Can Singapore kick its addiction to delicious but unhealthy food? | Heart of the Matter podcast 

I like that Steven tried to bring the perspective of common folks across. The 2 female guests seem to be more idealistic in their suggestions and glossed over actual ground scenarios in an effort to make healthy(ier) eating sound easier and cheaper than it is. Example 1. Brown rice costs almost the same as white rice. Wrt to eating out which is a large part of the discussion, most places charge upwards of an extra $0.50 for brown rice. That’s not an insignificant increase.Example 2. Noodle soup without soup is an easy healthy option when eating out. That may address the sodium intake but certainly not fulfil nutrition requirements. Example 3. Fried rice with less salt and no soya sauce. That limits one to cook to order stalls which will cost more. Also, fried rice is mainly refined carbs and not much else. Example 4. Ordering fish/meat and 2 stir fried vegetables with rice for $5 which is less expensive than a salad bowl ($8). First of all, ordering fish at the cai fun/nasi padang stall makes you a baller and it’s going to cost more than $5. Secondly, $8 salad bowls are not the benchmark for affordability. While I don’t dispute that eating healthy is an important investment that everyone should make and some of the suggestions given help us to decide between the lesser of 2 evils, it’s important to recognise structural challenges in doing so that effective solutions to these issues can be found.

From experience, eating healthy need not be expensive. Here are some cost effective food items 1. Beans e.g. lentils, chick peas, green beans, red beans, kidney beans etc 2. Canned fish 3. Frozen vegetables e.g. mixed vegetables 4. Nuts e.g. peanuts 5. Cauliflower rice. 6. Toufu. Having lived abroad, canned beans are readily available (look for those that are canned with water only). However it is harder to find them in SG. Hopefully more can be brought in. Makes food preparation easier. Healthy eating is critical as we all live longer

0:12: 🍜 The video discusses the challenge of unhealthy but delicious food in Singapore and the need to change eating habits. 3:41: 💪 The speaker lost 35 kg in 8 months and shares tips on making healthier food choices. 7:27: 🥔 Eating mashed potatoes can lead to high sugar levels, insulin resistance, and pre-diabetes due to the ultra-processing and frying methods of cooking. 11:03: 🍲 Choosing healthier options in Hawker centers, such as noodle soups without the soup, stir-fries, and roasted or grilled dishes, can help reduce sodium and oil intake. 14:30: 🧂 Excessive salt intake has led to increased hypertension rates, and our taste buds have adjusted to the high salt levels. 18:07: 🍽 Singaporeans have a strong food culture and are indulging in salty and processed foods, leading to an increase in calorie intake. 21:38: 💰 Eating healthy can be expensive compared to instant and processed foods. 25:00: 🥗 Salads may not always be as healthy as they seem, as they can lack nutrients and be nutritionally unbalanced. 28:28: ✅ Start small and make gradual changes to your eating habits to improve overall health. Recapped using Tammy AI

I use to have an urge to eat supper. It all started after Covid and WFH. Never eat, stomach feels empty and cannot sleep. I got rid of it by just pure discipline and swapping it to light biscuit if I cannot resist. After a few weeks, I lost the habit of eating supper and the urge to eat late night.

Dear Singapore, just seeing the title of this video made me anxious and scared! Promise me you will not stop making delicious food! Even if it is unhealthy, please never stop! Delicious food is one the important things that makes life worth living, and Singapore, you do it so well. The world needs your food!

Cool stuff. It would be neat to highlight healthy local dishes or options. Or explore healthier local food prep options. Vegetarian Indian food is super tasty. Chinese vegetable dishes and soups are so wholesome. Malay urap, ulam, tempe, etc. are nutritious. That bowl of lettuce isn't the only option (lehh) :)

A tip to a healthier diet, buy a water bottle that you really like and make sure it is always filled with plain water. Bring it around with you and take a sip once in awhile it really helps keeps you more full and hold backs some cravings.

