Best Diet For Gestational Diabetes – The gestational diabetes diet can be confusing when you’re just starting out. Find out the “why” and the “how” here.
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links from which I will earn a commission, at no additional cost to you, if you make a purchase. I appreciate your support!
Best Diet For Gestational Diabetes
If you haven’t already, it is highly recommended that you read Everything You Need to Know About Gestational Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes Testing and Alternatives. These articles will give you a better understanding of the “why” behind dieting.
What To Eat Before Your Pregnancy Glucose Test
Gestational diabetes (GD), also called gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), is diabetes that develops during pregnancy. It is treated with diet, exercise and medication if necessary. In most cases, diet is the first form of treatment, and if a combination of diet and exercise does not effectively control blood sugars, medication and/or insulin is the next step.
Treatment is carried out on a case-by-case basis. You and your healthcare team will decide what is best for your situation. For more information, visit Everything you need to know about gestational diabetes.
Gestational diabetes requires a special diet because your pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to maintain safe blood sugar levels. Because carbohydrates are a nutrient that raises blood sugar, the diet requires you to change the type of carbohydrates you eat, the amount, and the frequency of your intake.
Finding what works for you will be a process of trial and error; however, there are general guidelines that can help.
What Is Gestational Diabetes?
You will probably need to reduce the number of carbohydrates you eat in order for your body’s natural insulin to remain effective.
For GD, breakfast and snacks are usually limited to 15g – 20g of carbohydrates, and lunch and dinner are limited to 30g – 45g of carbohydrates.
It is estimated that pregnant women (without GDM) need about 156 g of carbohydrates per day. Based on your GDM test results, your dietitian will recommend a maximum number of carbohydrates per day and per meal. The right food for pregnancy
If you have been diagnosed but have not yet seen a dietitian, it is wise to start with a lower carbohydrate intake for each meal. Note how you feel and whether your blood sugars are within range and adjust them up or down.
Indian Diet Plan For Pregnancy With Gestational Diabetes
See the chart below. You will see that the foods are not placed in their usual food groups; instead, they are categorized based on their macronutrients and how they affect blood sugar. Pay special attention to the Carbohydrates column where you will see unusually placed foods such as fruit and milk.
Notice that some foods are listed in two columns, such as beans. This is because beans have significant amounts of protein and carbohydrates. You may be wondering why yogurt is in the Carbohydrates column and Greek yogurt is listed under Protein. Greek yogurt, like beans, has a significant amount of protein and should be considered both a protein and a carbohydrate.
So what you can conclude from the table above is that foods listed as protein and fat will not raise your blood sugar. However, foods listed as carbohydrates will raise your blood sugar.
Now that you have a general idea of what foods are considered carbohydrates in this diet, let’s break them down.
Example Meal Plan • Gestational Diabetes Uk
“Glycemia” is common terminology in the diabetic world. Glycemia is a ranking system of carbohydrates and their effect on blood sugar/glucose.
Simple carbohydrates are considered moderate to high glycemic index because they are quickly processed by the body. In other words, they rush into your system causing a rapid rise in blood sugar (a spike). Simple carbohydrates include:
They are most often found in heavily processed foods. They are the type of carbohydrates you want to eat less of, if not avoid.
Tip – If your blood sugar is too low, eat simple carbohydrates to quickly bring it back to a safe level. Complex carbohydrates
Recipes For Mamas With Gestational Diabetes
Complex carbohydrates have more fiber and are digested more slowly. They will still raise your blood sugar, but at a slower rate. This is important because it also allows your natural insulin to be more effective. Complex carbohydrates include:
You want to eat more complex carbohydrates than simple ones because they are more nutritious and keep your energy levels up better.
Note that starchy vegetables are not included in complex carbohydrates. This is because they are more starchy than fibrous. Starchy vegetables and foods include:
Starchy vegetables and cereals have a high glycemic index. That doesn’t mean you can’t eat baked potatoes, rice, or corn; rather, it means that you must strictly portion out each serving to avoid overeating. However, some mothers find that they must avoid one or more of these foods.
What Can I Eat?
To repeat, it is carbohydrates that raise blood sugar. Eating complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, whole fruits, vegetables, beans, etc. is better than eating simple carbohydrates such as sugar, white grains, juices, jellies, pastries, etc. Starchy carbohydrates such as potatoes, corn, peas, oats , brown grains, etc. are good, but should be strictly portioned.
