Zorro Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Many people think that Thai food is quite healthy compared to say your average western food. I am not so sure that this is true. One thing that really concerns me with Thai food is the cooking oil that is used and often re used. What type of oil is used? I am sure it is not olive oil or something similarly healthy. The Thais also seem to put a lot sugar in many dishes along with some very questionable fish sauces. What do other people think about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dude_Le_Rude Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 high is sugars to be sure. Palm sugar specifically. Coconut oils or vegetable oil for cooking. no problem with nampla, (fish sauce) not questionable in my opinion. but compared to a Big Mac, large fries and a coke, yes, much healthier. Do they wash the fry pan before cooking your meal (?) should be your main concern..!! heating it, putting a little water in it, and rinsing it out, just does not seem so sterile. AND Do you really want to know what was in that som tam pestle before you got your order prepared??!! Peace! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorro Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 "but compared to a Big Mac, large fries and a coke, yes, much healthier." I wasn't really thinking fast food when i mentioned western food rather I meant your standard meat and veggies, pastas etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dude_Le_Rude Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 big steak? mashed potatoes? gravy? a couple of carrots? nevertheless... http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/pyramids.html Peace! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dude_Le_Rude Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 and.... http://www.nutraingredients.com/productnews/news.asp?id=57917 check out the last line of the article... "galangal reportedly acts as a stimulant and an aphrodisiac. " no wonder ME SO HORNY!!! Me love U too mut!! Peace! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thai curry spice attacks cancer cells, shows lab study 08/02/2005 - The Asian plant galangal, often used to flavour Thai curries, appears to both kill cancer cells and boost the cancer-fighting capacity of healthy cells, say researchers in the UK. The findings, based on laboratory research, were initially presented at a conference in 2002. However they have not gained widespread media attention until this week, following a spotlight on leading medicinal plants researcher Professor Peter Houghton based at King?s College London. The researcher says the work, which lends support to the traditional use of galangal in Indo-China and the Malay Peninsula against stomach cancer, could be published in a journal in the future. "We have in a way gone back and tested anti-cancer activity already seen in animals. But no-one had looked at the biological activitiy of the plant and sought to explain it," he told NutraIngredients.com. Houghton's PhD student Dr CC Lee isolated and purified several compounds from a lesser galangal (Alpinia officinarum) extract, two of which could activate the GST enzyme when added on their own to the liver cells. GST, or glutathione S-transferases, is a detoxifying enzyme involved in excreting carcinogens from cells. Other research groups have already demonstrated that substances which increase the activity of GST prevent cells becoming cancerous. These two compounds, which are also present in greater galangal, were more effective than the others at killing breast and lung cancer cells grown in culture. ?These laboratory experiments show that there is some basis to the claim that galangal could be used to treat cancer,? said Professor Houghton. Further tests indicated that a healthy cell type was more resilient to the chemicals than the cancerous cell types tested. One of the isolated chemicals was about three times more effective at killing the cancer cells than the healthy cells. Furthermore, the effect of this chemical on the healthy cells seemed to be reversible, unlike its effect on the cancerous cells. Professor Houghton added that the plant?s dual action on cells is rare among traditional medicines. ?Normally extracts are able to kill cancer cells or boost healthy cells? natural defences against cancer but galangal seems to do both,? he said. He added that the results do not support recommendations for consumption of the plant to fight cancer. ?We would need to carry out further tests, such as looking to see whether people who eat galangal on a daily basis are less likely to suffer from cancer than those who do not,? said Professor Houghton. The ginger-like root is also thought to help indigestion, colic and dysentery, as well as some skin conditions. In powdered form or as an alcoholic extract, galangal reportedly acts as a stimulant and an aphrodisiac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickman Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Aluminium woks can't be a good thing - isn't there a correlation with alzheimers there? Also, sugar seems to be added to almost everything! Stick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lembeh Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 >Aluminium woks can't be a good thing - isn't there a correlation with alzheimers there? That theory was discredited years ago. -j- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lembeh Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 >Many people think that Thai food is quite healthy compared to say your average western food. Quite honestly, my feeling is that thai food can be very unhealth. Lots of fried food, LOTS of sugar, lots of oil in the cooking, common use of MSG, pretty high coconut milk use. Very, very light on the veggies (how many thai vegetable dishes can you name?). There are some salads (a la som tam) but again more often than not mixed with some form of meat/seafood. Common dishes? *Fried* rice, *fried* noodles, stir *fried* food.... As such, most meals look pretty bad on average. Probably the only thing that stops Thai's keeling over like flies is that they do, in general snacks on fruit after (or before) meals. -j- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Josh and all, Yeah, I'd thought earlier that Thai food was pretty good for you, but now after years here I see a lot of stuff that makes me believe this isn't so. Sugar is added to many many dishes, lots of frying (in our shop we use soybean oil, which is hard to find in the states, yet easy to find here, and pure, not mixed with other oils) the fish sauce they put in most dishes is very high in sodium, and the street foods are nearly always a chance really. Just saw an article the other day where some were using fucking red shoe polish to color the red pork, highly toxic! Another thing I saw was the use of some chemical in the preservation of the meats used on the soi foodstalls in BKK which the government scientists exposed as being the real reason for Thailand being recently rated as #1 in the world for stomach cancer. They said this chemical was the cause for this rise over the past decade or so, and now the government inspectors supposedly check the stalls on the sois to make sure they are not using this crap. MSG is big here, and they throw it on food like we do salt in the west. Lots of noodle dishes, from what I've read, don't know if this was ever debunked or not, but supposedly shrimp is high in a bad cholesterol and shouldn't be eaten a lot. Well, shrimp is eaten here quite a lot, way more than in the west. Pork is king here really. Tons of pork eaten. But, they mostly don't eat a lot of beef. (I go weeks or months now without any beef at all.) And chicken, I just started eating it again here recently since all the bird flu stuff. So now, I think I would find it much easier in the west to eat much healthier foods. Hell, try to find a diet cola or diet anything here in Isaan! They look at you like you are crazy! Lots of water though I drink daily here, much more than back home. And yeah, there are tons of different fruits to eat here, very cheap as well to purchase. I don't know about durian, but I think it is very high in sugar content as well, and is eaten a lot here. A doctor friend of mine from Malaysia also told me once to be very careful of eating a lot of durian when drinking as well. As for vegetables. Here I eat a LOT more veggies than in the states. Some good stuff too with lots of vitamins. Tiger's ear is great, lots of dark greens as well in the dishes. Salads though I rarely see except in restaurants catering to farang. So, I think there is some reason to question this "Thai food is good for you" theory some spout. It can be, but not always or all of it. What is good is the inexpensive fruits and vegetables one can buy here, and I find I eat more of them now than I would in the states. Cent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorro Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 "Thailand being recently rated as #1 in the world for stomach cancer." I didn't know that. I think it used to be Japan that was number for stomach cancer. It seems that there is a lot of evidence to suggest that your average Thai meal is far from healthy. Something else no one has mentioned is the large amount of eggs they seem to put in many dishes and of course these eggs are usually fried just to make things worse. If i was living in Thailand fulltime i would have to prepare most of my own meals as it seems that most common dishes are too high in fat , suger and sodium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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