Pok Pok, Green Mango and Weight Control

[jackcorbett 2]

A large percentage (as compared to in the West) of Thai ladies are slender. Yet, most of them are eating much of the time, often consuming five meals a day. Very popular with them is a conglomeration of awful looking (and smelling) vegetables and stuff they call Pok Pok. (not sure if this is the way to spell it or not). They also eat a lot of Papaya Salad which I believe is considered a component of the Pok Pok. And of course there's the inevitable green mango accompanied by red pepper that is guaranteed to induce a shit.

 

It seems the gals are on a Crusade to regularly consume all of this. What I am wondering is to what extent does it help cause slenderness. I do know the girls regularly consuming the pok pok and green mango defecate an awful lot, and that my gf has this to say about it---"Good for me." So I am thinking (but not sure) that consuming all of this causes weight loss and that the girls are well aware of it which is why they eat the stuff in such copious quantities.

[lostinspace 0]

I have never heard of pok,pok,put the papaya salad,would be somme tum.issan food made up of garlic chille [a lot]baby crabs,and a fish that has been fermented for 18 months,and smells awuful,untill it is mixed with everything,

if we eat it [well you have heard of flaming asshole]

but thais because of this and other green diet food ,,mangoes,,etc has the opp effect,as they have no fibre in their diet,rice is not fibre,

the fat thais eat a lot of rice and bbq pork,etc.

somme tum thai is papaya salad with no fish and crabs,and is sweet with nuts,beautifull.if your tgf shits a lot ,good for you ,no Dr bills.

i use to eat some tum years ago with the girls on the drink,and thought it was the carlsberg,that gave me the sore bum,but now i know better.so if they say would you like some as they always offer [bEWARE]and dont forget to use the little hose beside to throne. :

[bvthunder 3]

You are absolutely correct about how those girls eat that stuff and stay cleaned out. One of my regular TG's leaves the bathroom door open when she goes in and the smells could kill most normal living organisms.

 

I'm always shouting - shut the door, but usually to no avail. I believe many of these girls, raised in small villages, and living without indoor plumbing are not bothered by those smells as they are used to much worse.

 

Next trip I'm going to putchase a can of spray for the bathroom.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Som tam, papaya salad and papaya pok pok are just different names for the same dish.

[farman 11]

Dont know about weight control but the stuff you are talking about pok pok(im sure its pot pot) is lovely.

 

I eat it every day but i always say "chillies nit noi"

 

 

[CheshireTom 1,377]

farman,

 

Mai pet means not spicy and prik is chillies. Unfortunately prik nit noi could lead to some misunderstandings ..........

 

Tom

Edited December 16, 2005 by CheshireTom

[farman 11]

farman,

 

Mai pet means not spicy and prik is chillies. Unfortunately prik nit noi could lead to some misunderstandings ..........

 

Tom

Ok!

 

Im not one for boasting that i know the thai language as you know but they seemed to know what i was on about!!

 

Thanks anyway............ Tom.

 

You learn something everyday on this site

 

[farman 11]

Som tam, papaya salad and papaya pok pok are just different names for the same dish.

Are you sure???

 

Everytime my lady wants spicy pok pok i always point at papaya salad to her on the menu and she always says "not same same"

[Prakanong 0]

Som Tam Puu (the one with the raw crab) can be very bad for parasites that are in the crab causing liver problems in a fair % of the population up in Isaan.

 

Thailand has a very high % of liver disease but the lliver fluke / parasite is easily cured but not many get treatment for it.

 

The fermented fish (Pla Raa)is also a source of the liver flukes esp in the North East and Laos - the following is info from a site about Laos but given the similarities in the diet with Isaan it is relevant

 

"The tendency to eat fish raw or partly preserved, predisposes the Lao people to parasitic disease such as liver flukes. Whilst little information is currently available, indications from preliminary surveys suggest widespread infection from liver flukes. This may be exacerbated by the lack of latrines and capture of fish from rice paddies and ponds in rural areas."

 

 

This report is a bit old from Mahidol which if not the best medical school in Thailand it is in the top 2 and the best for tropical medicine

 

http://www.tm.mahidol.ac.th/en/annual/tmnutri97.htm

Som Tum, Pla Ra and Liver Flukes

[CheshireTom 1,377]

farman,

 

Are you sure???

