Thai Express - EVIL In A Little Green Box With Handles

First off, please don't assume I am making a generalization that all Thai food is bad-- like any cuisine, there are healthy preparations.  Western culture has been duped into believing that most of the asian food we eat from North American places are actually quite healthy or at least low-cal--aided mostly by the fact that the majority of asian men and women tend to not be obese.  While every asian menu has healthy alternatives, we need to escape this mindset by remembering that:

1. Most North American versions of asian cuisine have been drastically modified to suit a western palate or to accommodate the availability of certain ingredients.  This is often exaggerated in the direction of sweet and salty-- two of our favorites.
2. The availability (or lack thereof) of the processed high-sugar processed foods in the eastern part of the world until recent decades has not had the detrimental health impacts on the asian cultures like it has here in the west.  In fact, the growing occurrence of obesity in the east has coincidentally (insert sarchasm here) coincided with the rapid availability of processed fast foods and "junk food" like sodas.   
3. Asian people do not traditionally sit down and consume large quantities of meat in equal proportion to the rice and vegetables as a single serving.  While we find it normal to eat everything in a take-away box, the portion sizes we consume are astronomically higher than what an asian person would in a traditional sense.  Everything is mixed and matched with rice forming the bulk of the meal and the meats and vegetables being the supporting actors.

Now that I am done with my sociological and biological hypothesizing, we all must admit that when a major chain's website has this in their "Nutrition" section, we need to raise some alarm:

"Good nutrition and health are our top priorities. Ingredients in our menu have evolve over the years guest’s to cater to needs and desires by offering choices that can fit into a healthy lifestyle.

Results of nutritional values are being finalized. Thank you for your patience!"

(It's important to note here that the "finalized" results have been pending for at least a year or more.)

 I have to admit that I am guilty of being hypnotized by the sprouts, noodles, tofu, chicken, and vegetables dancing in front of my face in a hot wok and had the "Chicken Pad Thai" as one of my favorite pleasures.   I would hungrily race home and pop open that familiar little green box and neck down my peanut covered tasty treat in record time and try to feel good that I ate sprouts, tofu and rice noodles instead of burgers or pizza.   In fact, it became almost routine that once a week I would treat myself to my "Chicken Pad Thai" until I decided I wanted to lose some weight, did some research, and almost fell out of my chair when the results hit me like suckerpunch to the gut.

 

My chicken pad thai had more calories than four cheeseburgers and enough sodium to blow someone's head off.

Despite Thai Express' best effort to dance around revealing the shocking nutritional truth surrounding their food, an industrious individual took it upon themselves to do an analysis on the chicken pad thai and here is what they found:  (Warning- you might want to sit down when you see these numbers)

• 1131 Calories
• 40g of Fat
• 163mg of Cholesterol
• 2594mg of Sodium
• 390mg of Potassium
• 160g Carbohydrates
• 33g Protein

Simply put, that little green box with the cute metal handles is representing 62% of your daily value of fat, 54% of your DV of Cholesterol, 108% (!!!) of your DV of Sodium and OVER HALF (53%) of your DV of carbs.

Keep in mind too that these numbers assume you didn't add extra sauces and peanut sprinkles on top.

While I am certain other items like the soups and rice based dishes are slightly less "calorific" - I am inclined to believe that the sodium levels especially are astronomical across the board.

With all this new information in hand I can only recommend that a person hell-bent on having a Thai Express fix either opts for the steamed rice and vegetable based options on the menu or shares their Thai Express between two people instead of eating it as a single lunch.   If you are on a low-sodium, low-cholesterol, or low-cal diet-- STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THAI EXPRESS.

For my part and given my new dedication to dropping some weight and eating healthier-- my relationship with Thai Express is over.  

Maybe I'll send back the engagement ring in one of those little green boxes :)