Gestational Diabetes Pregnancy Diet Menu – The gestational diabetes diet can be confusing when you’re first starting out. Learn the “why” and “how” here.
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Gestational Diabetes Pregnancy Diet Menu
If you haven’t already, it’s highly recommended that you read everything you need to know about gestational diabetes and gestational diabetes testing and options. These articles will give you a better understanding of the “why” behind the diet.
Book Review:: Real Food For Pregnancy: The Science And Wisdom Of Optimal Prenatal Nutrition — Wichita Doula
Gestational diabetes (GD), also called gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), is diabetes that is discovered during pregnancy. It is treated with diet, exercise and, if necessary, medication. In most cases, diet is the first form of treatment, and if a combination of diet and exercise does not effectively control blood sugar, medication and/or insulin are the next steps.
Treatment is on a case-by-case basis. You and your healthcare team will decide which is best for your condition. See What you need to know about gestational diabetes for more information.
Gestational diabetes requires a special diet because your pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to maintain safe blood sugar. Because carbohydrates are nutrients that raise blood sugar, the diet requires changing the types, amounts, and frequency of carbohydrates you eat.
Finding what works for you will be a trial-and-error journey; However, there are general guidelines to help.
The Gestational Diabetes Cookbook & Meal Plan
You may need to reduce the number of carbohydrates you eat in order for your body’s natural insulin to be effective.
For GD, breakfast and snacks are usually limited to 15g – 20g of carbohydrates and lunch and dinner to 30g – 45g of carbohydrates.
It is estimated that pregnant women (without GDM) need about 156 grams of carbohydrates per day. Based on your GDM test results, your dietitian will recommend a maximum number of carbohydrates per day and per meal. Real food for pregnancy
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If you’ve been diagnosed but haven’t yet seen a dietitian, it’s wise to start with a low carb allowance for each meal. Note how you feel and whether your blood sugar is in range and adjust up or down from there.
Healthy Starts: For Individuals With Gestational Diabetes
See the chart below. You will find that foods are not placed in their normal food groups; Instead, they are classified based on their macro-nutrients and how they affect blood sugar. Pay special attention to the carbohydrate column where you’ll see unusually placed foods like fruit and milk.
Note that some foods are listed in two columns, such as beans. Because beans contain a lot of protein and carbohydrates. And you may wonder why yogurt is in the carb column but Greek yogurt is listed under protein. Greek yogurt, like beans, has substantial amounts of protein and should be considered both a protein and a carb.
So, what you can take from the chart above is that foods listed as protein and fat will not raise your blood sugar. Foods listed as carbohydrates, however, will raise your blood sugar.
Now that you have a general idea of what foods are considered carbohydrates on this diet, let’s break them down.
Free Daily Pregnancy Food Chart
“Glycemic” is a common term in the diabetic world. Glycemia is a ranking system for carbohydrates and how they affect blood sugar/glucose.
Simple carbohydrates are considered medium to high glycemic because they are processed quickly by your body. In other words, they rush into your system causing your blood sugar to rise (spike). Simple carbohydrates include:
They are usually found in heavily processed foods. These are the types of carbs you want to eat less of, if not avoid.
Tip – If your blood sugar is too low, eat a simple carbohydrate to bring it back to a safe level quickly. complex carbohydrates
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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 allows your natural insulin to be more effective. Complex carbohydrates include:
You want to eat more complex carbs than simple carbs because they are more nutritious and keep your energy levels up better.
Remember that starchy vegetables do not include complex carbohydrates. Because they are more starchy than fibrous. Starchy vegetables and foods include:
Starchy vegetables and grains are high glycemic. This doesn’t mean you can’t eat a baked potato, rice or corn; Rather, it means that you must strictly portion each serving to avoid spiking. However, some mothers find that they need to avoid one or more of these foods.
What Can I Eat?
In short, carbohydrates raise blood sugar. Eating complex carbohydrates like whole grains, whole fruits, vegetables, beans, etc. is better than eating simple carbohydrates like 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 combine them with other food groups. Protein acts as a stabilizer to keep your blood sugar from spiking. And since protein needs increase during pregnancy, adding carbohydrates to protein is doubly beneficial.
Protein changes are necessary during pregnancy. Pregnant women are advised to consume around 140 grams of protein per day. Real food for pregnancy
When it comes to vegetables and protein, it’s hard to spike your blood sugar. What I mean by this is that you can probably eat twice as many servings (and stuff) before you reach your maximum carbs with just vegetables and protein.
What Do You Eat On A Diabetes Diet?
Yes; Vegetables do have carbohydrates, but they are complex carbohydrates that are digested slowly and are mostly low glycemic. They are much lower in carbs than any of the foods in the Carbohydrate Column – Foods in the Carbohydrate Column contain carbohydrates that significantly affect your blood sugar.
*Whole fruits are encouraged in this diet because they are natural foods rich in essential vitamins and minerals; However, since these are simple carbohydrates that are quickly digested, they must be strictly portioned. Small whole fruits are safest. Examples of whole fruits are oranges, apples, pears, peaches, berries, etc. They have natural forms. Fruits not considered whole are juices, concentrates, dried or otherwise converted.
** 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 isn’t enough to warrant it on the nutrition label. To find out 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’re asking it to give you a quick pick-me-up, and if you eat complex carbs, you’re asking it to sustain you for a while. But what happens if you don’t play?
Example Meal Plan • Gestational Diabetes Uk
It determines what your blood sugar wants to do when you don’t eat. It can be low or spike high. (This is why fasting glucose is the trickiest.) Either situation is unpredictable, so you must be told what to do—meaning you have to eat every few hours.
Snacks are made between meals so that they are not too low or too high in sugar.
Ideally, snacks are 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 paired with protein.
When it comes to beverages for diabetics, the options are few. Sodas and juices are on the list of foods to avoid, and many other drinks use “hidden” sweeteners that affect your blood sugar.
Carbs & Cals Gestational Diabetes: 100 Recipes Designed By Diabetes Specialist Dietitians: Amazon.co.uk: Chris Cheyette, Yello Balolia: 9781908261229: Books
There are some drinks that use low glycemic sweeteners, but they vary by brand. Typically, diet sodas use an alternative sweetener called aspartame, which is less likely to affect your glucose. Other than diet soda, flavored water, tea, coffee, alternatively sweetened soda and low-sugar-protein smoothies are all options, but most importantly, water!
Hydration is extremely important in life, and even more so during pregnancy. Pregnant women are advised to drink 100 ounces of water a day (the real food for pregnancy). That’s about a gallon of water (128 ounces)! Suffice it to say, if you drink the recommended amount of water and eat 6 times a day, you probably won’t have any room left for another drink.
But you can drink your water! What does it mean: right? Fruits and vegetables contain water, 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 need to drink nearly a gallon of water for 6 meals a day.
You can flavor your water to change it up a bit, but be careful when using flavored powders. Check which sweetener is used and make sure it is low glycemic.
Recipes For Mamas With Gestational Diabetes
The Build Your Plate guide above can also be used when eating out at a restaurant. The complex part will control the size of the part so guesswork will have to be done.
Tip – You will probably be served a larger portion than you need so ask for another plate. Divide portions and put extra food on another plate to prevent your carb overeating/overloading. fast food
Fast food restaurants are a little different. You can see the menu review
