webfact Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Too much salt: Over 8 million Thais suffer from chronic kidney diseaseBy Coconuts BangkokA street food stall in Thailand. Photo: Anne Roberts/ FlickrBANGKOK: -- The Ministry of Public Health revealed this week that over 8 million Thais suffer from chronic kidney disease, with half of those also suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.In the run up to World Kidney Day next month, the ministry reveals Thailand ranks third in the Asean community for the number of citizens diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, just behind Malaysia and Singapore.Asst. Prof. Dr. Surasak Kantachuwessiri, president of the steering committee of World Kidney Day 2016, blamed the kidney disease cases on the high levels of sodium in Thai diets, mentioning the popularity of barbecue among Thais as an example of their preference for salty food.Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2016/02/19/too-much-salt-over-8-million-thais-suffer-chronic-kidney-disease -- Coconuts Bangkok 2016-02-19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaExport Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 It's the sugar and alcohol consumption. It isn't the salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinneil Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Too much salt !! Sorry it should read too much lao kao, causing kidney problems in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fookhaht Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Ever order a natural fruit drink? Like drinking brine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceruhe Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Too much sugar: Over 8 million Thais suffer from chronic something Headline now fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jucel Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Cheap fish sauce + all those seasoning/bbq packs are full of sodium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacky54 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I always ask for no sugar or salt when eating out, usually they look at me as if I am a bit crazy- then bung a load of msg in it to compensate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertthebruce Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Thai food is anything but healthy.. Its full of ''Sugar'' or ''Salt'' or ''Soy Sauce''.... , and also ''White Rice'' is not good for you either..... saying all that, lots of ''Fresh Tropical Fruit and Vegetables'' but dont let a ''Thai'' near it to cook it, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Fixit Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Salty food? You can't be serious If anything, thai food is seriously under-salted. Rice is always coooked w/o salt That's 50% of your average meal right there... Only salted fish is very salty here...I don't see it being very popular...at least here in the deep south Being expensive might be one reason btw...try asking for salt in a thai restaurant... Good luck with that Agreed. You'd get a strange look and fish sauce. But no mention of the massive amounts of sugar Thais eat, and even have on the table as a condiment along with the chilli and the fish sauce. If I get re-incarnated, I want to come back as a Thai dentist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HooHaa Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Salty food? You can't be serious If anything, thai food is seriously under-salted. Rice is always coooked w/o salt That's 50% of your average meal right there... Only salted fish is very salty here...I don't see it being very popular...at least here in the deep south Being expensive might be one reason btw...try asking for salt in a thai restaurant... Good luck with that there is a magic elixir called fish sauce that to my knowledge is used occasionally in thai cooking. last i heard that contained trace elements of sodium. in fact 1 table spoon contains around 1200 mg salt. thats around half the daily recommended in one serving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy50 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Also a complete reluctance to sweat it all out through prolonged vigorous exercise. A lot of white collar Thais dehydrate themselves so they are not seen to sweat, can't be healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy50 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 If your urine is a dark yellow color, you are putting serious strain on your kidneys. It should be almost clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickJ Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Most Thais I know dont drink enough water. They use fish sauce as a condiment. Also soy sauce and the seasoning packets they use are loaded with sodium. Then there is sticky rice as well....very hard on the kidneys. Due to the calcium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasset Tak Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Basically all Thai food contain excess amounts of salt thanks to the use of fish sauce. One of the staple feeds for Thais is som kind of Nam Prik, basically a chili paste that they eat with the rice and vegetables, egg and so on. For each portion of Nam Prik they make there is about 1 able spoon of fish sauce so by eating what most Thais see as a healthy food 3-4 times a day they get at least 1,5-2 times the amount of recommended sodium just from that. Then Thai people tell me not to eat a sandwich or donat with my morning coffee because it makes me fat... it's my <deleted> breakfast, I don't want to eat rice for all meals! But just look at the fast food culture: When I see my students eating noodles I can see how they first they add 1 table spoon chili then 2-3 spoons of sugar and finish of with a spoon of vinegar or pickled chili. Compare that to the American fast food culture with burgers and fries that is way to much fat instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bark Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Salty food? You can't be serious If anything, thai food is seriously under-salted. Rice is always coooked w/o salt That's 50% of your average meal right there... Only salted fish is very salty here...I don't see it being very popular...at least here in the deep south Being expensive might be one reason btw...try asking for salt in a thai