 

Everytime my lady wants spicy pok pok i always point at papaya salad to her on the menu and she always says "not same same"

 

Yes. From Wikpedia:

 

Som tam (Thai/Isan ส้มตำ) is a spicy papaya salad originating in Laos and the Isan region of Thailand. Som (ส้ม) in Isan and Lao is sour, and tam (ตำ) means pounded. It is also sometimes written as som tum, som dtam or som dtum. Other names for the dish are papaya pok pok (from the sound produced when preparing the dish in a mortar), tam som or, in Lao and Isan, tam mak hung (ตำหมากหุ่ง, Lao ຕຳໝາກຮຸ່ງ) (mak hung is the Lao and Isan word for papaya).

 

The main ingredient is grated, unripe papaya, seasoned and pounded to a softened state in a mortar. Chili, garlic, lime and fish sauce are also usually added, while beans and tomato are optional. There are many variations of the dish, some made with carrot instead of papaya. The dish combines the four main tastes of Lao/Thai cuisine: sweet papaya, sour lime, hot chilli and salty fish sauce. It is served at room temperature, traditionally with sticky rice. It is also sometimes served with pork rinds, raw water spinach, raw winged beans or raw cabbage. Very often it is paired with Gai yang (ไก่ย่าง in Thai), grilled chicken..

 

In Laos and Isan the dish is normally more spicy and sour, while the Central Thai version is milder. Som tam Lao usually features fermented crab (ปูดอง in thai), while som tam Thai is prepared with dried shrimp and bean.

 

Som tam can also be prepared with other unripe fruits, notably mango, in which case it is known as tam ma-muang (ตำมะม่วง in thai), and cucumber, tam mak teng.

 

Tom

[jackcorbett 2]

So why do so many of the girls seem addicted to Pok Pok? I would think that having to go to the toilet incessantly is not considered a desireable state of being by most of these girls. On a lesser scale I know that eating spicy Thai food will keep me cleaned out. I also really enjoy the food. I know this is healthy particularly in my case since my mother died of colon cancer at 56 and I might be predisposed towards it. But these girls reach a new level of consumption---defecation. I've seen them have to suddenly go to the toilet three times within a half an hour. And this as a direct result from an eating fest of pok pok.

 

Trips to the toilet can often be incessant and perhaps crippling in terms of interfering with the flow of day's activities. So I'm wondering if most of these girls do it in spite of the inconvenience it might cause them because they know such activities will have a direct result on their ability/inablity to stay thin.

[lostinspace 0]

Som Tam Puu (the one with the raw crab) can be very bad for parasites that are in the crab causing liver problems in a fair % of the population up in Isaan.

 

Thailand has a very high % of liver disease but the lliver fluke / parasite is easily cured but not many get treatment for it.

 

The fermented fish (Pla Raa)is also a source of the liver flukes esp in the North East and Laos - the following is info from a site about Laos but given the similarities in the diet with Isaan it is relevant

 

"The tendency to eat fish raw or partly preserved, predisposes the Lao people to parasitic disease such as liver flukes. Whilst little information is currently available, indications from preliminary surveys suggest widespread infection from liver flukes. This may be exacerbated by the lack of latrines and capture of fish from rice paddies and ponds in rural areas."

 

 

This report is a bit old from Mahidol which if not the best medical school in Thailand it is in the top 2 and the best for tropical medicine

 

http://www.tm.mahidol.ac.th/en/annual/tmnutri97.htm

Som Tum, Pla Ra and Liver Flukes

A thai doc recently told me the som tom gives them infection and can and normally does lead to [GOD FORBID] a smelly pussy.so dont WORRY if you come across one.it aint what you think.

good lucking

[Prakanong 0]

LOL

 

I have never heard of the smelly pussy one. My wifes pussy smells just fine and she is addicted to the stuff ;-)

 

The parasires are easy to get rid of but most of them do not know anything about it.

 

Not wanting to put anyone off but intestinal worms are pretty big in Thailand ;-)

 

Just look at how many boxes of worming tablets phamacists sell - dark blue box with pics of various worms on them.

 

A course of Flagyl is a good idea after a stay in Thailand

[Trvlr 50]

I think every culture considers frequent visits to the toilet an illness, and undesirable. Sometimes an individual may know a certain food will cause it (ice cream for lactose intolerant) and consume the food because he/she likes it a lot. But I doubt that anyone will regularly eat a food if it is causing three visits to the toilet in an hour, as someone above mentioned.

