Dairy Products And Thais

[skylar]

Are Thais able to digest dairy products? Or is it simply not common for Thais to buy dairy products?

[BambinA]

yeh Thais can take dairy product ( thats why you can find plenty of products in supermarket) but obviously many thai people get lactose intolerance , lack of lactase .

[steveromagnino]

yeh Thais can take dairy product ( thats why you can find plenty of products in supermarket) but obviously many thai people get lactose intolerance , lack of lactase .

I think overall, about 30% of Asian people are lactose intolerant, me being one.

I cannot see why anyone needs to drink milk at all for their life; it is high in fat, not particularly good for you and there are plenty of other ways to get calcium.

That said, I like cheese, I do like a good peice of stilton.

For more advanced Singapore they have lactose free milk, which is a step in the right direction. no doubt we'll end up with lots more overweight fat unhealthy kids if NZ keeps pushing their milk around here.

[BambinA]

I think overall, about 30% of Asian people are lactose intolerant, me being one.

my milk is guaranteed by FDA

[zzap]

Dairy products, with the possible exception of live yoghurt, are difficult to digest full stop. Not the best food available, specially the pasteurised 'fresh' milk in Los. http://www.thehealthzone.co.uk/cms/Health/...312-90-0-0.html

[tavarich]

Dairy products, with the possible exception of live yoghurt, are difficult to digest full stop. Not the best food available, specially the pasteurised 'fresh' milk in Los. http://www.thehealthzone.co.uk/cms/Health/...312-90-0-0.html

Dam that article burst my bubble. I'm going to have to give this a serious think.

[steveromagnino]

Dairy products, with the possible exception of live yoghurt, are difficult to digest full stop. Not the best food available, specially the pasteurised 'fresh' milk in Los. http://www.thehealthzone.co.uk/cms/Health/...312-90-0-0.html

Dam that article burst my bubble. I'm going to have to give this a serious think.

Me too; actually I try to drink it every few years, and eventually get sick enough to have to stop.

I do like a good piece of gorgonzola Grommet.

As for you Ms Bambina, I am sure your 'big milk' has been well approved by the FDA; you must allow for, ahem, further research to be conducted locally at the Lard Prao milk testing facilities

[h90]

also low fat and zero fat milk exists.

But else I 100 % agree with you, as well I don't see any reason why to push milk in a country with a lot of lactose intolerants....

yeh Thais can take dairy product ( thats why you can find plenty of products in supermarket) but obviously many thai people get lactose intolerance , lack of lactase .

I think overall, about 30% of Asian people are lactose intolerant, me being one.

I cannot see why anyone needs to drink milk at all for their life; it is high in fat, not particularly good for you and there are plenty of other ways to get calcium.

That said, I like cheese, I do like a good peice of stilton.

For more advanced Singapore they have lactose free milk, which is a step in the right direction. no doubt we'll end up with lots more overweight fat unhealthy kids if NZ keeps pushing their milk around here.

[GuestHouse]

What's all this 'Pushng' thing, anyone would think we are talking about hard drugs here.

[g00dgirl]

I hope I will find skim milk in a store in Southern Phuket, then I'm happy, and fat free plain yoghurt and fat free cottage cheese which I need as a protein source. I really hope to find these ..

[englishoak]

Hmmm I drink about 2 pints of fat free milk everyday. Always have cos I actually like it

Gonna have to rethink this

[steveromagnino]

What's all this 'Pushng' thing, anyone would think we are talking about hard drugs here.

OK, NZ actively markets their milk products here aggressively with the government granted almost monopoly coop called Fonterra which is located (or still is AFAIK) directly adjacent to the NZ Embassy. Fonterra lobbied the NZ negotiators successfully so that one of the main components for the FTA with NZ and Thailand included elimination of the 18% tax on milk coming into Thailand on whole milk powder, which is NZ's 2nd biggest export to Thailand, and 5% on infant milk formula which is NZ's largest export to Thailand. They've had to 'push' milk here because they can't sell it to the EU or USA easily.

Note that Fonterra have made NIL effort to promote breast feeding, and as is standard for milk manufacturers around the world, promote infant formula when there is a major problem with lack of breast feeding here, and IMHO the mistaken belief among Thais that infant formula is as good as breast milk. Instead, they do press releases saying that pregnant women in Malaysia need to drink 'pregnancy milk' due to a lack of folate for instance, and other such research such as that 'dairy promotes healthy teeth'

They claim:

“As one of the world’s leading nutritional milk companies we believe educating future mothers and raising their awareness of the need to take these steps gives their babies the best possible start in life.”

They also claim:

'Dairy products are one of the basic four food groups. They are important sources of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals, notably calcium. Dairy products are the best natural source of calcium, essential for bone health and the prevention of osteoporosis in later life.

Milk and dairy products are an important part of a nutritious diet everyday of your life.'

Based on other researchers' work, I would dispute both, and also would point out that they are not quick to talk about the issue of lactose intolerance to the point I've advised various parents i know of this issue and the parents haven't even been aware of this; ditto for breast feeding.

Alchohol and cigarettes are now required to have health warnings on them, perhaps instead of just promoting their products willy nilly, the incompetents at Fonterra could also develop their brands to promote responsible milk drinking too.

I've lived most of my life without drinking milk; like whisky I can see lots of reasons to enjoy it, but I hardly consider it an important part of a nutritious diet everyday.

Therefore, 'push' is not so far off the truth

[Crushdepth]

I'm pretty sceptical about the article linked above. It's misleading - *most* foods are 'deficient' in one or more nutrients (in this case supposedly magnesium). Same with 'protein' sources - the amino acid profile of any source is unlikely to be optimal for humans.

There aren't many foods that provide comprehensive nutrition in themselves, and many foods that complement one another nutritionally. That's why we need a *balanced diet*.

[raro]

I'm living on a balanced diet of raw beef (tartar), fried pork knuckles, cheese, coffee and beer. Feel excellent. What the heck is this nutrition stuff all about, I wonder...

Edited February 17, 2006 by raro