Speaker 1: Now Singapore today with Lance Alexander and Daniel Martin.
Speaker 2: Now health matters with Daniel Martin.
Speaker 2: It's health matters and it's ac ny themed one on
Speaker 2: today's edition with all the festive feasting happening right around
Speaker 2: the corner. We gotta check in, we gotta check in
Speaker 2: and just, you know, remind ourselves about how some of
Speaker 2: the best ways to eat and pace ourselves
Speaker 2: could go. And also what if you're somebody who's dealing
Speaker 2: with a chronic health issue like diabetes or high blood pressure.
Speaker 2: How should you be a little bit more mindful during
Speaker 2: this festive season? Welcoming to the show, Doctor Carl Tan
Speaker 2: co-founder and consultant at Novi Health. This is Health matters,
Speaker 2: Doctor Tan. Welcome to the show. Thanks for joining me. I,
Speaker 2: I think it's our first time chatting, isn't it? Possibly? Yes,
Speaker 2: it is. I always pride myself on the fact that
Speaker 2: I think I've spoken to every doctor in Singapore and
Speaker 2: then I'm constantly reminded, there are always new young doctors
Speaker 2: coming out on the scene. That's fantastic. Thanks for being here. Hey,
Speaker 2: so let's start talking about this period. Festive eating. It
Speaker 2: really is.
Speaker 2: It is a legitimate health issue sometimes, right? It can
Speaker 2: have knock on effects. Potentially, it's not just a, once
Speaker 2: a year, once a year, it's fine, that kind of thing.
Speaker 2: Definitely. Definitely. I think um, well, there are many festive
Speaker 2: periods during the year. Right. It's not, it's always Christmas,
Speaker 2: then there's New Year's, then there's Chinese New Year, then
Speaker 2: there's Harry. So it's always something happening every year, given
Speaker 2: the multicultural society that we're in. So we still need
Speaker 2: to pay
Speaker 2: attention even though it's just a short period of time
Speaker 2: because there will be long term effects if we are
Speaker 2: not careful with what we do. You guys know we
Speaker 2: work a lot with patients with diabetes or chronic health
Speaker 2: issues with weight concerns as well. What are some of
Speaker 2: the top tips and medical advice that you all can
Speaker 2: hand out when it comes to exercising restraint during festive
Speaker 2: snacking periods in particular.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a tough one during the festive period.
Speaker 2: What we're trying to do is really catch up with
Speaker 2: our friends, our loved ones, our family. It's a, it's
Speaker 2: a time of cheer and food is always a gel
Speaker 2: that brings all of us together, right? With Chinese New
Speaker 2: Year in particular, there are so many goodies. These snacks
Speaker 2: are usually high in calorie, high in sugar. So it's
Speaker 2: quite difficult. Good stuff. Always is damn it. I always is.
Speaker 2: I don't know why one day do make a healthy snack.
Speaker 2: That is good. I'm sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's well, I'm waiting for that as well too.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So um I think there are a few tips.
Speaker 2: I mean, here in no be health, we always like
Speaker 2: to give very practical tips that we can implement. Right.
Speaker 2: No point knowing what's the best thing to do, but
Speaker 2: you can't implement it so few things. So these snacks,
Speaker 2: they're definitely high in calories and sugar is not so
Speaker 2: good for health. So the challenge is how do you
Speaker 2: then still be able to
Speaker 2: enjoy in moderation? So it's all about portion control and
Speaker 2: potentially switching, switching out some of them into healthier snacks.
Speaker 2: So I'll start with the healthier snacks. That's a little
Speaker 2: bit easier. There are some options during Chinese New Year
Speaker 2: that may be a little bit healthier compared to your
Speaker 2: pineapple tarts, your B one. So that will be things.
Speaker 2: Oranges and water. That's it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you got, you got me there, Daniel, there's oranges,
Speaker 2: there's water, perhaps, you know, watermelon seeds. Those are, you know,
Speaker 2: the ones, the little black things, those are pretty healthy.
