’s Why

But studies on artificial sweeteners and weight loss—as well as research about whether sugar substitutes helped people avoid metabolic disorders like diabetes—have been mixed. And in a paper published Wednesday in Nature, Dr. Eran Elinav from the Weitzmann Institute of Science in Israel found that the sugar stand-ins actually contribute to changes in the way the body breaks down glucose. How? Fake sugars aren’t digested and therefore pass directly to the intestines, impacting the millions of invisible bacteria that live in our gut. And when he and his colleagues gave seven people who didn’t normally use artificial sweeteners the sugar substitutes for seven days, about half of the people showed higher blood glucose levels after just four days.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Jingthing

[Thai at Heart]

...high- fructose corn syrup is a killer....read up on it....

Agree. This stuff is really really bad.

This is a common myth.

It's pretty much the same as ANY sugar.

Of course it's insidious in that it's hidden in so many processed foods that so many people don't even realize.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/high-fructose-corn-syrup-vs-sugar/2013/06/18/fdbedb90-c488-11e2-914f-a7aba60512a7_story.html

High-fructose corn syrup, sucrose and other sweetening ingredients such as brown sugar, molasses, fruit nectar, cane juice, honey and agave nectar are added to processed foods. As a group they’re called “added sugars.” Those concerns about high-fructose corn syrup — unhealthy weight, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease — relate to any kind of added sugars.

By definition it has a higher fructose percentage in comparison to sucrose than that of sugar. This is achieved with an enzyme. This subtle change changes it from standard sugar.

This is a subtle difference but it produces something that doesn't happen in nature. Only by boosting the fructose content is it sweet enough to be used in place of sugar.

It is something that in time will be proven beyond doubt to be something we should never be consuming in the volumes we do.

[Jingthing]

Worth studying. But bottom line we already know too many people are eating too much sugar, regardless of type of sugar.

[Thai at Heart]

Worth studying. But bottom line we already know too many people are eating too much sugar, regardless of type of sugar.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/4/895.full

I was shocked when I really learnt to understand how fructose is metabolised in compariosn with understanding sugar being metabolised. It is a very different process to glucose. Fructose when its consumed in fruit is in a naturally limited form, one isn't likely to consume 20 oranges at once. But when it is concentrated and used in HFCS it is a very different thing.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/sugar2.htm

There is, however, some evidence that the body treats HFCS differently than glucose, another common form of sugar. When a person's liver is deciding what to do with glucose, it has several options: use it for energy; convert the glucose into triglycerides or store the glucose as fat. A 2008 study found that fructose seems to go directly to fat [source: Parker-Pope]. The problem may also be more severe with those who are overweight. The study concluded that fructose itself isn't bad -- particularly fructose found in fruits, which are nutrient rich -- but that many people could be better served by limiting fructose consumption and avoiding overeating [source: Parker-Pope].

One misconception about HFCS stems from its name. In fact, HFCS isn't that much different than standard, processed white sugar. A commonly used form of HFCS contains 45 percent glucose and 55 percent fructose [source: Warner]. White sugar is split 50-50 between glucose and fructose. HFCS is higher in fructose than conventional corn syrup, which is 100 percent glucose. But other types of HFCS, especially those used in non-soda products like certain breads, are 58 percent glucose and only 42 percent fructose [source: Warner].

Excess fructose isn't something man is really designed to consume.

[Jingthing]

Interesting. But again, limiting consumption of ALL sugars is the most helpful message the public needs to hear. Easier said than done because it's hidden in most processed foods. That's why the food industry needs to be changed and they will never do it without being FORCED to.

[jacko45k]

Anyone who has 26 spoonfuls a day is being consumed by sugar rather than consuming it.

If you put each one in a glass of beer you hardly notice it.

[kiwikeith]

And the Thais always commented on the beer guts of fat Farangs............now Thai kids have big guts.....but don't ever comment!

My sons Thai cousin ( 10 year old) stayed in Pattaya during the latest school holidays.

I think he gained about 15 kilo in the past year.

He stayed at my place, together with my son, during a weekend.

The next weekend he didn't want to come any more, because the food wasn't up to standard.

I gave the whole wheat sandwich with egg and sugar free milk in the morning, spaghetti with Tuna for lunch and Riceberry with vegetables and steamed chicken for dinner.

My son's mom agreed that I shouldn't feed such mediocre food to a child.

I banned sugar from my kid however his relatives and the school take no notice.

Sugar is a world wide problem with obesity a major health problem worldwide.

[lucky11]

It is not a revelation that sugar is bad and makes you fat.

We westerners are the problem...look at all the fatties at the airport...all westerners !!!

Thais shold not follow the same path, but too much money in it. Western foods are a prime example of a millenium of bad choices. We are plagued with dieseases that are just now reaching over to asia.

