Easy Gestational Diabetes Meal Plan – Medically Reviewed by Kathy W. Warwick, R.D., CDE, Nutrition — By Lana Burgess — Updated March 22, 2022
Gestational diabetes develops when pregnancy hormones make a person resistant to the effects of insulin. Without treatment, it can lead to a number of complications. It is possible to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes by following a healthy diet and maintaining a moderate weight.
Easy Gestational Diabetes Meal Plan
The body is resistant to insulin, which leads to an increase in blood sugar. A pregnant person may be able to produce more insulin to compensate, but some cannot, resulting in gestational diabetes.
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This article explains the diet that people can follow during pregnancy if they have gestational diabetes, including what foods to eat and avoid.
It will also outline other treatment options for gestational diabetes, possible complications and tips for a healthy pregnancy.
Gestational diabetes develops during pregnancy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gestational diabetes affects
This type of diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce enough of the hormone insulin during pregnancy. The pancreas produces insulin, which helps the body’s cells use sugar from the blood for energy.
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The body will produce more hormones during pregnancy and people may gain weight. These changes can result in cells using insulin less efficiently than before, known as insulin resistance.
Becoming resistant to insulin means that the body needs more insulin to handle sugar or glucose in the blood. If the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin to keep up, it can lead to high blood sugar levels.
It is important to eat a healthy diet if a person has gestational diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends using the diabetes plate method to help a person eat the right balance of nutritious foods.
To use this method, a person should fill half of a 9-inch plate with non-starchy vegetables, one-quarter with lean protein, and one-quarter with a carbohydrate, such as whole grains or starchy vegetables.
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It is important to avoid foods that cause a rise in blood sugar levels if a person is following a diet for gestational diabetes.
Blood sugar levels rise when people eat sugary foods, especially refined or processed foods. People with gestational diabetes should avoid or limit foods with added sugar as much as possible.
, which can cause an increase in blood sugar. It is best to avoid or limit very starchy foods with a higher glycemic index, such as:
Some foods and drinks are not obvious sources of sugar or carbohydrates. However, they may still contain high levels of both. Examples of these products include:
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A pregnant person should avoid drinking alcohol throughout pregnancy as there is no known safe amount. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause a number of serious health problems for a baby.
It can help space out meals and snacks evenly throughout the day. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that people with gestational diabetes consume three meals and two to three snacks a day. By doing this, it can reduce high blood sugar spikes after eating.
A person with gestational diabetes can monitor and log their blood sugar levels at different times throughout the day and keep a food and activity diary. This can show them how food and activity affect their blood sugar levels.
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It is normal to gain weight during pregnancy, but gaining too much or too little can pose health risks to a pregnant person and the unborn child. A healthcare professional can advise a person about ideal weight through the stages of pregnancy.
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Following a healthy diet and exercise can help a person control their blood sugar levels and manage gestational diabetes. However, this may not be enough to control the condition in some cases.
Some people with gestational diabetes may need medication, such as insulin or metformin, to lower their blood sugar levels.
Gestational diabetes increases the risk of complications for both the pregnant woman and the baby. Risks affecting the pregnant person include:
About half of all people with gestational diabetes develop type 2 diabetes after pregnancy. After giving birth, maintaining a healthy body weight and controlling blood sugar levels can reduce this risk.
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If a person notices any symptoms of gestational diabetes before testing, they will need to speak to a healthcare professional as soon as possible.
When a doctor diagnoses gestational diabetes, they may refer the pregnant woman to a dietitian. A dietitian can help create a diet plan that fits a person’s blood sugar levels and nutritional needs.
Gestational diabetes occurs when pregnancy hormones make the body resistant to insulin. Sometimes the pancreas can produce enough extra insulin to handle the glucose in the blood, but sometimes it can’t. This leads to high blood sugar levels, which can be harmful to a pregnant person and the unborn child.
To regulate blood sugar levels, a person can choose a combination of non-starchy vegetables, lean protein and grains, or starchy vegetables, as described in the Diabetes Plate Method.
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Gestational diabetes can lead to complications during childbirth and health risks for the pregnant woman and the unborn child if a person does not receive treatment.
People at higher risk of developing gestational diabetes include those who are obese or overweight, people with a family history of diabetes, and those who have previously given birth to a baby weighing more than 9 lbs.
Having type 1 diabetes before becoming pregnant is different from gestational diabetes. A person who already has type 1 diabetes should work with a healthcare professional to maintain healthy blood sugar levels before becoming pregnant. Blood sugar that is well controlled before pregnancy reduces the risk of birth defects and complications during pregnancy.
A person with type 1 diabetes will need special care during pregnancy and may need increased insulin doses to maintain healthy blood sugar levels throughout pregnancy. They will need to monitor blood sugar closely during pregnancy and should eat the same healthy diet that this article describes.
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The answers represent the opinions of our medical experts. All content is strictly informational and should not be considered medical advice.
Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We avoid using tertiary references. We link primary sources – including studies, scientific references and statistics – within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. Gestational diabetes mellitus is a condition discovered during pregnancy, which is caused by insulin resistance, and can cause pregnancy-related complications in the baby, including elevated blood sugar levels, excess birth weight, underdeveloped lungs, stillbirth, postpartum hypoglycaemia and maternal preeclampsia (high blood pressure).
For many pregnant women, gestational diabetes is temporary, treatable, results in a healthy pregnancy and baby, and goes away after birth.
However, there are many women who are unaware that they are living with insulin resistance, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes before pregnancy, who then develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy.
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Often pregnancy is the first time many women are thoroughly tested for metabolic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol and obesity.
In this article, we will discuss the link between gestational diabetes and insulin resistance and explain key strategies that can dramatically prevent and reverse it completely.
It is important to understand that pregnant women develop insulin resistance as a natural byproduct of being pregnant, but the diet a woman eats during pregnancy is also incredibly important.
Laboratory tests, typically performed around 24 weeks, can become an important time to learn about underlying conditions that may develop in the mother, increasing the risk of pregnancy-related complications.
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Between 24-28 weeks, pregnant women are asked to take an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The OGTT is standard of care for pregnant women in their late 2nd or early 3rd trimester to screen for gestational diabetes.
During an OGTT, you typically fast for 8 to 12 hours before arriving at a medical clinic. You will then drink a solution containing glucose and give blood samples to a medical technician according to a schedule.
Once the results of your OGTT have been analyzed, you will be told whether you are safe, whether you should go for follow-up tests, or whether your results indicate that you have gestational diabetes.
Unfortunately, there is no consensus on how to analyze an OGTT, and as a result, diagnosis of gestational diabetes varies from institution to institution.
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The amount of glucose in the solution, the timing of blood tests and the threshold for high blood sugar differ from institution to institution, making it extremely challenging to reach a research-based consensus.
Perform a 1-hour (fasting) OGTT first, then proceed to a 3-hour (fasting) OGTT if they fail
The IADPSG “one-step strategy” has been adopted internationally, but conflicting recommendations from several expert groups make it challenging to establish objective criteria for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes.
Despite this difference in diagnostic criteria, our diet and treatment recommendations are an extremely effective way to improve the health of both mother and baby, and are specifically designed to reverse insulin resistance and reduce the risk of complications during and after pregnancy.
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Since 2006, the incidence of gestational diabetes