I wouldn't go with a girl who is so afflicted, unless I know her well and know that it is an illness that will soon go away. Besides being aesthetically undesirable, frequent visits to the toilet are a sign of an illness - stomach upset at the least, or more serious stuff like a dysentry that can be passed on to others, or a sign of taking antibiotics or, even worse, an HIV infection. Sorry to be so pessimistic, but I recommend not taking stomach upsets lightly. If I ever pick up a girl and notice she has made two visits to the toilet, I wil politely send her home.

[jackcorbett 2]

Normally I might feel the same way about it---ie...too many trips to the toilet can easily be a manifestation of illness.

 

But just do an experiment on yourself. Order for instance steamed rice and put some spicy garlic pork on top of it. Then heavily lace this with fish sauce that is well spiked with hot peppers. Undoubtedly you will be going to the toilet very shortly. And what comes out is not likely to be very solid. Same same with green mango well seasoned with red pepper.

 

So I'd suggest that diet is causing the runs, not illness. I also believe that as often as it induces a cleanout of my system, sometimes at inopportune times, that even though it would seem Thai girls gastro intestinal tracts are more immune to hot spicy food, that there are limitations and that these limitations are more than exceeded by the overindulgence of many Thai women by what they put into their stomachs.

 

Even long term expats close to me are suggesting that girls eat often and shit often so this is more than personal observation. The question I'm asking is: "Do they do this because 1. It helps in weight control, and 2. They use such eating habits as a tool in much the same way many Westerners might use exercise as a means of staying trim?

[Trvlr 50]

Sorry Jack but, at the risk of sounding argumentative, let me say that that is totally not my experience.

I eat mostly Thai food - and very hot Thai food - when I am there, and I have no aftereffects of the sort you describe. I have stayed with Thai girls for a few days at a time, and none of them had the symptoms you describe.

I will repeat, that almost any culture will consider the symptoms you describe as abnormal. The human body is conditioned to consider repeated trips to the bathroom an illness.

Also, it cannot be used as a form of weight control - for that you'd have to force it out the other end, as Romans did by tickling their throats with a feather. Unless someone is extremely - really extremely - ill, food will go through its normal cycle before being excreted, which means nutrients are absorbed first.

[Bagwan 0]

All food intake is fattening, period. No ifs, no buts. Thai diets may well be less fattening than Western foods but if your calorie intake is more than the calories you burn off, you put on weight. A low calorie diet, say 2000 calories per day for an adult male will slim you down but you still need to exercise to regain body tone. A calorie deficit of 3000 gives a weight loss of 1 lb avoirdupois. A pint of Bass Best Bitter (what memories!) gives an intake of 200 calories. What the calorific value of the tasteless icy gnats piss that the brewing industry has foisted on us is I couldn't say.

 

There are more than enough fatties among the Thai population, especially the young. In the kids case this may be through eating the crap that McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFG purvey and a TV addiction. But the big fat mommas? What does anybody think they eat?

 

I find some of the items on Isan menus disgusting. Chickens's feet, insects, snake, rat and dog. Ugh! And what is in those big bowls of what looks like effluent you see in the markets? Maybe I'm a sensitive soul since as kid I loved winkles but wouldn't dream of eating one now.

 

My wife (and her mates) love papaya salad but she knows they'll be no close affection - or sex- until she had scrubbed her teeth and gargled with Listerine. I find the smell nauseating. As far as I'm concerned there is a big market here for Amplex.

 

I have better things to do that count how many times per day Her Serene Highness craps.

[jackcorbett 2]

I agree that all food intake is fattening to one degree or another. I also subscribe to observing the absolutely critical role exercise plays for both good health and weight control. Basically it is one beer (on the average) equals one mile of running or equivalent cardio vascular exercise. Even so...there are a few exceptions. For instance a friend of mine has recently confided in me telling me that he has a thyroid condition that nullifies what he is trying to accomplish in his exercise program.

 

I am 58 now. Most of my life I have been a long distance runner and while in High School and College I lettered early on in Cross Country racing. But about the age of fifty I had my first hernia and several years later I had my second one. The hernias and perhaps resulting scar tissue has played havoc with my running program. Most of my life I've weighed between 160 and 170 and it was not until several years ago that my weight shot up to 192 to 194.

 

Now I am most likely at 165 pounds or so. Back in the U.S. my idea was to jump start my weight loss with couple months of the Adkins diet and then to maintain my weight with the right exercise program. And it worked. But even though I do a lot of walking and running here in Pattaya I am sure I run or walk fewer miles than the amount of beers I consume. My diet by the way is for the most part Thai as I consume very few falang meals.