Let us be a walking warning of changing to a fatty, sugary diet

We should be studying their diet, 30 years ago..before western Foods contaminated asia.

What a nonsense. The Mediterranean and Nordic diets are among the healthiest in the world.

Regardless of the food's origin, it tends to be processed foods that are the culprit. The Thai diet is excellent because of the heavy use of fresh herbs and natural ingredients. The use of sugars, salts and fats are minimal. Western food producers maximize profit by minimizing the cost of producing calories. The easiest way to do this is to add salt, sugar and cheap fats. Furthermore, the general processing of foods reduces their nutritional content and often removes the most beneficial elements of the food in it's natural state. Thus, eating more with less nutritional value -- fat and unhealthy.

Have you ever actually looked at all the prepackaged herbs and spices in Thailand and seen what's in them?

Any country that subscribes to Maggi sauce hardly has the right to claim a cuisine. Oyster sauces all with added sugars, msg and salt. Thailand is in no way immune to the problems of adulterated food.

Thai food isn't nearly as healthy in its current form as you think.

Not factory made sauces and packaged goods like mama and maggi - this is not food its garbage!!

We are talking about fresh organic herbs (preferably) or dried herbs, as well as individual spices in the spices section. This just shows the mentality of some people ie: those who think that food only comes from 7/11 or off the shelf in a supermarket!! If you want to eaten chemical laden carcinogens then you are welcome to it. I don't buy any processed food whatsoever and I can feel the benefits of that as my health (which was very poor about three years ago) has sky rocketed and I feel like a different person now.

I will not be going 'the American way' - on that, I will never take a tablet again in my lifetime and treat any ailments naturally as they are far more effective and don't have side effects of any sort (because they are natural and recognised by the body as not being foreign) unlike the synthesized toxic pills that kill more people in America annually than any other known cause of death NB: this is with using the doctor's prescribed dose and doesn't include indirect causes resulting from the taking of these toxic 'poison' pills!! If you include the indirect causes the death rate would be astronomical.

The sad thing is, virtually any disease can be cured naturally (including cancer) and synthetic treatments are toxic to the body and don't treat the root cause but simply alleviate the symptoms, if you are lucky, and often lead to far worse problems including, as statins do, causing the very same thing that they are supposed to protect you from ie: heart attacks and strokes.

[lucky11]

When I was teacher in USA I once took students to cafeteria to look at contents in vending machines. Everything had some form of sugar in it, including potato chips!

All forms of food kill. Everyone who has died once ate food, and even when they stopped eating they still died, showing long term effects.

Rubbish!! This isn't food - if you eat vegetables, fruits (slightly less so), good fats such as avocado, extra virgin olive oil and my favourite extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil, fermented foods such as kefir (I do every day), nuts and seeds then your body will thrive and flourish!!

I used to take supplements, minerals, vitamins and make tea with about 12 spices and herbs in it in the morning (I still do this as well) - I don't need the supplements now as I have fixed all of my ailments including one that was said to be incurable which is now gone and I am in perfect health, BTW it was ulcerative colitis but this cleared up on it's own WHEN I stopped taking the tablets that I had been told I had to take all of my life to keep it under control. Within a week (after having swallowed thousands of tablets over 30 years) it mysteriously cleared up and hasn't troubled me for the last 9 years. In other words, it was the tablets that were causing it to persist - perfect for the pharmaceutical company that manufactured them!! Its a shame for them that I rumbled this and a bigger shame that it took me 30 years to discover the fact.

[TPI]

So are there any drinks sold at 7/11 that are 'healthy' and do not contain sugar, carbohydrates etc.

All I see are sweetened drinks.

Any specific drinks/brands to look out for?

I can't think of any food or beverage sold in 7/11 that would be regarded as healthy ( except water, maybe almonds).

One of the drinks sold at Starbucks has more than the daily calorie intake for average Thai. The iiced coffee/condensed milk abomination sold be street vendors is probably almost as bad.

It's the palm oil that they put into condensed milk that is killing people! Palm oil is one of the highest sources of colesterol in the diet and when it's burnt, as in deep frying, it is also very very carsonogenic!

What's worse is the way they put sugar and palm oil in "so called " fresh milk, sell off the butterfat from the milk and with the skim milk that remains they add sugar for taste and palm oil to give the "fatty" taste!

Next time you buy a can of condensed milk read what's on the side of the can!!!

[TPI]

Anyone who has 26 spoonfuls a day is being consumed by sugar rather than consuming it.

If you put each one in a glass of beer you hardly notice it.

Beer has no sugar = no GI!

[espinoza]

Promotion ads of green tea and soft drinks to face banning

BANGKOK: -- Promotion of green tea and soft drinks is now eyed by the Department of Health for banning after considering their high levels of sugar that is harmful to health, particularly children and adults.

