What Can You Eat With Gestational Diabetes

Follow These Steps To Help Control Your Sugars:

There is no need to eat for two even if you are expecting twins or triplets. To manage feeling more hungry, eat regularly during the day. Try to have 3 small meals and a small snack between each meal.

• Eat plenty of vegetables and up to 3 portions of fruit each day.
• Cut down on added sugars and sweet foods, and avoid sugary drinks .
• Try to choose higher fibre foods throughout the day.
• Eat less fried and fatty foods, or high fat snacks.
• Limit alcohol intake. Not drinking alcohol at all is the safest approach for your baby.

Each of these steps is discussed in more detail in the following pages.

Can Gestational Diabetes Affect My Baby

If gestational diabetes is not well looked after it may result in problems such as a large baby, miscarriage and stillbirth. A large baby can create the risk of injury at delivery, caesarean delivery, forceps delivery and a need for the baby to be looked after in special care until the glucose level stabilises after delivery. Other complications may include pregnancy loss and premature delivery. If any problems occur, the hospital will care for you and your baby.

Five Tips To Start Eating Better With Gestational Diabetes

Bissell recommends trying these five tips to get on the road to eating healthier:

• Plan ahead: Think about your upcoming week and jot down a simple meal plan and grocery list to prevent last-minute food decisions because they usually result in less healthy choices.
• Chop, chop: Pre-portion or chop up fruits and vegetables when you get home from the store to make them easier to grab when you need a snack.
• Buy frozen: Stock your freezer with frozen vegetables. Even if the fresh veggies you picked out for the week go bad, you always have options.
• Drink up: Carry a water bottle with you to stay hydrated.
• Balance your meals: Eat protein and vegetables with each meal and snack. Aim for three meals a day with snacks in between as needed.

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Other Steps For A Healthy Pregnancy

Its not just food alone that can help you stay healthy with gestational diabetes. In addition to maintaining a well-balanced diet, there are other things you can do to have a healthy pregnancy:

• Exercise regularly. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week. Dont be afraid to incorporate a wide range of activity, both for your health and for enjoyment. Just remember to speak to your doctor before starting any new exercises .
• Dont skip meals. To regulate your blood sugar levels, aim to eat a healthy snack or meal every 3 hours or so. Eating nutrient-dense foods regularly can help keep you satiated and stabilize blood sugar levels.
• Take your prenatal vitamins, including any probiotics, if theyre recommended by your doctor.
• See your doctor as often as they recommend they want you healthy.

What Causes Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes means that your body isnt making enough insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas that helps to regulate blood sugar levels. During pregnancy, your body makes more hormones, and you also gain weight. These changes affect how your body uses insulin, called insulin resistance.

All pregnant women have some insulin resistance during late pregnancy, but some women have insulin resistance before they get pregnant they then start pregnancy with a higher need for insulin, and this puts them at risk for gestational diabetes.

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How Does Gd Affect Your Baby After Birth

Babies who are born to mothers with gestational diabetes should be tested for low blood sugar , even if they have no symptoms, with a simple blood test after birth. This happens immediately after delivery, while you and baby are still in the hospital.

After birth, its essential to keep the focus you had during pregnancy on a healthy lifestyle for your whole family you may find that it helps you stick to your resolutions as well.

Teach your child good eating and exercise habits early on: If you had gestational diabetes, your baby could be at a higher risk for health problems, including obesity as a child or teen and an increased risk for type 2 diabetes later in life, according to the CDC.

To help avoid a type 2 diabetes diagnosis for your child, aim to ensure that he or she:

• Eats nutritious meals. The same diet you follow during pregnancy and beyond is good for your child, too. When he gets old enough, have him help you in the kitchen children who help prepare dishes are more likely to eat them.
• Gets plenty of exercise as he grows. Start by taking walks. As he gets older, toddler soccer and other activities are a great way to get him interested in healthy movement.
• Maintains a healthy weight. Talk to his pediatrician to make sure his BMI is on target, and talk openly to him about healthy weight and the increase in obesity he might notice in school.

