Sugar talks.

I want cakes. I know I usually just tweet about it but this time I might as well write. 

Cakes. The way of life. 

Speaking of, last time when we went back to Malaysia, we had a deep discussion about sugar, health and all sweet things. 

What you must know is that Adam selaaaaalu bantai I sebab suka makan cake and ice cream. And unhealthy things in general. Dulu kat KMB dia siap sorokkan air tin Nescafe sebab I suka sangat minum coffee. Ada sekali tu dia bagitau our other classmate suruh pesan kat I jangan makan banyak sangat. Kemain.

So sama lah lepas kawen pun. Kadang2 risau sebab Bella suuuuuka makan cake. Adam takberapa sangat sweet things. Dia suka anything cold, rather. Particularly yogurt.

Anyways, kitorang balik Malaysia check blood sugar masing2. Curious. Alang2 ada test strip kat rumah Umi. 

And guess what? My fasting sugar was 4.7! For someone yang memang sweet tooth, that's pretty impressive. Adam? 5.9, amek ha. To be fair dia makan kerepek pisang just before testing, but still..

So we agreed, I memang suka benda manis, tapi I sangat particular pasal sugar intake on things that I can control. Eg, 3in1 drinks. Especially coffee ones. They're loaded with sugar sebab nak counter pahit coffee tu supaya jadi lemak2 berkrim. 

I stop herbalife dulu pun sebab conscious dengan sugar dia :( 

Ada sekali at some point I quit sugar cold turkey. Kalau boleh memang aim less than 4 teaspoon per day - including makanan dalam packet. Note that I memang jaaaaaarang letak gula dalam minuman macam coffee (again), so most of my sugar intake dari packet/prepared food je. 

Simple tips yang I practice bila nak beli makanan kat kedai dalam packet/bungkusan untuk tengok kandungan gula. 

1. Tengok under "carbohydrate, of which sugar" dia berapa per 100 gram. As a ground rule, 4g sama dengan satu sudu kecik gula. Anything less than 4g is considered low sugar, anything above 20g is high in sugar. 5 sudu kecik bak hang. And kalau fikir balik, 20g sugar per 100g, 1/5 kandungan makanan tu ialah gula semata!

2. Tengok order of ingredients. It's a regulation rasanya, that manufacturer kena letak ingredients in order of significance. So kadang2 tu kalau beli juice atau kordial, tengok ingredients list, contohnya - Water, sugar, blackcurrant extract, etc.. Maksudnya gula dia lagi significant dari actual juice. Sama dengan coffee 3in1 (lagi, sebab I memang suka minum kopi), ada satu produk tu ingredients in order dia adalah - Creamer, sugar, coffee..... Last2 baru dia letak herba ke apa entah. Kat laaaaast sekali! (Ni brand kopi yang market untuk kesihatan). Hm, maksudnya herba atau bahan2 untuk sihat dalam kopi tu sikit sangat. Instead dia hanyalah kopi, creamer campur gula. Harga pun boleh tahan. 

I have nothing against these health products, cuma 3in1 meeeemang kena be careful with. Haritu masa buat elektif kat klinik kesihatan, ada new diagnosis of diabetes, umur baru 27. Puncanya suuuuka minum 3in1, siap tambah susu pekat lagi. Minum kopi sihat ok, bukan Nescafe biasa2 tu. 

Rakyat Malaysia makan kat kedai dah la minum air manis (teh ais sedap please!), kat rumah pun nak tambah lagi manis. And makanan ruji kita nasi, which is carbohydrate yang akan bertukar kepada gula kalau tak convert jadi tenaga (exercise). Simple but often overlooked. Semua menyumbang ke arah kencing manis.

Ke arah 2017 yang lebih sihat, marilah lebih conscious dengan apa yang kita beli/makan. Slow2, lama2 terbiasalah. Take it from someone yang hantu cake ni :)

Dr. Bella.