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The Daily Insight

Is Thai red curry bad for you

Author

Andrew Campbell

Published Apr 24, 2026

Thai curries are usually made with a hefty dose of coconut milk, and that won’t do your diet any favors. One cup of the creamy milk packs in 400 calories. It also has 36 grams of saturated fat — more than three times the recommended daily amount.

Is Thai curry healthy for you?

Traditional Thai cuisine is quite healthy and largely based on vegetables, lean proteins, and fresh herbs and spices. Certain Thai dishes are high in refined carbs and may contain deep-fried foods, added sugar, or high amounts of salt.

Which is better red or green Thai curry?

which is hotter red or green curry. Without a shred of doubt, red curry is quite spicy and hot. So, if you are comparing red curry vs green curry in terms of spice levels, red curry is the one to keep an eye out for. Green curry is known for being more subtle and gentle.

How many calories is Thai red curry?

Thai Red Curry (0.5 cup) contains 10g total carbs, 8g net carbs, 8g fat, 2g protein, and 120 calories.

Are coconut curries healthy?

Thai curries are usually made with a hefty dose of coconut milk, and that won’t do your diet any favors. One cup of the creamy milk packs in 400 calories. It also has 36 grams of saturated fat — more than three times the recommended daily amount. For a healthier dish, order the grilled or barbecued curry chicken.

Is spicy curry healthy?

The spice blend is rich in anti-inflammatory compounds and consuming it may help reduce oxidative stress, boost heart health, and improve blood sugar levels, among other potential benefits. The best part is that curry powder makes an excellent addition to a wide array of recipes.

Does Thai curry have a lot of sodium?

It’s not only calories you need to be mindful of. Thai cuisine can also be very high in sodium thanks to ingredients such as fish sauce, curry paste and shrimp paste. Depending on what you order (and how much you eat), it can be nearly impossible to keep your daily sodium consumption in check.

Is Thai soup good for weight loss?

Tom yum soup is another good choice for weight loss because the shrimp or chicken in the soup is low in fat and calories. Past studies done by top Japan universities have also shown that the soup is 100 times more effective in inhibiting the growth of certain cancerous cells than other foods.

Is coconut milk unhealthy?

Coconut milk and cream are both relatively high in calories and fat, especially saturated fat. Although healthy when consumed in moderation, people concerned about eating too many calories or too much saturated fat should limit how much coconut milk or cream they consume.

What color curry is the healthiest?

People love green curry because of the gentle balance of heat, sweet, and acid from the chiles, lime, and fresh herbs. Green curry is great with chicken and shrimp because it offers a punch of seasoning to the protein. The long list of herbs also makes green curry one of the healthiest Thai cuisine dishes.

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Which Thai curry is least spicy?

Kaeng Kari or yellow curry contains cinnamon, mace, garlic, salt, lemongrass, fenugreek, turmeric, coriander, cumin, bay leaf, cayenne pepper, and ginger. It is the mildest among the Thai curries because the chili is lesser than red and green curry.

What Thai curry is the best?

Green curry is considered the most popular curry in Thai cuisine. The green color of Thai green curry sauce has become more vibrant over the years with the addition of fresh coriander (cilantro), makrut lime leaf and peel, and basil.

Does curry make you gain weight?

Homemade curries are full of healthy, seasonal vegetables and prepared fresh. This helps you stay full and make you less prone to unhealthy snacking, which contributes to weight gain.

Is Thai panang curry healthy?

It is healthy and delicious and packed full of flavor. Panang curries are from Thailand, where they use curry pastes that come in green or red, making this one of the easiest curry with chicken recipes out there.

Is Indian curry bad for you?

The Indian curry is anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral. Luke says the Indian curry can rightly be termed as Indian superfood. 7. Tomato is usually added in larger quantity for preparation of Indian curry.

What is the healthiest Thai dish?

  • Som Tum. Papaya salad makes for a great appetizer to a heavier meal. …
  • Tom Yum Soup. This delicious soup is a staple of Thai cuisine. …
  • Green Curry. Now, Thai curry is made with a combination of coconut milk, spices, herbs, and fish sauce, which makes it pretty dense. …
  • Phad Thai. …
  • Satay.

