(Editorial Credit: NATA FUANGKAEW / Shutterstock.com)
Fish sauce is a popular condiment in many cuisines around the world, especially in Asian cuisine and certainly in Thailand. It is often used to add depth and umami to a wide variety of dishes. although fish sauce can add a lot to the flavor of a dish, it's important to know that it can also contain a potentially unhealthy amount of salt.
Salt is a necessary mineral that our body needs to function normally. It helps regulate the fluid balance in our body and is important for the proper functioning of our muscles and nerves. But too much salt can be harmful. It can lead to high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. It can also lead to kidney problems and increase the risk of osteoporosis.
High blood pressure due to sodium
High blood pressureHypertension, also known as hypertension, is a common health problem that can develop if you consume too much sodium (salt). When you consume a large amount of sodium, your body retains more water to balance the salt in your system. This extra water increases the volume of your blood, which in turn increases the pressure on your arteries. This leads to high blood pressure.
Some consequences of long-term high blood pressure include:
- Heart disease: The increased pressure on your heart can lead to thickening and hardening of the heart muscle and blood vessels, which increases your risk of heart attack, heart failure, or an irregular heartbeat.
- Stroke: High blood pressure can damage blood vessels in your brain, increasing your risk of stroke.
- Kidney disease: The increased pressure can damage the blood vessels in your kidneys, which can lead to kidney failure or other kidney problems.
- Eye problems: High blood pressure can also damage the blood vessels in your eyes, leading to vision problems or even blindness.
That's why it's important to limit your salt intake and have your blood pressure checked regularly. A healthy diet, regular exercise, and avoidance of tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption can also help maintain healthy blood pressure.
Fish sauce is a sodium bomb
Fish sauce is very high in sodium (salt) due to the fermentation process it undergoes. Just one tablespoon of fish sauce can contain almost half of the recommended daily salt intake. Because of this, the use of fish sauce can contribute to excessive salt intake, especially if consumed frequently and in large quantities.
It's important to keep an eye on the amount of fish sauce you use in your dishes and try to use other seasonings that contain less salt. For example, try fresh herbs, spices, lemon juice or vinegar to add flavor to your dishes without all the extra salt.
In short, while fish sauce can be a powerful condiment, its high salt content can pose health risks. That's why it's important to use it in moderation and pay attention to your overall salt intake.
About this blogger
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.
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Today a group of students in Belgium was sentenced for a hazing campaign, including the consumption of fish sauce in large quantities, whereby the victim died after two days.
There is also……Low salt fish sauce.
Thanks for this explanation. I've explained that to my spouse more than once, but when it can be found on the internet it seems to be true. The habit is ingrained in the Thai especially when it has to do with food. I have also tried to break up the easy Thai road to the pharmacy with barriers and potholes, but that is also a very entrenched way of thinking. If our son has a cough or sniffle, I have to take him to the doctor. 'No way' is my regular answer. It is difficult to explain the naive, still learning immune system of children. That social eating pattern built into the Eastern genes is a welcome table filling, but it also has its downside. Complaining about being overweight is then separate from the culinary feast.
Then I wonder why we, the Westerner, always have to interfere with something that the Thai grew up with.
If my wife wants to use fish sauce in her food, that's her right. Their food culture is sacred and I stay away from that. And rest assured, most ladies know what too much or too little means.
You do have a point about doctor visits and medication use.
Unfortunately youtube is dead. Ever saw a movie how they did this in Isaan, Nam Pla.
This one and all the others as well, never for me.
A) there may still be bugs, eggs, bacteria in it. B) giant salt
There is a mountain of sea salt, but it also consists largely of ordinary table salt, NaCl.
youtube shows a video, but that is a hallelujah video. Had to dig a lot to find the video in question. How a Google destroys everything.
Sauce is not pasteurized, because filter removes bacteria, they say. Only an RO filter can do that and then everything is gone. Today, in a factory, I would expose it to UV light, which kills the bacteria, viruses.
Maybe I get fish sauce sometimes, but ok still alive. Don't be neurotic about it.
However, by using less and less salt, I notice it. For example, I can no longer eat the so-called bratwurst from LIDL because of the salt it contains. And meat fillings are also becoming increasingly critical because of this.
And no, I don't even put salt on the sausage. Not so with the burgers, just about right in terms of taste for me.
Too much salt is indeed harmful.
But an equally big problem in Thai food is SUGAR!
Sugar is lavishly sprinkled and everywhere you see jars with that harmful stuff.
This cabinet once wanted to introduce sugar tax under pressure from the internists.
never heard from again,
By the way, low-salt nampla is for sale everywhere.
Soy sauce of the same caliber involves salt.
Too much salt, too much sugar, too fat… A very simple rule from a generation before mine was: “Anything that stands for is not good” (except satisfied). If you stick to that somewhat and especially vary, there's not much to worry about, I think. It is not for nothing that we are all still getting older on average, despite the allegedly bad eating habits of the last few decades.