GNC in Hanoi...hahaha...NOPE!

THIGV wrote:

Instead of taking BROMELAIN, have you ever considered just eating pineapple?  They may be a little more expensive in Hanoi than in the south but it certainly must be available.  People who feel they need vitamins should look to their own diet first.

I agree and ....... many synthetic processed vitamins don't have the same effect as the natural counterparts and simply get excreted in urine. The fact is that if you eat a proper diet, you don't need vitamin supplements.  When I lived in the UK, Canada, US, like most people I was "too busy" to eat properly. But in retrospect that was absolute bullshit.

In the last 5 years since moving to Vietnam, apart from not learning the language which drives my wife nuts, my diet has changed radically and I now eat far more fresh fruit and veg than before. My intake of fat from bacon, sausages, butter and fried food has reduced dramatically too. And interestingly my blood lipids, cholesterol and blood sugar levels are now so low the Dr. Had to do the tests twice last time I had a medical as, me being a westerner, he didn't believe the initial results.

It seems crazy not to eat fresh fruit and veg from the vast array of whats available here - and most of it is cheap too.

It took a while to change my diet but I'm glad I did as I now have filet steak once a week with a bottle of wine as a treat, whereas it was, along with bacon eggs and sausage, all too easy to throw into the frying pan before.

The only thing I don't eat here is white rice, but my wife steadfastly refuses to eat whole grain rice and has white rice with every meal.

And a tip for those with high cholesterol or diabetes (I don't have either but am in the age zone for them), you can get oat bran from the Annam stores. It lasts for ages as you only need a couple of dessertspoons with a cup or two of hot water and a pinch of soup powder then 30 seconds in the microwave and you have a cholesterol reducing breakfast ready in one minute. You can also make it with fruit, yogurt or milk.