Why is pad Thai so unhealthy?

“Chicken Pad Thai is one of the worst dishes you can order at a Thai restaurant. … Thai cooks commonly use coconut oil, palm oil, peanut oil, or soybean oil, and while coconut oil can have some benefits, it is high in saturated fat, which can be bad for your heart if used in excess.

Is Thai food healthier than Chinese food?

Thai food is often healthier than Chinese food. … They are often light and the aromas are just as important as the taste of the food. Thai food uses less heavy sauces and oils than Chinese food uses that are healthier for you, if any oil at all.

Is curry bad for your stomach?

“Hot peppers, spicy curry, and other spicy foods trigger a reflux of gastric juices of the stomach into the esophagus, which causes heartburn,” Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, MD, told INSIDER. Plus, many spicy foods contain a compound called capsaicin, which slows down the rate at which you digest.

Is it bad to eat curry everyday?

It’s the perfect excuse for a take-away – experts say a curry a day could keep infections at bay. U.S. research has shown that curcumin, which is found in the popular curry spice turmeric, causes a sizeable increase in a protein that boosts the immune system.

What are the healthiest curries?

Try to avoid: any creamy curries, such as korma, passanda or masala with pilau rice, naan, bhajis, pakoras and poppadoms. Healthier options: tandoori-cooked meat or jalfrezi or madras with chicken, prawns or vegetables, plain rice and chapatti.

Is coconut milk bad for fatty liver?

Last Update Posted:November 27, 2017Last Verified:November 2017

Is coconut milk bad for your cholesterol?

Coconut Milk Beverage: No Cholesterol, High in Saturated Fat But there’s not enough research to conclude that coconuts and coconut milk are a heart-healthy choice when you have high cholesterol. “The final verdict is still out,” says Lavinia Butuza, RD, a nutritionist in Sacramento, California.

Which is healthier almond milk or coconut milk?

Almond milk has considerably fewer calories (17 per 100 grams) than coconut milk. Coconut milk is much richer in calories — 154-230 per 100 grams, depending on how thick the milk is. Thicker milk is higher in calories and fat.

Does Thai food make you gain weight?

Lighter food – a diet based on rice, vegetables, seafood and small quantities of meat is much lighter than one based on meat and potatoes or pizza and pasta. This makes Thai food less fattening than most Western food and also less fattening than other spicy food like Indian or Mexican.

Does Thai food make you fat?

Whilst Thai food is generally fresh, cooked quickly, full of nutrition (vegetables, carbohydrates and protein), it’s also full of calories. But the problem goes deeper than this. … Cook it in a sea of saturated fat (fried rice) and you’re on the way to a big calorie intake.

What's the lowest calorie Thai food?

  1. Steamed Rice with Chicken Curry – Thai Food. Steamed Rice is low-cal food and chicken is high in protein. …
  2. Som Tam. The worldwide favourite, Som Tam, is basically freshly sliced papayas mixed with fish sauce, Thai chilies, and a number of other spices. …
  3. Tom Yum Soup. …
  4. Larb Gai. …
  5. Fresh Spring Roll.

Is Thai food full of sodium?

Fish sauce, shrimp paste, and curry paste also figure prominently in Thai cuisine—and all are high in sodium, making it nearly impossible to keep your sodium consumption moderate. If Thai food is in your plans, watch your sodium intake for the rest of the day.

Is Thai yellow curry healthy?

Yellow curry with plenty of vegetables is likely to be high in vitamin A and vitamin C. Dietary cholesterol raises your cholesterol levels, and chicken curry has 33 mg of cholesterol, or 10 percent of the daily value. Only animal-derived foods contain cholesterol, and vegetarian yellow Thai curry is cholesterol-free.

Is Pad Thai Good for Weight Loss?

It’s rather an inconvenience, therefore, to know that Pad Thai is one of the unhealthiest things to eat in a Thai restaurant. A single dish packs as much as 1000 calories, and it could be more if the chef is feeling particularly generous with the ground peanut crumbles that day.

Is Massaman curry the same as red curry?

Red Curry is bright and heavily spiced with dried red chilis. … Massaman Curry is mild in heat and loaded with spices found in Indian cuisine like cinnamon and cardamom.