18:45 Yes, when you sweat during a workout, your body does excrete salts, including sodium, that you have consumed through food. However, the amount of salt you lose through sweat is generally quite small compared to your overall intake and doesn't have a significant impact on your overall sodium balance. Sweat is made up of water and small amounts of other substances, including minerals like sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, as well as trace amounts of urea and lactate. The concentration of these minerals in sweat can vary depending on a number of factors, including diet, hydration status, and individual differences. However, it's important to note that while sweating can help remove some salt from the body, it's not an effective way to manage high sodium intake. The best way to manage sodium intake is through a balanced diet that is low in high-sodium foods. Also, excessive sweating can sometimes lead to electrolyte imbalances, which can be harmful. If you're doing a lot of intense physical activity and sweating a lot, it's important to stay properly hydrated and replace lost electrolytes. - Sweating during a workout does excrete small amounts of salt (sodium). - The amount of salt lost through sweat is generally small and does not significantly impact overall sodium balance. - Sweating is not an effective way to manage high sodium intake; a balanced diet is the best approach. - Excessive sweating can lead to electrolyte imbalances, so it's important to stay hydrated and replace lost electrolytes during intense physical activity. Reference ChatGPT

It all starts with the motivation in the WHY we should eat healthy. And then having the initiative of the gov to make healthy food cheaper to be more accessible by perhaps giving more incentive to eat healthy like giving discounts to healthier choice meals at hawker or food courts.

I am a Malaysian,, recently reading Choi Lan(蔡澜) book, he suggest ordinary people can get happiness from delicious food they like most ( but not overeating). Maybe is all about TRADE-OFF ,but i prefer eating some fruit before going to KFC outlet and walking half an hour after it😊

The key question, is the definition of unhealthy food correct?

Selectively naming char kway teow as unhealthy is rather biased when it is no worse than a carbonara pasta or mee goreng. Just take less sugar, salt, deep fried and avoid all processed foods with added additives and preservatives. Shouldn't the calorie intake be based on level of your activity. A strictly lean and healthy diet is ensured only by cooking your own meals of wholegrains, steamed lean chicken/fish and vegetables.

that is why those who live in the mountains are very healthy and live very long

You can drink your coffee and tea but replace the condensed milk with fresh milk or alternative ones like oat or quinoa or almond, all fresh

In my family, we have been eating black rice since 2009. I use white rice to cook porridge maybe once per month. Other than this, we eat black rice only. We only eat wholemeal bread. We do not like white bread. In short, whole-grain rice and wholemeal bread can be very yummy. You just have to try out different brands until you find the ones that your family likes.

More tasty may not necessary equivalent to unhealthy. We should first understand what is unhealthy. Lard is healthy if you dont consume too much, but the media think otherwise...

natural favor cannot find in hawker centres

What HSA / MOH /NEA could do is roll out mandatory regulations to all eating outlets to cut out added sugar, salt & oil in meals & food preparations. As for desserts, cakes, pastries and drinks to reduce the sugar to MOM / HSA’s recommended levels. These could be implemented with a carrot & stick incentives / disincentives. Also to grade the hawker stalls with the A to D grading for their food recipe and rewards to customers for discount when choosing grade A (no added sugar & no added salt & less oil).

i have tried the healthy menus and it is very TOUGH to just eat to survive and be healthy and not enjoy eating at all. we will become what we eat.

What stuck in my mind was what Mahathir said his secret to long life was, and that is to eat only portions of what is needed to live. That definitely helped me trim down, like eating only about 3 to 5 tablespoons of rice. I sometimes get hungry in between and just eat some small snack. One gets used to it in the long run, I can go 1 whole day eating only one small meal if needed, but sometimes my blood sugar would go low and I have to get in some carbs. Ideally, 3 small meals a day is fine, especially for those also trying to build muscles.

Healthy food can also be delicious; its all about how one is knowledgeable and creative with diets and food preps. Food prepared at home (home-cooked meals) are at least 2x cheaper than buying from outside. It's really the combination of over-reliance on convenience foods from delivery providers like Grab and Foodpanda, as well as the reluctance to make dietary and lifestyle changes for the better that hampers the progress of making the switch to healthy eating for Singaporeans. These factors, coupled with the prevalence of mainly carb-heavy food options island-wide, result in the the rise of pre-diabetes, Type 2 diabetes and obesity amongst the population. Moderation of food portions and self-control is key. Just like having higher taxes for tobacco products, Singapore could "assimilate" its citizens into adopting healthier eating habits by mandating higher costs for fast food as well as beverages high in saturated fat/refined sugar, especially soft drinks and bubble tea variants, and make people think twice about breaking their wallets for unhealthy foods.

I eat only whole corn, unpolished rice and wholewheat noodles. I do not eat white, polished rice or white or yellow noodles. The most difficult issue around it is not eating it, but findig it for purchase, and at a reasonable price.

We can practice cooking our food by buying fresh from both supermarkets and wet markets!!!! For me, there are certain good healthy food i can't consume because of a digestive disorder with my large intestine!!!!

