Diet To Avoid Gestational Diabetes – Posts on Clarks Condensed contain affiliate links, from which I earn a small commission. This is provided for your convenience, and the price is not inflated at all.
Are you pregnant and told you have gestational diabetes? If so, you may be wondering what this means for your diet. There are some specific dietary requirements to follow to manage gestational diabetes, but luckily we have some great menu ideas to get you started! Keep reading for a complete list of foods to eat and avoid while pregnant with gestational diabetes.
Diet To Avoid Gestational Diabetes
As soon as I failed the one hour glucose tolerance test, I started trying to eat better.
How To Prevent Gestational Diabetes With Diet
I felt like I was perpetually starving as if all I could eat were huge hunks of meat and huge amounts of vegetables, and that I would never eat anything good again.
Well, I quickly realized that just because I had to cut out most of my sugar and eat less carbs doesn’t mean I wasn’t eating well.
In fact, with a little research and practice, I probably ate better during my 12 weeks of gestational diabetes than I did in a long time.
I’m grateful to have a dietitian give me packs of meal and snack ideas – and I also get lots of great ideas and tips from Real Foods for Gestational Diabetes.
Gestational Diabetes Diet
I’ve been working on a very long post about everything I wish I knew before my diagnosis, but in the meantime, I’d like to share a little bit about eating with Gestational Diabetes, as well as a list of Gestational Diabetes foods and some delicious sponsorships.
Nothing in this post can replace the advice of a medical provider. Please note that this is based on my own experience and research.
So many processed foods contain lots of added sugar and other ingredients that can spike your blood sugar. The closer you can get to food in its original form, the better!
There are many different schools of thought – some based on older information, some based on more recent research.
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Most of the time, you’ll be given nutrient amounts based on a meal or snack – not per day.
Mine is slightly lower than the “normal” recommendation – which I got based on advice from my nutritionist and from the book I mentioned earlier, Real Foods for Gestational Diabetes.
This is my goal. Please don’t comment telling me they are too low 🙂 It works for me, and I have a very healthy baby. Again – everyone should work with their provider.
Unless you’re fairly familiar with food portions and roughly how many carbs are in one meal, I would recommend using a food scale – at least when you’re just starting out.
Gestational Diabetes? Plant Based Diet May Help!
Toward the end of my pregnancy, I ate much of the same things, and I could see more of it. But in the beginning, scale is very important.
I am truly surprised how often I overestimate how much I give myself, and I could have had more!
Another way to measure food is to aim for 1/2 of your plate to be non-starchy vegetables, 1/4 to protein, and 1/4 to be carbohydrates. I find this generally a good guide when putting food on my plate.
I always put spinach in my smoothies, red peppers and tomatoes in my eggs, and really, greens wherever I can add them.
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I’m not a big fan of raw vegetables. I try and eat it, but after a few pieces, I feel like I’m chewing too much. Dips helps!
However, I really like it in most hot dishes, so if I can justify it, I’ll always add vegetables.
We really like to use frozen vegetables, and I make sure we have plenty of them at every meal. We still do!
This is the recommendation I find most people give. If you’re going to have carbs, make sure you have protein too!
Gestational Diabetes And A Plant Based Diet
Matching it means making sure you have at least 1/2 as many grams of protein as carbohydrates (so if you’re eating something with 20 carbs, make sure you have at least 10 protein).
Once you’ve found a meal you like and it gives you a good number – repeat! I know it can be a little tedious, but it makes life less stressful.
Most mornings, I eat a protein smoothie (my favorite recipe is at the end of this post) and for lunch, I’ll have dinner leftovers, a sandwich, or an omelet.
I’ll mix it up sometimes (I can tolerate some protein oatmeal, Greek Yogurt with some berries and granola, etc), but most of the time, I just stick with it.
Proper Maintained Diet To Reduce Risk Of Gestational Diabetes
I did try and mix things up for dinner. There are lots of great recipes online (just look for low-carb, keto, or diabetic recipes), and I love this cookbook from Clean Simple Eats.
Many people think that when you are diagnosed with GD, you have to give up carbohydrates completely.
Not true at all. In fact, some people may be driven to eat more carbohydrates than usual.
It is important to choose complex carbohydrates which take longer to digest. So apples with peanut butter would be a much better bet than peanut butter cookies!
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I’ve seen some people say that their nutritionist says anything under 5 carbs is a “freebie”. I counted everything 🙂
Many people on a low-carb or Keto diet will use net carbs instead of total.
From what I’ve observed, the majority of women are advised to eat total carbohydrates. That’s what I do – and I just try to be careful about eating foods that are high in fiber.
When I went to my diabetes consultation at my OBGYN’s office, she showed me the nutrition labels and explained them.
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I was really surprised by this because I just learned how to read nutrition labels is pretty common… but I’m not.
It is very important to know how to read serving sizes, the amount of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and their content when you have GDM.
I’ve seen a lot of women wonder why they’d spike something like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a bowl of whole grain cereal. When they were asked to look at the nutrition of what they were eating, they suddenly realized that something that looked healthy was actually full of carbohydrates.
Here is a list of different foods that you can use for snacks or to make meals. This doesn’t mean that you can only eat these foods – but it’s a starting point.
Diet For Gestational Diabetes
Make sure you pay attention to nutrition labels, as I mentioned before. For example, some protein bars will be high in sugar and carbohydrates – probably best not to eat them! Be sure to check out our favorites
Make sure you enter your email in the box below to receive printable versions of the foods you should eat (and which ones you should avoid). Free!
They are rated on a scale of 0 to 100 compared to the absorption of 50 grams of glucose (which you also drink with a one-hour glucose test!)
I especially mention this because it really helps when determining whether or not a fruit or vegetable is GD friendly. Fruits and vegetables are healthy, but some are unhealthy.
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It’s fine to eat a little every once in a while, but sugar is a major cause of spikes in blood sugar levels. In fact, I think added sugar is the biggest thing that affects me.
However, there is mounting evidence that these ingredients can negatively affect your body – including your blood sugar.
Many people will still eat them while pregnant with GDM – and that’s really up to you. I just suggest doing some research to make sure it’s the best idea for you – information is the best!
Gestational diabetes is a common condition that affects between 3-5% of pregnant women. This can be difficult to manage, but there are things you can do to make things easier for yourself and your baby. Here is a list of foods we recommend eating with gestational diabetes along with some tips for dealing with these health complications while enjoying pregnancy! What is your favorite food? I’m curious what you found most helpful during those nine months, so please share below in the comments section.
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Katie is a Colorado native, a BYU graduate, and most of all, a wife of one and mother of three beautiful boys. She is passionate about sharing her experiences with others – especially about pregnancy, breastfeeding, cooking and crafts. She is currently training to become a Certified Lactation Educator. He loves spending time with his family and helping others find happiness in family life.
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