Regardless of the type of carbohydrates you eat, it’s best to pair them with another food group. Protein acts as a stabilizer to keep your blood sugar from spiking. And since protein needs are increased during pregnancy, it is doubly beneficial to combine carbohydrates with protein.
Protein needs change with the stages of pregnancy. It is recommended that pregnant women eat around 140g of protein per day. The right food for pregnancy
When it comes to vegetables and protein, it is difficult to raise blood sugar levels. By that I mean you can probably eat double the servings (and be stuffed) before you hit your carb max with just veggies and protein.
What To Eat With Gestational Diabetes & Food Diet Plan Chart
That; vegetables have carbohydrates, but they are complex carbohydrates that are digested slowly, and most of them have a low glycemic index. They are much lower in carbohydrates than any food in the carb column – foods in the carb column have carbohydrates that significantly affect blood sugar.
*Whole fruit is recommended in this diet because it is a natural food with the necessary vitamins and minerals; however, since they are simple carbohydrates that are quickly digested, they must be strictly portioned. Small whole fruits are the safest. Examples of whole fruits are oranges, apples, pears, peaches, berries, etc. – fruits that still have their peel or skin; are in their natural form. Fruit that is not considered whole is juice, concentrate, dried or otherwise processed.
**Trans fats are found in margarine, peanut butter and other spreads, baked goods and other processed foods. Sometimes the amount of trans fat per serving is not enough to be labeled on the nutrition label. To know if a food contains trans fat, check the ingredients for “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated.”
When you eat, you tell your blood sugar what to do. If you eat simple carbs, you tell it to pick you up quickly, and if you eat complex carbs, you tell it to sustain you for a while. But what happens when you don’t eat?
Diet For Gestational Diabetes
When you don’t eat, your blood sugar decides what it wants to do. It can fall low or rise high. (This is why fasting glucose is the most demanding.) Both situations are undesirable, so you have to tell it what to do—which means you have to eat every few hours.
Snacks are included in the diet between meals to ensure that sugars do not drop too low or too high.
Ideally, snacks should be eaten about 3 hours after a meal, and at least 2 hours before the next meal. As always, they should be within carbohydrate limits and combined with protein.
When it comes to drinks for diabetics, there are few options. Carbonated drinks and juices are on the list of foods to avoid, and many other drinks use “hidden” sweeteners that affect blood sugar.
Gestational Diabetes: Managing Risk
There are some drinks that use low-glycemic sweeteners, but they vary by brand. In general, diet sodas use an alternative sweetener called aspartame that is unlikely to affect your glucose. Besides diet sodas, flavored water, teas, coffee, alternatively sweetened sodas, and low-sugar smoothies with added protein are all options, but most importantly, water!
Hydration is very important in life, and even more so in pregnancy. It is recommended that pregnant women drink 100 ounces of water per day (Real Food for Pregnant Women). That’s almost a gallon of water (128 ounces)! Suffice it to say that if you drink the recommended amount of water and eat 6 meals a day, you probably don’t have room for another drink.
BUT you can also eat your water! What does that even mean: right? Water is found in fruits and vegetables, so you can eat some of the water you need. That doesn’t mean you can measure it the same way, but it does mean you don’t have to drink nearly a gallon of water while eating 6 times a day.
You can flavor your water to change it up a bit, but be careful when using flavoring powders. Check which sweetener is used and check if it has a low glycemic index.
S5:e9: The Best Gestational Diabetes Diet
The Build Your Plate guide above can also be used when eating out. The tricky part will be controlling portion sizes, so guesswork will have to be used.
Tip – you’ll probably end up with larger portions than you need, so ask for another plate. Portion portions and put excess food on another plate to prevent overeating/carbohydrate overload. Fast food
Fast food restaurants are a little different. You can see reviews of the menu
Keto diet for gestational diabetes, gestational diabetes diabetic diet, diet during gestational diabetes, gestational diabetes diet menu, managing gestational diabetes diet, gestational diabetes diet nhs, diet for gestational diabetes, breakfast for gestational diabetes diet, gestational diabetes vegetarian diet, pre gestational diabetes diet, good diet for gestational diabetes, diet plan for gestational diabetes