 

The equation is nevertheless still valid.....One beer or mixed drink, glass of wine coca cola or whatever equals around 160 calories or one mile of running or equivalent exercise.

 

My Thai gf by the way will remind me every other day that we need to do a three mile walk together. She will not eat falang food either and if I ask her if she wants some she will say something like..."Good for you. Not good for me."

 

Back in the U.S. I have three sisters. One is a fat momma while the other two--ages 53 and 41 have wonderfully maintained physiques. One owns a dancing studio and is a terrific dancer. She will run mini marathons to stay in shape. The other..the one who is 53, is an avid student of nutrition who carefully watches what she eats or prepares for her family. She is also a proponent of good exercise.

 

My Thai gf just commented about her sister: "She always small. No matter what." I think what she was saying to me is that her sister is simply genetically thin and that short of eating vast quantities of "big mamma food" she will continue to have the shape of a greyhound.

 

In general from what I have seen the Thais do not like to exercise. Any expatriate who's been here long will tell you that. Nevertheless, if one goes down to the Beach around five p.m. or so one will encounter many falang and many Thais running next to Beach Road. Some of the Thais are women. But I have never seen a single falang woman running down the beach. Not once.

 

A combination of a good exercise program and proper eating habits works for two out of three sisters. The third would be slender if she didn't eat so much and if she exercized like the other two. I do agree that there are lots of fat mommas here in Pattaya, but I think part of this is because of a genetically disposition towards being heavy while much of it is because the fat mommas get little exercise and eat too much of the wrong things.

 

Still.....I think there is a lot to how much time food stays in the body and weight gain/loss. And I think that many Thais try to improve the odds of their remaining slender by watching what they eat.

[farman 11]

I agree that all food intake is fattening to one degree or another. I also subscribe to observing the absolutely critical role exercise plays for both good health and weight control. Basically it is one beer (on the average) equals one mile of running or equivalent cardio vascular exercise. Even so...there are a few exceptions. For instance a friend of mine has recently confided in me telling me that he has a thyroid condition that nullifies what he is trying to accomplish in his exercise program.

 

I am 58 now. Most of my life I have been a long distance runner and while in High School and College I lettered early on in Cross Country racing. But about the age of fifty I had my first hernia and several years later I had my second one. The hernias and perhaps resulting scar tissue has played havoc with my running program. Most of my life I've weighed between 160 and 170 and it was not until several years ago that my weight shot up to 192 to 194.

 

Now I am most likely at 165 pounds or so. Back in the U.S. my idea was to jump start my weight loss with couple months of the Adkins diet and then to maintain my weight with the right exercise program. And it worked. But even though I do a lot of walking and running here in Pattaya I am sure I run or walk fewer miles than the amount of beers I consume. My diet by the way is for the most part Thai as I consume very few falang meals.

 

The equation is nevertheless still valid.....One beer or mixed drink, glass of wine coca cola or whatever equals around 160 calories or one mile of running or equivalent exercise.

 

My Thai gf by the way will remind me every other day that we need to do a three mile walk together. She will not eat falang food either and if I ask her if she wants some she will say something like..."Good for you. Not good for me."

 

Back in the U.S. I have three sisters. One is a fat momma while the other two--ages 53 and 41 have wonderfully maintained physiques. One owns a dancing studio and is a terrific dancer. She will run mini marathons to stay in shape. The other..the one who is 53, is an avid student of nutrition who carefully watches what she eats or prepares for her family. She is also a proponent of good exercise.

 

My Thai gf just commented about her sister: "She always small. No matter what." I think what she was saying to me is that her sister is simply genetically thin and that short of eating vast quantities of "big mamma food" she will continue to have the shape of a greyhound.

 

In general from what I have seen the Thais do not like to exercise. Any expatriate who's been here long will tell you that. Nevertheless, if one goes down to the Beach around five p.m. or so one will encounter many falang and many Thais running next to Beach Road. Some of the Thais are women. But I have never seen a single falang woman running down the beach. Not once.

 

A combination of a good exercise program and proper eating habits works for two out of three sisters. The third would be slender if she didn't eat so much and if she exercized like the other two. I do agree that there are lots of fat mommas here in Pattaya, but I think part of this is because of a genetically disposition towards being heavy while much of it is because the fat mommas get little exercise and eat too much of the wrong things.

 

Still.....I think there is a lot to how much time food stays in the body and weight gain/loss. And I think that many Thais try to improve the odds of their remaining slender by watching what they eat.

YAWN!!!!!