Medical experts have warned Singaporean diabetics that they need to take better care of their wellbeing during Chinese New Year celebrations. Communal feasting is a big part of the holiday, but the sugary foods that this involves could have a damaging impact on diabetics’ wellness.
When you have diabetes, it means that you have excessive levels of sugar (glucose) in your blood due, either because your body cannot produce enough insulin or it is unable to use insulin properly. This makes it difficult for your cells to absorb the glucose they need for fuel, which means you ten to have spikes in your blood glucose levels. Therefore, diabetics have to be extremely careful with how much sugar they have in their diet.
Dr Goh Su-Yen, Head and Senior Consultant, Department of Endocrinology at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), says, ‘Uncontrolled diabetes may cause serious complications and affect your heart, kidney, nerves and eyes. If you are diabetic, watch your blood sugar levels closely during Chinese New Year, especially when you are out visiting.’ This is advisable because Chinese New Year goodies, such as pineapple tarts, kueh bangkit, love letters, and peanut cookies are staples in every household that celebrates the festival, but they are also highly refined carbohydrates and loaded with sugar.
Even if you were to only have a small portion of three or four of these delicacies, you could end up consuming 100g of carbohydrates and sugar. When you think that the average person visits three houses in a day during the festival, you could end up exceeding the Singapore Health Promotion Board’s recommended daily sugar intake limit, by five to seven times over. Even in healthy individuals, the recommended amount of sugar in your diet should be a maximum of 10% of your total calories.
However, regardless of whether your carbohydrates contain starch or sugars, these too will affect your blood sugar levels. This means you need to keep an eye on the total carbohydrates you eat during the day, and take extra care with more refined carbohydrates (such as sugars), because these will release the glucose into your blood stream faster, causing a surge in your blood sugar levels. Kala Adaikan, Principal Dietician at Singapore General Hospital, adds, ‘We should also be mindful of total calorie intake. Excessive calorie intake regardless of source (carbohydrate, protein or fat) will result in unwanted weight gain. It is advisable to limit your intake of these festive goodies.’
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