Food price in Singapore have lost their balance in Singapore already making it miserable to live in Singapore. The cost of eating outside is cheaper than cooking at home. Foods are significantly more expensive nowadays in Singapore and single meal dishes are now the only thing that can still be call affordable in Singapore though vendors will try to sell it as high as possible if they can get away with it or they cut corners in order to sell it. These meals come at around 5 to 8 bucks on average. Side dishes have totally gone out of control already though. Zhi char stalls not restaurants are selling dish at 18 to 22 dollar per dish and the portions are miserable.

There should be sugar and salt content labelling for all hawker foods sold in Singapore, including foods sold by bakeries, drinks and snacks shops and the like. I find foods sold by these joints excessively sugary and salty.

Wah. Normally when people newborn. They no time to exercise cos have to attend to the new born all the time. But this guy champions

people wouldnt mind to eat "healthy food" with the right serving and quality, but the price is just too high. just look at organic food as an example....

I love brown rice. Very tasty, even on its own. Tastier than white rice.

Terrace you are my IDOL

profit is always first and health last until death knocks at the door

Can CNA do a segment on "Toe Jam" and if its good or bad for you? CNA is known for asking the hard questions that don't really matter after all.

Didnt the government check on salt content for the outside food??how can it increase so much 😮

Singapore need to set up more western food store to have more freedom. Western food is the most healthy and there is a need to stop importing bad chinese food.

Getting the weight off isn't the problem. It's keeping it off. I pity some who have boiled chicken 24/7. 70:30 sounds right. We don't want to feel deprived. That isn't life. I don't have sodas often but when I do, I block out all the noise. You can't beat The Real Thing.

People who don't like to eat outside and want to save or enjoy coooking at home always face a problem doing grocery shopping in Singapore. The shops and marts sell ingredients in bulks that cinsumers cant finish using at all. For example people just want to cook a few bowls of meals at home and just need a handful of onions and yet the shops and marts sell a big bag of it instead. People cant use it up at all and these items cant be stored for long either leading to rot and wastage. There is no common sense and a philosophical value toward life in Singapore at all.

those who are addicted to delicious food are seldom hungry in real life for long terms.... When you are hungry for a long period of time, anything taste good... even plain food taste good when you are really hungry.

Don't eat out,One solution is pack home cooked food to cut cost.

I think you can find good health food at a reasonable price outside

i have tried it outside in hawker centers and it is very difficult and choices are very limited. example just eat yong tau foo.

Love the socks

As i foreigner, i am so surprised that some food at coffee shop don't have vegetable but only meats maybe with some toufu. Especially. For youngsters, don't like to eat vegetable. And handmake noodles stalls also give very little vegetable. So i give thumb up to health SG program

What's the alternative then? Crappy but healthy food?

Too much white rice and noodles can also give you high cholesterol and even pre-diabetes or diabetes!!!! That was my results this year after my yearly blood and urine tests, last year was good!!!!! I gave up eating most fast food, most spicy food, most Malay and indian food!!!! Only nasi lemak and nasi ayam once or twice a month, roti prata and chapati is still consume but not very often!!!!

Singapore move is on right track. Please do not follow Malaysia. Avoid the overly MSG-laden and salt-heavy fare in Malaysian cuisine. The teh tarik is a sugar bomb, to say the least.

You can eat healthy but eating too much is also no good. Japanese eat 80% full rule is a good rule.

I think food is the one thing that Singaporeans have left of their culture and cultural identity. In my opinion, unhealthy eating is symptomatic of bigger cultural problems (which I won't go into here because I don't wanna write a doctoral thesis.) Despite what one of the ladies claims, healthy eating is much more expensive than fast food etc. People just don't have the time and the money to eat healthily in Singapore. Especially with rising prices and the decision to increase taxes. When we solve the problem of time and especially the work culture here in Singapore. I'm certain we can solve a lot of issues associated with unhealthy eating as well. I don't want to be too critical of the panel but I think the ladies need to be a bit more realistic and a bit more practical. Idealism will only go so far before it becomes fanaticism and obsession...

Addiction is the result of trauma. In Singapore's case, the trauma is the repressive government. Therefore, the only freedom for the citizen is freedom for unhealthy food.

