Thais overdosing on sodium

[h90]

Don't they mean: Sodium chloride ??? (SALT)

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chloride

Sodium is very explosive and dangerous. I don't like to get caught in a Western Country bording an airplane with 2,800 milligram !!! Means life imprisonment.

Look what a bit of sodium can do:

No they mean Sodium ions Na+

it doesn't matter if the other Cl- or any other

[jonclark]

I know in western countries that lack of proper diet is clearly linked to poverty levels as most of the cheaper foods being cheap are made from junk and made to taste good with numerous additives (salt and sugar being high on that list).

It could well be that as the equity gaps increases, and the cost of living rises, increased household debt etc, more and more people are turning to cheaper food sources as a means to make their incomes go farther.

[ratcatcher]

Isnt diabetes a huge problem here , thanks but no thanks on using more sugar the guys an idiot first class

:"......the guys an idiot first class."

Indeed, here's a picture of this first class guy.

http://www.inmu.mahidol.ac.th/eng/about-us/faculties/index.php?cvName=Wantanee

[sawadee1947]

well, as it's said...it's not really pure salt but MSG (monosodiumglutamate), the taste enhancer! In fact it's not needed because of avalable herbs here, but Thais are lazy....easy to take a spoonful of MSG instead cutting different sorts of herbs....

This is the reason for me and my wife to cook by ourselves.

[Bluespunk]

"She also suggested the use of broth, from boiling chicken or pork bones for one to two hours, to give a pleasant savoury taste instead of using sodium-laced powder."

Yeah, I'm not sure most people have the time to do that these days and I'm fairly sure 7-11 doesn't sell it.

Could be wrong though...

Doesn't say you have to do it yourself - can get proper broth at our local market.

I think the argument being put forward was people should prepare their own food and thus have control over the ingredients.

Buying it from the market does not meet this criteria...

[NickJ]

An upper middle class family in the moo ban I live in have a son. He is young. Works in a little side line store they have. He has a bag of meds with him all the time. I asked him about it. High blood pressure. The more I got to talking with him about it. The more I figured out he was clueless as to the hidden sodium in his diet. He goes to the best hospital in the area. The advive his Dr's gave to him was to not eat meat.He was clueless as to what foods were packed with sodium. If its not salty. Its ok. This kid has a Bp cuff and monitors his Bp ten times a day......This is typical.

[h90]

Congratulations Dr. Wantanee Kriengsinyos, from all the big nutrition problems you found the smallest one....

[DrTuner]

They should let Farangs cook the Thai food, it's the only way it's going to be done properly.

[chilli42]

Contemporary Thai food is a health disaster. They will have a boat load of health problems as the population ages living off this stuff.

[lonewolf99]

Since Thais and orientals cannot get enough of Chicken Essence why don't they have Sodium Essence or Sugar Essence...

An essence is a hint of something you had before but don't really have now...i.e. the taste or smell but not the actual thing itself... a flushed turd will leave an essence.

How much weight would you loose if you just absorb the aroma of something....?

http://www.brandsessence.co.uk

P.S. I dont get the connection with George IV and chicken essence ? especially as he was a very unpopular British Royal.

[thesetat2013]

Isnt diabetes a huge problem here , thanks but no thanks on using more sugar the guys an idiot first class

:"......the guys an idiot first class."

Indeed, here's a picture of this first class guy. want.jpg

http://www.inmu.mahidol.ac.th/eng/about-us/faculties/index.php?cvName=Wantanee

Nice bio for the lecturer however it points out that she has obviously done nothing since she left the USA in 2003. Most probably, like any good Thai, she has reverted from her western education into the Thai she grew up as. She also seems to be using their mentality as well the initial artucles translation was correct. Their have been many advances in determining the hazards of over consumptions of sugar based foods for which she seems not to care about.

[Cheesekraft]

This is similar to what the States did; demonize dietary fat and tell us to eat more sugar(carbohydrates) instead. Fat lot of good that did..

[lujanit]

All those of you who talk about the detrimental effects of MSG need to do some reading on the subject before you post. MSG is merely the salt of glutamic acid which is found naturally in all sorts of foods. Glutamic acid is an amino acid and you all know that amino acids build proteins. Of course I cannot tell all the experts on TV who know nothing but are experts on the subject. Do you all know what CRS is and how it came into existence? Stupid Q from me as you all are experts.

Just as an aside there are five flavours not four. Sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami

Before you hit your keyboard and flame me try typing mono sodium glutamate into the search function of wikipedia, you may actually learn something if you have the stamina to read the entire article.

[spermwhale]

Sugar is not part of traditional Thai cooking. Idiot

[HenryB]

I say in this age and time let them die.

This is called Survival of the Fitness

Do not butt in just watch your own diet

[NCC1701A]

"Wantanee urged people to study labels and choose food with care - or to adopt a traditional cooking method of using sugar, sauce and spices that would be easier to control and reveal the actual amount put into food."

yes more sugar! that is what Thailand needs.

[Mot Dang]

I would say the major source of sodium in a Thai's diet is Nam Pla, fish sauce. It after-all is a saturated salt solution. Have you seen those beautiful cubic crystals of sodium chloride on the bottom of some bottles ?

I am on a low salt diet, never have salt on the table. And never put salt in aharn falang. BUT try leaving fish sauce out of aharn Thai, it just isn't the same, it's no long Thai food. I can't do it, much to my cardiologist's disapproval.

[F4UCorsair]

Salt and sugar! The two essential ingredients of Thai food, and readily pushed by your nearest 7-eleven store.

