Vietnamese and Thai Health

Have you ever been to Vietnam or Thailand?

I've been to both countries, and for Vietnam, I particularly loved staying in Ho Chi Minh where there is so much art, foods and fun (as compared to Hanoi, which feels more industrial as a whole). Thailand we visited Bangkok where we enjoyed much foods but it didn't have a nice feel like we had in Vietnam (being scammed also made our stay not that enjoyable).

But I digress - if you've ever been to Vietnam or Thailand, I think you'd be fascinated with their ups and downs (every country has its good and bad side). For Thailand, their high rate of scams and cheats are bad bad bad, and their driving is on par bad. In Vietnam, its the crazy crossing of the road where 5, 6 lanes will "open" a path for you like the crossing of the red sea, and their crazy wires in Vietnam (see below)

Other than that, the Vietnamese and the Thai people are pretty nice, pleasant and relaxed, and I note that both of their cultures are very hardworking, many of them waking up very early in the morning to start their day by exercising and then work till very late at night (it was a norm for them to still be working till 11+ pm at night)

But one thing I note is that they generally have good strength, health and skin. Most of them are slim with good skin complexions. What I do with every country I visit is that I take note of the people and compare them with people in other areas and countries, as part of my immersion of the local culture and experience.

people watching and comparing

You can tell that there are some similarities of people in the European countries, and likewise, there are some similarities with the people across the Asian countries (talking about South East Asian countries).

Of course, there are also similarities with the people in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

So I'm still referring to their general health, skin and complexion, so I look at:

• general health conditions such as hair health, skin health, "sharpness" of eyes, teeth health
• body shapes, levels of fitness vs fats
• approach to eating and food/drinks

Yes, it's general and impressions-based, but you can tell a lot by sitting and watch scores of people, which you can tell by how one walks, the food or drinks that they carry/eat, their body shape/mass, sweat etc (it helps a lot that I'm a healthcare professional, and my eyes are trained to see all these anyway)

Interestingly, the appearance of the general people and population I observed in Vietnam and Thailand seems to be pretty good and healthy, and from a glance, they generally seem to be years and years ahead in health as compared to the people I observed in UK, Australia and New Zealand (I would definitely say the US too, but I've not personally been to US yet at this point in writing).

Interestingly, people in Vietnam and Thailand that I observed are so much poorer and they likely don't have health insurance nor access to the "latest medical/health breakthroughs and products and technology" ...but they seem to be pretty fit, healthy and well. It's pretty rare to see an overweight Vietnamese/Thai, and more difficult to find an obese one.

It's very interesting, because contrast to the above, countries such as UK, US, Australia and New Zealand has so many people who are unhealthy, unwell, obese, unfit and sick, despite being so advanced in medical and health care and technology.

Doesn't that make you wonder?

The three major illness of most advanced countries and western world are (1) heart disease, (2) cancer and (3) diabetes are not a very serious problem in Vietnam and Thailand.

Is it because of their genes?

That's not true. Research findings are showing that when Asians go to a western country to study/migrate there and pick up the local lifestyle and diet, they actually get the same disease as the locals in that particular country - this shows that it's something that the locals are doing or consuming that leads to it.

In fact, Asian countries are in a sense, "catching" up to the western countries on obesity. I mean, I travel across Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and I can observe that more and more individuals are increasingly obese, and their children as well are becoming larger.

Still not as rampant as the western countries, but our diets are becoming not only more "western" as the franchises come to Asia, but many of our diets are becoming higher in sugar, salt and preservatives.

advanced countries health woes

So let's back up to the people watching again.

In many Asian countries, you'd notice that there are many food stalls, eateries and markets around, and you'd see that they are very popular and quite fun to walk through (see below)

Many of them are full of fresh vegetables, fruits, poultry and lifestock. Sometimes it's so fresh that you can get freshly slaughtered poultry as you order it - everything is fresh.

And most of these marketplaces may have market food stalls where they have food that has been prepared in large pots and woks, and if you glanced in, many of them have a range of vegetables, meats and offals/innards that I love (hey, I'm Asian and I love stuff like this) - these stuff are often pretty cheap/affordable, damn tasty and is nutritious.

And that's what Thais and Vietnamese tends to eat - affordable, fresh and nutritious food.

Everyday.

If you look at what they eat, not only it's nutritious, but there is very little processed or manufactured foods (note: when I was in Vietnam, I fell in love with their Banh Mi, a sandwich prepared by the road side...which is filled with pate and slices of ham - which are processed...but all these are done in house with fresh meat that I can see, taste and smell - yes, it's that fresh, not from large factories. The same Banh Mi is also often stuffed with lots of fresh vegetables, herbs and spices too).

From what I've written, you can generally tell how and why the Thais and Vietnamese people are pretty health, pretty slim and have generally good skin. Yes, there are McDonalds, franchises and stuff like that around in the more city central and western parts of town but they're not as frequented/popular as they are in advanced countries.

what do you think?

I think that if you want to become healthier or stay as well and healthy as you can be, you should be avoiding as much as you can any types of food that has been processed or manufacturers - anything that generally comes in a can, bottled, sealed or packed.

Consume as much fresh vegetables as you can (I tend to avoid fruits that are mainly sugar such as grapes, but I love stuff like durians that are healthier), and if you can, go organic.

Even organic meats, eggs, poultry. Where we are in Singapore it's generally more expensive than the usual foods, but it's getting more affordable since then, and now the price is not as vast as before.

Try to not overcook your foods too, because overcooking destroys the vital nutrients inside. 

Even with good (or great) eating habits, if you live in a city or modern environment, it is highly unlikely that you can get the levels of nutrients available in a Thai or Vietnamese diet, because of the way the food is sourced (most city food are brought in from faraway places which degrade the nutrients in them, so by the time it gets to you, it's pretty much a fraction of nutrients compared to as when it's fresh).

This is why you should supplement your diet with a powerful multi nutrient supplement, such as the Total Balance series (see below)

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