Cut Short... Just 1 sentence summarise all.. Eat like a Monk to stay healthy. No Fast Foods, no highly processed food.. Holy Moly ... Then the Fast Food Chains will start worrying... hmm....leave the soup behind.. so next time you order a noodle meal... eg... Uncle, Noodle Soup with No soup... Can sell cheaper... Since I don't drink the soup... Singapore is a Food Heaven City... Everywhere u go... Shopping Centres, You can see more Food n Restaurants ... How leh... If u go Hawker Centre, Ask Store owner... Uncle Uncle.. Less Salt. Less Rice... No Pork Lard .. Char Know Teow , less black sauce, no Hum , Less Oil.. Sooner or later u get Stared and Scolded by Uncle.. Say.. you go home cook yourself lar... Haha......

Pls interview Zermatt Neo! 😅

Why can't Singapore make more delicious and healthy food available at same price for all of us? At hawker centre and coffeeshops, I seriously can't find many healthy options. At some places, I can't find any. I can ask for less carb and more vegetables and my requests still get ignored. 😢

What is Singaporean food?

it is society that make us like that.

make unhealthy food very expensive and healthy food cheap.

I dont eat chicken rice because I have ever watched a documentary about chickens that hang outside which are exposed to bacteria that causes gut upset. I am vegetarian. And my daily to go breakfast is just greek yoghurt with blueberries, chia seeds and banana. I don't take white bread nor white rice. Only brown rice if i need to. And I eat only 1-2meals a day and I dont eat after 7 or 8pm. I ran 3-4 x a week and have not drink coke for more than 10years, In sg, many people are tempted to eat anything they want hence the rise of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Being a nurse, I saw too many patients who enjoy now and suffer later and I do not want to be like that. Some week, I do intermittent fasting too. Remember we are what we eat and what we eat are what we are! :)

Are they speaking on behalf of Singaporeans?

Eating satay while watching this video. 😂 The video did make me pause for two seconds. Buy only for two seconds...

To be honest , I found no delicious food in Singapore🤣🤣🤣 ( better come to Thailand where lots if yummies 👍👍👍)

socializing with friends and eat out is the CULPIT.

22:29 Healthy fast food = Subway?

Cheap, delicious, fast. Two choose one. It's simple but not easy HAHA

people will only switch when their live are at stake. we are just humans

Don't get me wrong look at a person and their body structure only then you know how healthy they are.

Unhealthy food is becoming less delicious this days due to inflation, delicious taste depends upon individual ages, there is no standard when comes to food, there is a big gap between the rich and the poor when comes to food, the lower income persons has no other choices when they are hungry, it is quite ugly when modern human being eats every unhealthy food for a long perod of time. Most food nowaday are not the same quality like the old days. however we need to import more fresh organic food across the whole world and lower the price too. Economy food as she mention is ok and make it halal for all races so that all Singaporean can buy and will make economy food price can even lower to become extra economy. I'm sad to see more and more Singaporean becoming obese and sick😢

Selama berabad-abad manusia telah mengambil kesempatan daripada ini - menggabungkan semula gen dengan cara yang semakin sistematik dan menggunakan hibridisasi yang meluas dan pemilihan buatan - untuk mencipta banyak kombinasi yang tidak akan berlaku sebaliknya. Hampir semua yang kita makan berasal dari ternakan, tanaman, dan mikroorganisma yang dibiakkan khusus untuk menyediakan makanan. Manusia juga telah mengagihkan semula gen secara geografi: kacang soya berasal dari Asia tetapi kini ditanam di seluruh benua Amerika, manakala kentang berasal dari benua Amerika dan kini ditanam di seluruh kawasan sederhana. DNA tidak pernah "statik", sama ada semula jadi atau buatan manusia. Pengubahsuaian genetik adalah lanjutan daripada itu. Walau bagaimanapun, tidak seperti pembiakan tradisional, di mana gen untuk varieti baru dijana lebih kurang secara rawak, ia membolehkan gen tertentu dikenal pasti, diasingkan, disalin dan diperkenalkan ke dalam organisma lain dengan cara yang lebih langsung dan terkawal.

which fast food chain

if no good tasty food the socializing is over.

👍

Can, get cna to report more on the good food lah

we cannot do anything to change the system it is a personal CHOICE. that is why we are humans unlike dogs and cats

Less oil is gd but wat abt nvr change oil??

To say the food in Singapore is delicious is overrated. Much of the taste of Singapore everyday staple food comes from sauces. There is very little meat and vegetables in the meal and the primary component of the meal consists of rice or noodle aka starch. The vendors just pour sauces over it to give the pathetic thing taste to it.

