High GI Foods to Avoid: Living with Diabetes in Singapore

75 percent diet, 25 percent exercise.

That has always been the rule of thumb to knowing that having a good exercise regime isn’t enough. Since Singapore is usually dubbed the foodie’s paradise, it is also a place filled with foods you must avoid if you have diabetes or pre-diabetic.

Here’s a quick crash course on what foods to avoid in Singapore for peak health!

* Click here to jump right to the glycemic index table for Singapore and other Asian foods.

What is Glycemic Index (GI)?

Glycemic index (GI) shows how quickly each food affects your blood sugar (glucose) level when that food is eaten on its own. It is rated from a scale of 1 to 100.

Simply put, high GI foods generally cause a rapid increase in blood glucose aka not so good for diabetic people, while low GI foods are broken down slowly and cause only a gradual rise in glucose levels.

That means people with Type 2 Diabetes can benefit from eating foods with a low Glycemic index, since these foods will help greatly with controlling blood glucose levels.

Of course, reducing the overall carbohydrate count of the diet, rather than consuming low GI foods, will have the biggest influence on blood glucose levels after each meal.

Not All High GI Foods are Bad, Not All Low GI Foods are Good

For example, watermelons are high GI foods, while chocolate cake are low GI foods, and we all know which food is the healthier choice.

Some foods that are cooked with fats and proteins can also have their GI artificially lowered, as the carbohydrates are absorbed more slowly.

Always use GI as a soft indicator for whether a food can be consumed as part of a regular diet. It would be too tiring to keep track of every single food anyways. Also, as you might already know, too much of anything is bad. Always consume in moderation and maintain a balanced diet.

Here are a few common swaps or alternatives for popular high GI foods:

High GI Foods to Avoid in Singapore

So, here are the food you should avoid purchasing from the supermarkets or coffee shops in Singapore:

• Mee goreng
• Mee siam
• Loi mai kai
• Red bean pau
• Chicken Curry Puff
• Cheese bun
• White rice (Add fibre blends to make it healthier!)
• Jasmine rice
• Ice lemon tea
• Carrot cake
• Yam cake
• Chee cheong fun
• Lo mai gai
• Pink rice cake
• Rice idli
• Rice dosa
• Upma
• White bread

Data For the Enthusiasts

Courtesy of A*STAR and Universitat Rovira i Virgili, a recent 2021 study has been conducted to review the GI values in non-Asian foods, given that vast majority of published GI data are of European, Australian and North America origin.

Here are their results:

* Data consists of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, West India. As data was extracted from PDF, it is done on a best-effort basis, and we cannot guarantee perfect conversion (rows that contained funny characters, merged cells, dirty data etc. are removed).

High Glycemic Index (GI) Foods to Avoid!

Defined as having a GI of at least 70. Foods that are high in processed carbohydrates and sugar are the usual suspects.

Medium GI Foods

Foods with a GI of 56 to 69 are considered medium GI.

Low GI Foods

Glycemic index of 55 and below. While it is beneficial to consume low GI foods if you are diabetic, do note that your diet may become unbalanced or high in fat if you consume solely low GI foods.

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