restaurant... Good luck with that Sorry, but you know nothing about Thai food. True about rice , only. Thai use Fish Sauce as salt and also MSG ( in everything ) which is also 80 % sodium. If you eat anything which has a sauce; it has MSG in it. Also all Potato chips and snack food have MSG. Even when they eat sour fruits, they dip sugar and salt mixture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dageurreotype Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) When first tipped up on these shores I was taken aback by the Thai propensity to hold a big pack of salt over whatever they happened to be cooking until half the box emptied. They'd then add a side dip of fish sauce and chilli. One of their oft heard complaints in restaurants is 'kem maak' too much salt. I know many Thais suffering hbp, together with diabetes due to enormous sugar intake. Edited February 19, 2016 by dageurreotype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkerry Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I learnt long ago, how it's a waste of time pointing out to a Thai the problems with adding fish sauce to everything, or how heaping teaspoons of sugar on fresh ripe fruit like pineapple or even on noodles, is not a good idea. In reply you will be told it won't taste good without it, and that is all that matters. Any health consequences... there is always some medication to fix that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njhorn2000 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 OMG Saltiest food EVER!! Tom Yum, Tom Ka, all those curries and soups are LOADED with salt. I can eat a big bowl of Tom Yum Gung and the next day SEE the effects on my belly. It's worse than drinking 8 big Leo's. Don't get me wrong, it's delicious and worth it, but not surprised people have kidney probs here. They need to drink more water and not eat soup EVERY day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 ... If I get re-incarnated, I want to come back as a Thai dentist. A dentist treating people who suffer from chronic kidney disease? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Removed some off-topic post. The title of this topic is "Too much salt: Over 8 million Thais suffer from chronic kidney disease". Please discuss the myriad other possible causes of ill health in other topics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiBiker Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Salty food? You can't be serious If anything, thai food is seriously under-salted. Rice is always coooked w/o salt That's 50% of your average meal right there... Only salted fish is very salty here...I don't see it being very popular...at least here in the deep south Being expensive might be one reason btw...try asking for salt in a thai restaurant... Good luck with that You know salt comes in other forms than those white crystals that Americans cover their food in, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorthyDan Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/understanding-kidney-disease-basic-information?page=2 Doesn't mention salt. Does mention high blood pressure but the salt to high blood pressure science isn't ironed out yet, low levels are also dangerous according to some studies. Likely saturated fat related. The new breed is eating tons of meet and fried food, ice cream, snacks and pure garbage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dap Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Salty food? You can't be serious If anything, thai food is seriously under-salted. Rice is always coooked w/o salt That's 50% of your average meal right there... Only salted fish is very salty here...I don't see it being very popular...at least here in the deep south Being expensive might be one reason btw...try asking for salt in a thai restaurant... Good luck with that there is a magic elixir called fish sauce that to my knowledge is used occasionally in thai cooking. last i heard that contained trace elements of sodium. in fact 1 table spoon contains around 1200 mg salt. thats around half the daily recommended in one serving "trace elements" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisY1 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) MSG......spoonfulls in every dish........Thai cooks are not confident to not put in in the wok.....along with lashings of Fish Sauce Edited February 19, 2016 by ChrisY1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee4Life Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Salty food? You can't be serious If anything, thai food is seriously under-salted. Rice is always coooked w/o salt That's 50% of your average meal right there... Only salted fish is very salty here...I don't see it being very popular...at least here in the deep south Being expensive might be one reason btw...try asking for salt in a thai restaurant... Good luck with that Most of the sauces here are very high in sodium, and the Thais love their sauces. (and so do I) Up here in Isan Grilled Tilapia covered with salt is very popular, salted fish of other types are also popular, and sausages that contain high sodium levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eliotness Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 The article seems to say bbq food is a major source of salt. Only if you buy it from a roadside stall surely. Do it at home and make your own marinate then it can be OK. The problem for Thais is they do love their sauces full of salt, sugar and MSG. British chefs on UK TV have been promoting Thai food as super healthy for years. Just shows a weeks trip filming a show gives the presenter a very false view of real everyday food here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maoro2013 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 MSG is also a salt plenty of that in Thai food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZBill Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Never noticed Thai food being salty and I hate salt so would notice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhythmworx Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Mama noodles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prbkk Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 The salt is masked by the sugar. But overlay that with a generation adding western junk and the problem can only get bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now