Actually can.. singapore can ban everything including fast food, ban sugar, salt.. and oil.. also ban pork… then you singaporean can go healthy.. also ban eggs, ice cream…

Think the best is to cook at home

i try drinking coffee minus the SUGAR

than all the BAKERY shops HOW. high in salt and sugar HOW

just boil the flesh chicken without any sauce and eat it. try it and you will know

so eat prata without the sauce.

try educating our parents about food when they cook it and we go home to eat. it is the end

outside it is just not PRACTICAL AT ALL WHEN COST IS INVOLVE

so sad have to eat healthy for the remaining 30 to 40 years of my life or be a patient in SGH or CGH

the CLUBS HOW

Healthcare cost is also getting higher. I'd rather spend more effort and my hard earned money on healthy food and habits like going to the gym than spending them on medical later on.

most people eat to live till they cannot eat like that anymore

Cut out sugar and ultra processed food. Eat real natural food. That would be a good start. The major culprit with modern diseases is eating too often and food which raised blood sugar and insulin level.

Avoid refined carbs, seed oil and processed sugar

Singapore needs more affordable salad bars. Hawker food has to go right in the bin where it belongs

Oh no!!!!!!

Nowadays, I love granola 😅

hsr and subyas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hot roti prata at my door.u sure or not?? The prata they make one shot many²,stack one side and then sit down n play hp..

Sorry but delicious hawker food??? The truth is we no longer experience all tat anymore.. Only a few hawkers here really cook with love..other than tat all anyhow cook. Then their most response will be u want nice ah go cook urself lah...

As a Malaysian: Singapore making delicious food??? 😂😂😂

profit increase with tasty food

yea right, eat salad with chicken breast every day. this is damn stupid topic to begin with.

Firstly , sodium salt is an essential mineral. It is very strange but those elderly on medication for high blood pressure, diabetes, may at some point be given sodium chloride pills by the doctor ! I said may and not will. I cared for my mother for 15+ years, she was hospitalised 2 times for low sodium. The effects of hypertension medication is very hard to predict its effect on blood sodium. You cannot say Singapore's addiction to unhealthy food. Singapore is a country ! It is not a human ! What nonsense to say a country is addicted ! because you said so ??? I say Singapore is addicted to Capitalism . This is the root of the problem. On the ground level at hawker center, it is market force that determines if an food related enterprise thrive or bankrupt. and a primary additive has been Monosodium Glutimate ,MSG. It is an invention of the Japanese. even Mrs Lee from a past era was said to promote MSG. I heard but I donno if it is true. and today ! local politicians are seen on TV talking about a particular manufacturer of Japanese soya sauce. Soya is just soya sauce, why the association with japanese soya. There is more than it meets the eye. A few earlier generation chinese soya manufacturers did some iffy manufacturing. No doubt Japanese are known to be extremely careful and meticulous. But soya sauce is soya sauce. It has sodium. I'm chinese btw, for any culture, there is fermented food. From what I gather on the internet, fermented food is iffy. It may preserve some food, and make salted vegetables very delicious, and most fermented vegetables are imported from China, which is facing water pollution problems. It may not be the salt that is problem, but also the fermentation process. Not related to salted veges, The toxin of some bacteria seem to cause liver problems, which is very complex and lead to problems with the pancreas, spleen etc..Environmental pollution is part of the reason as well as stress. We live in the 2nd most densely populated country in the world, everyday we are exposed to a higher than normal level of human pathogens in the MRT and public spaces. I think we should be careful with fermented vegetables and salted eggs, salted shrimps, salted fish and a lot of processed foodstuff. Every Soya is processed and sometimes the bean curd taste a bit sour on some days. What drive the Capitalism of the food industry are mercenaries such as marketing industry. They are paid to promoted bakkwa and mooncakes and such. I caught a severe sore throat just recently, coincides with a short haze season. HSA detected strep bacteria on a few imported moon cakes. Moon cakes are overhyped over marketed. It over evolved into a money making opportunity. Traditionally, doctors and hospitals are forbidden to place ad for their services because they are professionals. but now I see some entities are pushing the boundaries of enterprise. This push up medical cost indirectly. so it is Capitalism.

alcohol and snacks

Crash course on becoming whiter

One-third of Singaporeans speak Mandarin. Majority of them are from the freedom-loving nation Taiwan 🇹🇼, not China. Of those Mandarin speakers from China, most have *negative impressions* about the authoritarian surveillance regime.

The young lady invited guest ....like cakes?😢

Its amazing these doc & nutritionist people still think whole grain, brown rice , noodles is healthy? 😂😂😂