The deputy director-general of the Department of Health Dr Sutha Jienmaneechotchai stated that the Department was considering a proposal to control green tea and carbonated drinks which have high sugar content because it is detrimental to health, According to Bangkok Post reported.

He said the Consumer Protection Board and the Food and Drug Administration would be asked to regulate advertising promotions on soft drinks and green tea adverts because of the high sugar content was harmful to health.

He said Thais’ daily sugar consumption is over four times the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s recommended level.

According to WHO, it recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grammes per day would provide additional health benefits.

Thai consumes 104 grammes of sugar per day or about 26 teaspoons, he said.

Promotion campaign of soft drinks that offered cars and gold to consumers has encouraged over consumption of sugar, he said.

He said intake of sugar from normal food, such as rice, fruit or cooked food, is not harmful to health because it contains low levels of sugar, but excessive sugar added to manufactured food or drinks such as green tea is detrimental to health.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/promotion-ads-of-green-tea-and-soft-drinks-to-face-banning

-- Thai PBS 2015-11-05

Several of the breast milk substitute brands in Thailand have 20% sugar in the milk powder. It makes the babies addictive. Somebody should have a deep throughout look into it.

[DeepInTheForest]

Mexico is leading the way to fight "Big Sugar"

How one of the most obese countries on earth took on the soda giants

...

In fact, Mexicans drink more soda than nearly anyone else in the world; their top three daily sources of calories in 2012 were all high-calorie drinks. Mexico also has by far the world’s highest death rate from chronic diseases caused by consumption of sugary drinks – nearly triple that of the runner-up, South Africa. In other words, excessive consumption of soda kills twice as many Mexicans as trade in the other kind of coke that Mexico is famous for.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/nov/03/obese-soda-sugar-tax-mexico

This is a long article, but it is very worthwhile. Thanks for posting this, Jingthing. One interesting bit in it concerns cultural appropriation (of Coca-Cola by indigenous people in Chiapas, of all things!). The effect of soft drinks on the Mexican nation has been nothing short of catastrophic, and the Thais, and all of us, can learn something from their experience.

Efforts are being made to convince Mexican people to return to their pre-industrial diet-- something that Thais might wish to consider, as mentioned by posters above.

[Jeremy50]

Unbelievable, all these posts and almost no one mentions exercise. I eat a high carb diet, I'm talking - fresh fruit all day, honey, pasta, rice,

potatoes, a small amount of protein, as little fat as possible. I carry almost no fat on my body. Why? Because I cycle and run 5 days a week

with some weight training. I am 58, I can ride 80k in 2hours 40, run 8 k in 40 minutes. I sleep like a baby, and have never taken viagra. My heart beats 55 times a minute and I have lower than average blood pressure. I haven't had a cold in 3 years. I eat what the hell I like.

Is it really too painful just to get out there and exercise?

[slipperylobster]

Exercise will never make you lose weight until you change eating habits.

You burn...at the most...400 to 500 calories only...one visit to the gym or a 3 mile jog.

Thats like 2 donuts...or 3 beers..or a big mac (without fries and coke).

Exercise will make you fit...but it's a healthy diet that will make you lose.. that..and a one mile walk a day..

for us oldsters..and people who have conditions that limit strenuous activites.

Edited November 6, 2015 by slipperylobster

[Jingthing]

The most bang for the BAHT in combating the global obesity epidemic which now includes Thailand is to PREVENT children from becoming obese in the first place. Sure exercise is important for that, but the general scientific consensus now is that what we EAT is much more important. Once children become obese, based on current medical tactics for weight loss, it is known the vast majority will become obese adults and have a lifetime struggle. In other words, even when they lose weight, they will probably gain it back, and more, again and again.

In my opinion prevention of obesity in children should be a top priority for the government here. But I'd say that about most countries now. But Thailand with it's sugar madness is especially vulnerable of a continued rapid increase in obesity.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Jingthing

[Asheron]

The most bang for the BAHT in combating the global obesity epidemic which now includes Thailand is to PREVENT children from becoming obese in the first place. Sure exercise is important for that, but the general scientific consensus now is that what we EAT is much more important. Once children become obese, based on current medical tactics for weight loss, it is known the vast majority will become obese adults and have a lifetime struggle. In other words, even when they lose weight, they will probably gain it back, and more, again and again.

In my opinion prevention of obesity in children should be a top priority for the government here. But I'd say that about most countries now. But Thailand with it's sugar madness is especially vulnerable of a continued rapid increase in obesity.

"The government" (any in the world) doesn't give jack shit about the you, your children or the people. The only function and need "the government" has is to preserve it's own power and expanding it. To rely on "the government" for anything is absurd and naive at the same time.

Only way to prevent obesity in children is to make sure that parents are informed about general nutrition.