Thread: (How to) Eating Healthy in Thailand???

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend and I just arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Our bodies are feelingout of whack from the excessive amount of sodium in the food here. It seemslike it is hard to find any dish that does not contain mass amount of sodium.The sweets here are even shockingly sweeter. It all taste delicious but I don'tthink our bodies are enjoying it and are started to feel some of the effects.We are very healthy conscious people and would like to keep up with our healthwhile living in Thailand for a year. The food is plentiful available, buthealthy options seem scarce other than fruit stands. Does anyone have any recommendationson eating healthy while dining out?? Any tips or advice on how to eat healthyin Thailand in general would be greatly appreciated.

Side Note...

Yesterday we bought an apple for 15 baht and small bag of sliced pinapple 15 baht. Would this be considered a deal or rip off for Thailand??

I don't know of a Third World nation where the people aren't hooked on salt and sugar. The food in Mexico is often so salty it'll make your eyes water. And then there is a salt shaker on every restaurant's dining table. I always like to say - as I send my food back - if I want salt it's here on the table. You can add it but you can't subtract it. Many times in Thailand if I mentioned it was too salty the cook or waiter would insist on taming it down with a dash of sugar. With coffee that sweetened evaporated milk Thais love makes be sick at the thought of it. That shit is awful!

Actually MSG is NOT bad for you. It's only a myth that it is. There is no scientific evidence suggesting it has any sort of negative side effects (unless you use extremely high amounts in which case just about ANYTHING in high concentrations of is bad for you). I've read many government researches from Australia, USA and Britain concluding that there is strong evidence suggesting there are no negative effects of MSG. In fact, sugar and salt are more hazardous for your health than MSG. The reason why this whole MSG myth caught on is because some Asian doctor in the states hypothesized there are 3 reason why Chinese food is bad for you: 1) MSG 2) Alcohol in food 3) something else I forgot. And because 2 and 3 are common in the West and MSG was a new thing back then, the whole myth of MSG being bad for you caught on.

yampie, I eat healthy food all the time and it's easy to find them. I always try to buy salad at the salad bar in supermarkets like Tops and I always buy whole wheat bread. But be warned: Do NOT buy salads on the streets! If I cant find a salad bar at the supermarket then I'd just buy a packet of salad vegetables and eat it with bread. I usually only drink water. For breakfast I just eat cereal. I have one or two meals of cooked food a day (out of 6 meals). I eat plenty of fruit, yogurt and nuts. Cheap but good quality fish is also abundant in Thailand. Fruit is about 10-30B for a bag in Bangkok but I don't know about Chiang Mai. Yogurt is 13-15B each for Thai brands, more for non-Thai brands. Nuts can be very expensive though depending on what kind of nuts you buy they can go OVER 100B/g.

---Update---

P.S. The salads in Thailand are very good. Too bad they put a truck load of fish sauce in there. And also without kilos of chilli, the salads aren't anywhere near as tasty.

Originally Posted by yampie01

Does anyone have any recommendationson eating healthy while dining out?

No. Buy fresh meat and veges and cook your own meals.

thanks guys. snag a little plug in wok that has changed the name of the game. slowly getting a feel for the streets and loving every second of it.

Originally Posted by yampie01

and small bag of sliced pinapple 15 baht

Bargain, mate. 20 baht round these parts.

Hey Yampie, has anyone ever told you you look like Andy Dick?

Originally Posted by Jophes124

eat it with Simmons.

Good old Simmons, eh? I like a lunchtime routine too. A little break, some noodles, a quick chat about the day so far, what did you do at the weekend, all that sort of thing.