The Study of Healthy Local Foods Ingredients base on Thai Traditional Medicine Wisdom: Case Study of Chiang Sean District, Chiang Rai

Abstract

This research aimed to: 1) study healthy local food base on Thai traditional medicine wisdom in Chiang Saen District, Chiang Rai province. 2) study the components of local food such as ingredients, seasoning and side dishes which can be used in medical treatment of the patients in elderly clinic based on Thai traditional medicine knowledge. The research keeps focusing on medicinal properties, nutritional value and phytochemicals by studying the related documents, in-depth Interviews, and focus group discussions. The purposive sampling and content analysis method are used in this research. As a result, it is found that 72 local menus are healthy food base on Thai traditional medicine wisdom. These menus can be used for medical treatment of the patients in elderly clinic in term of food as medicine (nutritional therapeutic procedure)of 9 diseases/symptoms including loss of appetite, insomnia, constipation, heartburn, hemorrhoid, atrophic gastritis, productive cough, hypertension and diabetes. Five menus which are Kang Pak Plang, Yum Dorg kee Lek, Kua Phak Pay Ka On, Kang Ma Room and Za Plee were selected and main ingredient were study their phytochemical substances to confirm with medical properties based on Thai traditional medicine knowledge. This research will be benefit to Thai traditional medicine in terms of the medical treatment of food as medicine, the opportunity to use local food in Thai traditional medicine clinic and the guidelines to encourage local people to have healthy local food.