CHINESE New Year is generally a time of family reunions and catching up with relatives that one would otherwise have little probability of meeting during the rest of the year. It is also a time of feasting and drinking.

This is why I tell my diabetic patients not to come for their blood test until it's three months after the CNY festive period. We monitor diabetic patients with a test called Haemoglobin A1C that measures the average of their cumulative blood sugars over the last three months. Therefore, we expect that their dietary habits would be compromised during the festivities.

The feasting that goes on at CNY can be quite deleterious to the body. The sweets, pastries, bak kwa and sodas are all full of refined sugars that can raise blood sugars substantially. You also have the "bad" carbohydrates and these include white rice, white bread, potatoes and yellow noodles that include ramen, instant and Hokkien noodles.