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Spread Out Your Meals

Eating too much in one sitting causes a spike in blood sugar, so spreading your food throughout the day is a must for moms-to-be. Aim for three meals and two snacks every day, waiting no longer than 3 hours between.

Its best to avoid that hangry feeling, which makes it easy to overeat and cause that blood sugar spike at the next meal. I recommend always having snacks on hand!

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Follow The Plate Method For Easy Portion Control

The plate method lets you eyeball appropriate portions without having to actually pull out a measuring cup or count calories, which makes plating out a balanced, healthy meal simple and easy. Aim to make half your plate nonstarchy vegetables, a quarter of your plate lean protein, and a quarter of your plate whole grains at each meal. Its important to eat a consistent amount of carbohydrates at each meal.

How Many Carbohydrates Are In My Meal

You can use this carbohydrate list to easily look up how many carbohydrates there are in a snack or meal. The amount of carbohydrates is also stated on the packaging of packaged products.

You can also find the number of carbohydrates in the Eettabel , which is a useful booklet you can purchase from the reception desk of the Dietetics Department or the Voedingscentrum. Ask your dietician where to find reliable online carbohydrate tables.

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Gestational Diabetes Meal Plan And Recipe Ideas

When planning each gestational diabetes-friendly meal, keep that balance in mind. I typically recommend that each meal should contain some protein, healthy fat, carbohydrate and non-starchy vegetable, Tracy suggests. For example, for lunch, try a whole wheat sandwich with roasted turkey breast, a couple slices of avocado and topped with lettuce, with a side salad with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil dressing.

Looking for recipes that fit into a gestational diabetes meal plan? Here are a few ideas:

Understand The Glycaemic Index

The gylcaemic index is a measure of how quickly foods containing carbs affect your blood sugar levels after you eat them. Some foods affect sugars levels quickly and so have a high GI, and others take longer to affect blood sugar levels and so have a low GI. To help you manage your blood sugar levels, go for carbs with a lower GI. Youll still need to think about your portion sizes. Its the amount of carbs in the meal that will affect your blood sugar levels the most. And not all low GI foods are healthy, so make sure you read food labels and make a healthy choice.

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Know Your Blood Sugar Level And Keep It Under Control

The first step in this general treatment plan has two parts:

1) Knowing your blood sugar levelmeans you test to see how much glucose is in your blood and

2) Keeping your blood sugar level under controlmeans you keep the amount of glucose within a healthy range at all times, by eating a healthy diet as outlined by your health care provider, getting regular physical activity, and taking medication, if needed.

Your blood sugar level changes during the day based on what foods you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat. Your level of physical activity and when you do physical activities also affect your blood sugar levels.

As you get closer to your due date, your insulin resistance could increase. If that happens, you might need to take medication to help keep your glucose level under control. Knowing your glucose levels at specific times of the day will allow your health care provider to figure out the right medicine for you.

Follow your health care providers advice about when to test your glucose level. You will have to test your blood sugars four times a day and keep track of the numbers in a log book.

Even though your glucose level changes during the day, there is a healthy range for these levels. The goal is to keep your glucose level within this range. The following chart shows the healthy target range for each time you test.

Ways To Have A Lower Fat Intake

• Ready meals, fast foods and takeaways may be high in fats.
• Look for ones with less than 5% fat
• Eat fewer pies, pasties, pastries, crisps, nuts, corn or potato snacks , cakes, desserts and biscuits.
• Limit roast potatoes or chips to once a week or less.
• Limit cheese to four ounces a week. Try a low fat variety and try grating cheese to make it go further.
• Use skimmed, 1% or semi-skimmed milk rather than full cream milk.
• Use tomato or vegetable-based sauces for pasta rather than cream or cheese based sauces.
• Choose plain fish rather than fish in batter or breadcrumbs.
• Use a spray bottle or measure out oil with a teaspoon.
• Limit high fat extras such as salad dressing, mayonnaise, nut butters to a teaspoon serving.

