List Of Foods To Eat On A Diabetic Diet – The gestational diabetes diet can be confusing when you first start. Learn the “why” and “how” here.
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List Of Foods To Eat On A Diabetic Diet
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend that you read Everything You Need to Know about Gestational Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes Testing & Options. These things will give you a better understanding of the “why” behind the food.
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Gestational diabetes (GD), also called gestational diabetes (GDM), is diabetes that is discovered during pregnancy. It is treated through diet, exercise, and medication if necessary. In most cases, diet is the first line of treatment, and if a combination of diet and exercise does not control blood sugars well, medication and/or insulin is the next step.
Treatment is basically case by case. 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 special nutrition because your pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to maintain safe blood sugars. Since carbohydrates are foods that raise blood sugar, the diet requires that you change the type of carbs you eat, how much and how often you eat them.
Finding what works for you will be a trial-and-error journey; however, there are general guidelines to help.
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It is likely that you will need to reduce the number of calories to make your body’s natural insulin more effective.
For GD, breakfast and snacks are normally limited to 15g – 20g carbs and lunch and dinner are limited to 30g – 45g carbs.
It is estimated that pregnant women (without GDM) need about 156g of carbohydrates per day. Based on your GDM test results, your nutritionist will recommend the maximum number of carbs per day and per meal. Real food for pregnancy
If you’ve been diagnosed but haven’t seen a nutritionist yet, it’s wise to start with a low carb diet for each meal. Notice how you feel and whether your blood sugars are within range and adjust up or down from there.
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See the chart below. You will find that foods are not placed in their normal food groups; instead, they are categorized based on their macronutrients and the ways they affect blood sugar. Pay special attention to the Carbohydrates column where you will find foods listed as fruits and milk.
Note that some foods are listed in two columns, like beans. That’s because beans contain significant amounts of protein and carbs. And you may wonder why milk is in the Carb column but Greek yogurt is listed under Proteins. Greek milk, like beans, has a large amount of protein and should be considered both a protein and a carb.
So, what you can take from the above chart is that the foods listed as proteins and fats 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 called carbohydrates are in this diet, let’s break them down.
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“Glycemic” is a common term in the diabetic world. Glycemia is a ranking system for carbohydrates and how they affect blood sugar/glucose.
Simple carbs are considered moderate 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 rapidly (spike). Simple carbohydrates include:
These are mostly found in highly processed foods. They are the type of carbs you want to eat less of, if not avoid.
Tip – If your blood sugar drops too low, eat a simple carb to quickly bring it back to a safe level. Complex Carbs
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Complex carbs have more fiber and are digested more slowly. They will also raise your blood sugar but at a slower rate. This is important because it also allows your body’s insulin to be more effective. Complex carbohydrates include:
You want to eat more complex carbs than simple carbs because they are more nutritious and better for your energy levels.
Note that starchy vegetables do not include complex carbs. That’s because they’re more starchy than fibrous. Starchy vegetables and foods include:
Starchy vegetables and grains are high glycemic. This does not mean that you cannot eat fried potatoes, rice or corn; instead, it means that you have to keep each finger tight to avoid spiking. Although, some mothers find that they have to avoid one or more of these foods.
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To reiterate, carbs are what raise blood sugar. Eating complex carbohydrates like whole grains, whole fruits, vegetables, beans, etc. is better than eating simple calories like sugar, white grains, juices, jellies, pastries, etc. etc. but it should be a strict ratio.
No matter what kind of carb you eat, it’s best to pair it with another food group. Protein acts as a stabilizer so your blood sugar doesn’t spike. And because protein needs increase during pregnancy, it’s a double whammy to pair carbs with protein.
Protein needs change with the stages of pregnancy. It is recommended that pregnant women eat about 140g of protein daily. Real food for pregnancy
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When it comes to vegetables and proteins, it’s hard to spike your blood sugar. What I mean by that is that you can eat two portions (and be stuffed) before you reach your max carbs with only vegetables and proteins.
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Yes; Vegetables do have carbs, but they are complex carbs that are digested slowly, and most are low glycemic. They are much lower in carbs than any food in the carbohydrate column – the foods in the Carbohydrates column are the carbs that have a major impact on your blood sugar.
* All fruits are recommended in this diet because they are natural food with essential vitamins and minerals; however, since they are simple carbs that digest quickly, they must be strictly portioned. All small fruits are the safest. Examples of whole fruits are oranges, apples, pears, peaches, berries, etc. – fruits that also have peelings or outer shells; are in their natural form. Fruits that are not counted as whole are juices, concentrates, dried, or otherwise modified.
** Trans fats are found in margarine, peanut butter and other spreads, fried products and processed foods. Sometimes the amount of trans fat per serving is not enough to make it clear 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 it tells you to give you a quick pick-me-up, and if you eat complex carbs it tells you to wait for you for a while. But what happens when you don’t eat?
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When you don’t eat your blood sugar decide what you want to do. It can fall down or rise up. (This is why fasting glucose is the trickiest.) Maybe the situation doesn’t like it, so you have to say what to do – meaning 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 spike too high.
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 carb limits and paired with protein.
When it comes to drinks for diabetics, the options are few. Sodas and juices are on the foods to avoid list, and many other drinks use “hidden” sweeteners that affect your blood sugar.
The American Diabetes Association Diet Guidelines
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. Other than diet sodas, flavored water, teas, coffee, other sweetened beverages and low-protein added proteins 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 a day (Real Food for Pregnancy). That’s almost a gallon of water (128 ounces)! Suffice it to say, if you drink the recommended amount of water, and eat six times a day, you probably don’t have room left for any other drink.
But you can still drink your water! What does that even mean: right? There is water in fruits and vegetables, so you can consume some of the water you need. This 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 when you eat six times a day.
You can flavor your water to change it up a bit, but be careful when using flavoring powders. Check to see what sweetener is used and make sure it is low glycemic.
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The Build Your Plate guide above can also be used when eating at a restaurant. The tricky part will be controlling the portion sizes so guesswork will have to be done.
Tip – You will probably eat larger portions than you need so ask for another plate. Divide the portions and put the excess food on another plate to help avoid overeating / going over your calories. Fast food
Fast food is a bit different. You can see the reviews list