Speaker 2: Surprisingly KB, it is maybe slightly low in calorie and
Speaker 2: sugar as well. So those are probably some of the
Speaker 2: healthier options that you can maybe, you know, gear towards
Speaker 2: if you're not feeling so sneakish at that point in time.
Speaker 2: But I think with everything else, it's about moderation
Speaker 2: and there are a few tips that I can give
Speaker 2: maybe for all of us trying to resist. So first
Speaker 2: thing I think, plan ahead Right. You may know that
Speaker 2: you're doing maybe five house visits and you're going to
Speaker 2: be a five different places throughout the day. Plan ahead
Speaker 2: and think about what is it that I enjoy eating?
Speaker 2: Save your calories for the snacks that you truly enjoy
Speaker 2: so that you don't overeat if you're gonna make it
Speaker 2: worth it. Right. It better be something that,
Speaker 2: yeah, exactly. You know, like not all b is the
Speaker 2: same also if you know that this friend has a
Speaker 2: really good b save that space for that so that
Speaker 2: you're still controlling your portions and not wasting your calories
Speaker 2: or your sugar on something that's maybe not so tasty.
Speaker 2: I think the second thing that you can do also
Speaker 2: planning ahead is try to have a little bit of
Speaker 2: snacks before a healthy snacks at home before you go out.
Speaker 2: So for example, maybe have some food, have a
Speaker 2: yogurt that's low in sugar that keeps you like less hungry.
Speaker 2: So that when you go out visiting, you're still able
Speaker 2: to enjoy some of these snacks. But if you're ravishing,
Speaker 2: you're really hungry, you're going to end up eating a
Speaker 2: lot of snacks and that's not what we want. It's
Speaker 2: very easy to just pop one pineapple tart after pineapple
Speaker 2: tart and before you know it, you finished the whole
Speaker 2: t that's all what you want. So really, I think
Speaker 2: keeping yourself some full before you even go out, that's
Speaker 2: gonna be helpful as well.
Speaker 2: And then lastly, I think making sure that you stay
Speaker 2: hydrated water actually has a good effect on keeping us
Speaker 2: full as well. If you're taking water constantly, that's actually
Speaker 2: going to help you also snack a little bit less
Speaker 2: when you're at someone's house, it reduces i having a
Speaker 2: lot of hydration. It can help a little bit if,
Speaker 2: if you're having water. So, in between your snacks, if
Speaker 2: you're taking a little of that, that's actually going to
Speaker 2: help you to moderate how much snacks you're taking as well.
Speaker 2: So something you can
Speaker 2: consider asking your host for water and I'll bring a
Speaker 2: bottle of water with you if you're visiting. Yeah, definitely
Speaker 2: great idea there rather than reaching out for the, there
Speaker 2: will be multiple can does and everybody's house as well.
Speaker 2: But as we know, you know, one diabetes, we're cutting
Speaker 2: down our sugary drinks intake, bring the water bottle with you.
Speaker 2: Sounds like a good idea. Having said that there's another
Speaker 2: war that's happening in Singapore and that's been announced how
Speaker 2: we really have to take a sense of urgency when
Speaker 2: it comes to our sodium intake
Speaker 2: and a lot of these snacks, baked goods and a
Speaker 2: lot of the fried stuff that's gonna have sodium. So
Speaker 2: any top tips in terms of making sure that like
Speaker 2: you said, you know, pick your poison in a way,
Speaker 2: you know, make sure you know what you're reaching out
Speaker 2: for and some low hanging fruit that you can get
Speaker 2: rid of, maybe get rid of. So how can we
Speaker 2: reduce our salt intake sodium especially?
Speaker 2: Yeah. So that's a very, very good point. I think
Speaker 2: one thing that people don't realize like during Chinese New
Speaker 2: Year steamboat and hot pot is one of the key
Speaker 2: things that people enjoy. And that has the potential to
Speaker 2: really drive out how much sodium you're taking in a
Speaker 2: few different ways. Right. So firstly, I think the soup itself,
Speaker 2: the soup base, if you're buying
Speaker 2: store, bought soup, you know, as a soup base that
Speaker 2: generally tends to be quite high in sodium. So one
Speaker 2: thing if you're doing that, if you're in charge of preparation,
Speaker 2: try to choose the low sodium options. Um better still
Speaker 2: try to boil the chicken for a few hours. Get that.