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How To Manage Gestational Diabetes With A Healthy Diet

Consider a gestational diabetes diet plan your secret weapon to help prevent pregnancy and delivery complications. Even if you need diabetes medication, Asterino-McGeean says its still vital to follow a gestational diabetes diet.

Help keep blood sugar levels in check with a well-balanced diet. It should include lean sources of protein, plenty of non-starchy vegetables and correctly portioned complex carbohydrates, she says.

Bissell notes that working with a dietitian can take the guesswork out of eating with gestational diabetes. Your dietitian can help you set up balanced meals with the right amount of carbs to keep your blood sugars within the range your doctor recommends.

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What Can I Eat With Gestational Diabetes For Snacks

Snacks may be the most important meal of the day here. Why, you ask? Well this is how you keep your blood sugar from getting too low and then spiking. Its recommended to keep fruit to one snack a day. And I chose to eat this in the afternoon and paired with protein. Below are some options for what can I eat with Gestational Diabetes for Snacks?

What Can I Eat With Gestational Diabetes For Breakfast

I found that breakfast was the hardest meal of the day. Not only because Im an oatmeal lover, but also because this meal breaks the fast. Its the first meal you eat after having not eaten for roughly 8 hours. In a way, it kind of shocks your body. Prior to my diagnosis, I was eating oatmeal with protein powder, maple syrup, blueberries, and sometimes a scoop of peanut butter. Now, while this is more nutritionally dense than say, a breakfast sandwich from the corner fast food joint, its not high up on the list for anyone with gestational diabetes.

I turned to high protein breakfasts and this seemed to work really well for me! As I mentioned in another post, its imperative to get a blood glucose meter. This way, you will know what truly affects you and be able to make informed food choices. I used this one and found it to be simple and not too expensive. I checked my blood sugar after I woke up, eat breakfast within 30 minutes, and then check my blood sugar 1 hour later. The goal was for it to be < 120mg/dL.

Even though you have gestational diabetes, the body is still managing blood sugar levels and insulin response. If you end up going too long without eating, the body will release stored glucose so your blood sugar doesnt get too low, and then your insulin response which is currently moving at a snails pace wont work effectively and your blood sugar will be high and you didnt even eat anything.

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Risk Associated With Gestational Diabetes

In the United States, gestational diabetes affects around six to eight percent of all pregnant women. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after pregnancy and for most people it does not lead to any serious complications.

However, there are some risks associated with having this condition during pregnancy including a higher risk of:

• developing high blood pressure or preeclampsia
• needing a cesarean delivery because your baby is too big
• delivering early
• giving birth to an infant who might suffer from hypoglycemia at birth
• gaining excess weight in between pregnancies due to insulin resistance which may then lead on the development obesity or type II diabetes later on in life.

When Is The Blood Sugar Monitor Without Finger Pricks Best Time To Check Your Blood Sugar

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Overview Of Gestational Diabetes

For a more in-depth view, we have an entire article about gestational diabetes here.

In short, diabetes that occurs during pregnancy is known as gestational diabetes or GDM .

According to experts who have studied it further, gestational diabetes is increasing in prevalence in line with the increase in the prevalence of obesity in women of childbearing age.

Women with a history of GDM are also at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the years following their pregnancy and their children have a higher risk of developing obesity and diabetes early in life.

From this study, we can see how important it is to make sure we eat a healthy diet, including fresh fruit, to combat the effects of gestational diabetes.

So for those looking at the profile of many common fruits to determine which ones are safe to eat if you have gestational diabetes, lets discover more about who is in more danger of getting gestational

Gestational Diabetes Uk 8 Golden Rules To Eating

The best approach to food we have found is to stick to these 8 golden rules:

The 8 Golden Rules in more detail

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Be Consistent With Meals And Snacks

Whichever eating plan you choose to follow, make sure to eat regular meals and snacks. In other words, eat at around the same time each day and about the same amount at each meal and snack. Your body will respond to this consistency, helping your blood sugar levels be more stable in turn.

This might be three regular meals with two or three snacks in between, or it might be five to six small meals throughout the day. Find what works for you, and stick to it.