From my experience every Asian cuisine is way too heavy on salt and sugar, along with most restaurants, regardless of cuisine. They know that fat, salt and sugar add taste, and they care little for patrons' health.

[F4UCorsair]

Sugar is not part of traditional Thai cooking. Idiot

Can you not comment without calling a fellow a poster an 'idiot'? It's ignorant, arrogant, aggressive, and most importantly, not necessary.

As a keen cook, of many cuisines, I have to say that the final ingredient in many Thai dishes, added right at the end of the cooking, is a couple of teaspoons of palm sugar!!

Edited December 11, 2015 by F4UCorsair

[ldiablo]

So here we have a lecturer at Mahidol telling students about the over ingestion of sodium and he is actually recommending them to use more sugar instead. I guess this guy didn't read the news or study about the over consumption of sugars in Thai society which already exists. What an idiot!

What she said is "to adopt a traditional cooking method of using sugar, sauce and spices that would be easier to control and reveal the actual amount put into food."

I don't know who the real idiots are here. You just focus on one word when the real point is to control what you put in your food. Sugar or sodium are not bad per se, it's the excess consumption that is.

Shouldn't people be required to take a reading test before posting ?

Agreed! Common sense and relevance should also be used. His recommendation as well as your input are both idiotic statements as, if you knew anything about thais, they have an all or nothing attitude and would never count the calories of the sugar they ate. Most can't even cook anyway and would take this article to mean exactly what I commented about. But then, you are more intelligent than I am and know more about the whole topic and the Thai interpretation than I do. So you are correct in your reply.

I don't know what kind of Thai people you associate yourself with but all the Thais that I know can and do cook exceptionally.

[expatbrit]

Something (translation?) wrong with this report !

An "overdose" of Sodium would result in Hypernatremia a serious and potentially fatal electrolyte disorder which would require hospital inpatient treatment !

[andy85]

Foreigners are also being effected, I saw this first-hand earlier this year. I met an expat Dutch lady (late 50s university lecturer) at a local art exhibition and in the middle of chatting she had a stroke and collapsed. She later died in hospital, doctors said was likely caused by high sodium in her blood.

[Jingthing]

If we live in Thailand and eat out a lot at the same places Thais do, of course we're all effected.

If you cook yourself, at least you're in control of the ingredients.

[scorecard]

So here we have a lecturer at Mahidol telling students about the over ingestion of sodium and he is actually recommending them to use more sugar instead. I guess this guy didn't read the news or study about the over consumption of sugars in Thai society which already exists. What an idiot!

Using chicken from certain suppliers not good, contains very high amounts of hormones and anti-biotics.

[scorecard]

Perhaps Iodine intake should also be mentioned in this report.

Many years back my Thai son had a bllod check-up and the report indicated he had a blood disorder which is very common in Thailand and especially in the Essan region. I can't remember the name of the disorder.

The doctor said that it was not possible to fix the problem with short term treatments but many years of high salt intake if the salt included Iodine was the best answer.

Now seems that overall there is too much salt intake, so what about the Iodine intake factor?

[Jonmarleesco]

'But many still use too much flavour-enhancing seasoning powder, which is 20-50 per cent sodium. ... adopt a traditional cooking method of using sugar, sauce and spices ...' I do assume she does know how to spell salt, so why not say it? And a sugar-based mix? Really?

[Jonmarleesco]

Foreigners are also being effected, I saw this first-hand earlier this year. I met an expat Dutch lady (late 50s university lecturer) at a local art exhibition and in the middle of chatting she had a stroke and collapsed. She later died in hospital, doctors said was likely caused by high sodium in her blood.

High sodium can raise blood pressure, which in turn can lead to cardiac arrest or stroke. But the likely cause being high sodium? Too simplistic an observation.

[Sydebolle]

So Ajinomoto will not be too happy about this but then - this is Thailand. Read the fine print on products and you'll stop eating as everything contains too much sugar (but is fat free) or then too much fat (because it is sugar free). Either way they have you

[Jonmarleesco]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the sugar thing may have been a lost in translation type thing. I think the gist might be cook for yourself, make things from scratch using traditional home cooking methods rather than processed foods like soup powders and you'll be better off.

But it's not really realistic is it for most modern Thais?

Thailand has become a toxic food environment and that's why there is a food spike in bad diet related diseases here.

Eating from a roadside stall, toxic environment is part of the attraction ... isn't it?

[Ajahnski]

So here we have a lecturer at Mahidol telling students about the over ingestion of sodium and he is actually recommending them to use more sugar instead. I guess this guy didn't read the news or study about the over consumption of sugars in Thai society which already exists. What an idiot!

What she said is "to adopt a traditional cooking method of using sugar, sauce and spices that would be easier to control and reveal the actual amount put into food."

I don't know who the real idiots are here. You just focus on one word when the real point is to control what you put in your food. Sugar or sodium are not bad per se, it's the excess consumption that is.

Shouldn't people be required to take a reading test before posting ?

I think you miss everyone's point. I know how Thai people cook, and they put way too much sugar in their food. If the lecturer were up to speed (or even slow, as this info has been out there for a while) he would have, at the very least, made some qualification for amounts of sugar used, especially in main dishes.

Seriously, with all that we know both about the bad effects of refined sugar and carbs, how can anyone even think of recommending using it as a seasoning? Sugar sneaks in to add to the load of refined carbs that people get from the rice that they eat several times a day as well. This is a diet recipe for disaster.