Speaker 2: So based on your own, then you can control exactly
Speaker 2: what goes in. And if you know you someone's house,
Speaker 2: you don't know where that soup comes from. Try to
Speaker 2: have less of the soup, have more of the fresh
Speaker 2: ingredients in there
Speaker 2: that will help to moderate the amount of soup that
Speaker 2: you're consuming. The second thing is also what is it
Speaker 2: that you're taking in that steamboat? So there could be
Speaker 2: a variety of ingredients right? From your vegetables to your
Speaker 2: fresh meat, to fish balls. So to your crap steaks, etc.
Speaker 2: So the ones that tend to be high sodium are
Speaker 2: really the processed food items. So anything that you bought
Speaker 2: in a store, be it a fish ball or like
Speaker 2: crab steak or even one time, etc those tend to
Speaker 2: be very high in sodium and the more of it
Speaker 2: that you put into the, so the ball is going
Speaker 2: to go into the soup as well. So it just
Speaker 2: becomes really, really difficult to control. So try to make
Speaker 2: sure you get less of these sort of processed foods
Speaker 2: as well when you are, when you're having your steamboat.
Speaker 2: Next wise, the typical culprits will be things like your,
Speaker 2: you know, the p roll, the,
Speaker 2: the the little fried roll with the shrimp paste are
Speaker 2: those tend to be high in sodium. And I think
Speaker 2: anything generally that's more on the savory of fried side,
Speaker 2: that's also gonna be high sodium. So unfortunately, Chinese New
Speaker 2: Year goodies, either high sugar or high salt. So really
Speaker 2: tough one there it is. So like you said, it's
Speaker 2: about moderation, not going to the meal fully starving because
Speaker 2: you've deprived yourself all day long, eat, enjoy,
Speaker 2: but it doesn't mean indulge and overdo it, right? Um
Speaker 2: Case in point, you guys work, like I said, a
Speaker 2: lot with people who have chronic health issues, diabetes in
Speaker 2: particular as well. What if you are that person who
Speaker 2: is dealing with and living with the diabetes or is
Speaker 2: living with um high cholesterol I until today, there are
Speaker 2: still situations where I've even heard from. Some friends and
Speaker 2: family members were like, it's ok. I popped the pill already.
Speaker 2: So let it do its work. I will challenge it
Speaker 2: by eating a little bit more later. I'm like, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: that's not how statins work. So, so any advice in
Speaker 2: terms of if you're living with a chronic health issue
Speaker 2: and there's an indulging period happening like Cny.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So Daniel, that's a really good point. I think
Speaker 2: to the point that you made earlier, um even this
Speaker 2: short period of time, if you just let yourself go,
Speaker 2: it can have long, longer term or knock on effects.
Speaker 2: So it's really important to still stay in control even
Speaker 2: during this period of time. And the advice I would
Speaker 2: give is the same as any period of time throughout
Speaker 2: the year, whether or not it's Chinese New Year or not. Um,
Speaker 2: think first thing first
Speaker 2: do remember to take your medications because that's at least
Speaker 2: the minimum that you need to do. It's not going
Speaker 2: to be able to control everything that you eat. But yeah,
Speaker 2: if you forget to take a medication, that's going to
Speaker 2: be a big problem. But if you have chronic illnesses, especially,
Speaker 2: it's going to be a little bit different with each
Speaker 2: chronic illness. But maybe specifically for diabetes, I'll just share
Speaker 2: some examples
Speaker 2: with diabetes. The most important thing that we need to
Speaker 2: pay attention to is sugar and carbs, right? So try
Speaker 2: to make sure that if you are having carbs to
Speaker 2: limit the portion sizes to what you would normally take,
Speaker 2: you can spread it out throughout the day so that
Speaker 2: you have a little bit more opportunity to um process
Speaker 2: some of the food. So for example,
Speaker 2: right, do not take like five pineapple parts as a goal.
