Breast milk is best for your baby

Breast milk is best for babies. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Health Promotion Board (HPB) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. Unnecessary introduction of bottle feeding or other food and drinks will have a negative impact on breastfeeding. At around six months of age (but not before 4 months), infants should receive nutritionally adequate and age-appropriate complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond. Consult your doctor before deciding to use infant formula or if you have difficulty breastfeeding.

Abbott Singapore fully recognises breast milk’s primacy, value and superiority and supports exclusive breastfeeding as recommended by the WHO.

The content on this website is intended as general information for Singaporean residents only and should not be used as a substitute for medical care and advice from your healthcare practitioner. The HPB recommends that infants start on age-appropriate complementary foods at around 6 months, whilst continuing breastfeeding for up to 2 years or beyond to meet their evolving nutritional requirements. If no longer breastfeeding, toddlers can switch to full cream milk after 12 months. This should be complemented by a good variety of solid foods from the four main food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, meat and alternatives). For more information on the nutritional requirements of infants and young children, please visit www.healthhub.sg/earlynutrition.

Glycemic Index

Welcome to Abbott Family's Glycemic Index Tool.

Have you ever eyed a new food and wondered how much it would raise your blood glucose? Nutrition researchers wonder the same thing and they use a tool called the "glycemic index" to compare different high-carbohydrate foods.

What is Glycemic Index (GI)?

Glycemic Index is the ranking of carbohydrates in foods according to how much they affect blood glucose levels. There are many factors contributing to the GI of a food, including the type of carbohydrate, fat content, processing and digestibility.

What does it mean?

High GI foods elevate blood sugar levels more rapidly and to a greater extent than low GI foods. For instance, mashed potatoes are a high GI food and eating them makes blood sugar rise a lot. Beans are a low GI food and eating them causes only a small change in blood sugar.

Examples of different kinds of foods and their GI values are shown in the table below.

Glycemic Index of Selected Foods
(Glucose = 100)

Food	GI Value
Low ≤ 55
Peanuts	14
Raw carrots	16
Cashew nuts	22
Kidney beans	28
Similac Mum	28
Glucerna® SR Powder	31
Apple	38
Strawberries	40
Milk, full fat	40
Green Peas	48
Intermediate 55-69
Brown rice	55
Whole-grain bread	59
Corn	60
Spaghetti	61
Croissant	67
High ≥ 70
Parboiled rice	72
Mashed potato	74
Baked potato	85
Cornflakes	92
Baguette	95

Source:
Foster-Powell et al. International table of glycemic index and glycemic load values. Am J Clin Nutr 2002; 76:5-56.

Is a low GI diet beneficial?

A low GI diet can help control blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, helps with weight management, makes you feel full for a longer period of time, improves blood cholesterol profiles and may improve the body's sensitivity to insulin.

How are foods categorised?

Foods have been divided into categories based on their glycemic index values and classified as low GI, intermediate GI and high GI.

Glycemic Index Range
Low GI ≤ 55	Slower and lower rise in blood sugar levels
Intermediate GI 56-69	Moderate rise in blood sugar levels
High GI ≥ 70	Fast rise in blood sugar levels