Speaker 2: If you wanted to take five pineapple parts, maybe take
Speaker 2: one just after your lunch, one after tea time or
Speaker 2: one after dinner. So I'm not saying that you should
Speaker 2: take so many. But if you really have to try
Speaker 2: to make sure that you space it out. So that
Speaker 2: don't actually,
Speaker 2: yeah, don't, don't take too many, too many in one
Speaker 2: go because it's gonna make your sugar really increase quite quickly.
Speaker 2: And then the second thing is related to that, try
Speaker 2: to make sure that you sequence your food properly. What
Speaker 2: do I mean by that? If your stomach is completely
Speaker 2: empty and you're taking something that is high in carbohydrate
Speaker 2: or sugar, what's gonna happen is that that's gonna break
Speaker 2: down really quickly and everything's gonna go into your bloodstream
Speaker 2: and cause a
Speaker 2: huge increase in sugar. If you're taking, if you line
Speaker 2: your stomach basically with some protein, some meat, some vegetables
Speaker 2: and fiber that's gonna slow down help then take your carbs.
Speaker 2: It's gonna slow down how quickly the cops actually break down.
Speaker 2: So that's actually gonna make your increase in sugar a
Speaker 2: lot more gentle. So try to make sure that, yeah,
Speaker 2: so if you're gonna have a dessert, a PT try
Speaker 2: to have it after a proper lunch
Speaker 2: and that's actually going to make a difference in terms
Speaker 2: of how high the sugar goes. And then lastly, of course,
Speaker 2: try to portion control as always, if you overeat, there's
Speaker 2: really nothing else that we can do to control that
Speaker 2: and that goes for any chronic condition. So, cholesterol with
Speaker 2: diabetes just make sure you're able to control the portions,
Speaker 2: you can go a little bit more. But yeah, try
Speaker 2: to make sure that
Speaker 2: I like the idea of sequencing your food as you
Speaker 2: phrased it. That's a very clever idea. But of course,
Speaker 2: if you're eating after a proper meal, but the proper
Speaker 2: meal was full of carbohydrate, then that's also a problem, right?
Speaker 2: Of course. So what is the sequence that you should
Speaker 2: be going with that would slow down the, the, the
Speaker 2: spiking protein and then a little bit of carb like that.
Speaker 2: Is it protein, protein fiber and then carbohydrates? Ok. That's
Speaker 2: the sequence. Bear that in mind just before I let
Speaker 2: you go quick. No, I've got 30 seconds left.
Speaker 2: Alcohol. How could that be a problem during this period? Obviously,
Speaker 2: besides the health and safety issues, if you drink, don't
Speaker 2: drive everybody. But what are we talking about in terms
Speaker 2: of its health impact?
Speaker 2: Yeah. Um You're not gonna like this, but um the
Speaker 2: number of drinks that are recommended even for a healthy person,
Speaker 2: for a woman, it's actually one standard drink. Um, once
Speaker 2: for men, it's two standard drinks at one sitting and
Speaker 2: during festive period, we drink a lot more. A standard
Speaker 2: drink just for contacts is one single shot, one can
Speaker 2: of beer or maybe a small glass of wine. So
Speaker 2: it's actually not a lot. Um But
Speaker 2: if you happen to drink more, just try to make
Speaker 2: sure you stay dry uh for the next few days
Speaker 2: after that. Otherwise um that could, I mean, we know
Speaker 2: about the of the side effects that alcohol can have. So, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2: This has been really helpful. Thanks for putting us in
Speaker 2: the right frame of mind when it comes to our
Speaker 2: festive feasting. That's Doctor Kyle Tan co-founder and consultant at
Speaker 2: Novi Health. It's spelled NOV, I, I'm Daniel Martin and
Speaker 2: this has been health matters
Speaker 2: before making any decisions based on the information in our program.
Speaker 2: Please consult a medical professional.