Gestational Diabetes: Diet to Ensure Healthy Pregnancy and Baby and Prevent Gestational Diabetes

Sep 15 by Joanna Verdan

Gestational diabetes is a condition characterized by high blood glucose levels experienced during pregnancy. Although it usually goes away on its own once the pregnancy is over, it is a potentially dangerous condition that needs to be addressed in order to prevent health complications for both the mother and the baby.

High blood sugar levels that are not treated during pregnancy can cause various health issues for you and your baby. Gestational diabetes will not cause your baby to have diabetes. However, if left untreated, gestational diabetes can cause your baby to produce too much insulin and gain too much weight, increasing the risk of premature delivery.

Women who have gestational diabetes usually go back to the normal blood sugar levels and regain their health after delivery. However, they are at higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes later in their life. This is caused, in my opinion, by the improper food choices and insufficient activity that also caused the gestational diabetes during the pregnancy.

That is why the best solution is to make permanent changes in your diet and lifestyle, to prevent these types of problems from occurring not just during pregnancy, but forever.

It’s important also that we teach these proper nutrition habits to our children, as the childhood obesity and childhood diabetes reach epidemic proportion.

Fortunately, gestational diabetes is fully preventable with proper diet and lifestyle adjustments.

My Story

What is Gestational Diabetes Diet?

When I was pregnant, I almost got diabetes due to misinformation and bad advice that I was following.

Part of my problem was that I was consuming way too much animal protein. I was told to eat lots of protein to prevent toxemia. I also thought this will be good for the growing baby to eat lots of protein and fatty foods. And since I was feeling hungry most of the time, I was eating way too much of these foods.

By doing that I put my own health and the health of my son in danger.

As a result I gained way too much weight, and was forced to have a C-section, instead of natural birth, because the baby was too big. Baby was also big, but fortunately, he was healthy.

However, I want to share what I know now with all women who are pregnant and are afraid that they may be at risk of developing gestational diabetes.

Knowledge is power!

Gestational Diabetes Diet: Healthy Eating Plan for Pregnancy and Beyond

Gestational diabetes is a condition can be prevented by ensuring the mother eats healthy diet and gets sufficient physical activity.

Foods to EAT During Pregnancy

Diet for gestational diabetes is really no different for a healthy diet that we should all be following every day to ensure the best of health and well-being.

It’s a diet that is based mostly on WHOLE FOODS, mainly fresh raw plant foods (make sure you wash your produce thoroughly) – fruits, vegetables, and greens; nuts, seeds, whole grains, and beans.

Even in pregnancy, animal proteins, such as dairy and meats should not be eaten in excessive amounts. Eat these foods in moderation: eggs, yogurt, lean meat, fish, poultry.

Eat a variety of foods to get all the nutrients you need, but make whole foods 90% of your meals.

Foods to AVOID During Pregnancy

Avoid refined foods, fast foods, chemically-preserved foods, and highly processed foods.

Avoid raw foods, raw eggs, raw shellfish, raw mayonnaise,

Avoid alcoholic completely during pregnancy. Alcohol has been linked to premature delivery and low birth weight babies. If you think you may have a problem with alcohol use, please talk to your health care provider so he or she can help protect you and your baby.

Eliminate caffeine completely. Or – if you don’t want to do it – at least reduce it to no more one cup of coffee per day, 2 cups of tea. Remember, chocolate contains caffeine — the amount of caffeine in a chocolate bar is equal to 1/4 cup of coffee.

Again, I want to stress DO NOT DIET or try to lose weight during pregnancy — both you and your baby need the proper nutrients in order to be healthy. Ask your doctor how much weight you should gain during pregnancy. A woman of average weight before pregnancy can expect to gain 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy. You may need to gain more or less weight, depending on what your health care provider recommends.

Avoid artificial sweeteners. The use of non-nutritive or artificial sweeteners approved by the Food and Drug Administration may acceptable during pregnancy. These FDA-approved sweeteners include aspartame and acesulfame-K. The use of saccharin is strongly discouraged during pregnancy because it can cross the placenta and may remain in fetal tissues. Talk with your health care provider about how much non-nutritive sweetener is acceptable during pregnancy.

Prevent gestational diabetes to ensure smooth delivery and healthy baby

How much protein do we really need?

You may be wondering “Don’t pregnant women need more protein? More fats? More other nutrients?”

Of course, with the new baby growing in her womb, a pregnant woman needs more protein than a woman who is not carrying a baby. However, she also needs more of everything, especially more calories, and as long as she is eating WHOLE FOODS, she will get all the extra protein, fat, carbs, and all other nutrients that she and her baby need. There is no need to stuff yourself with animal foods – meats, dairy, etc. – to feed the growing baby.

Extra fat and protein will put a strain on your body, resulting in excessive weight gain and – potentially – gestational diabetes.

If you eat a healthy diet – lots of fruits, vegetables, raw nuts, whole grains, beans, etc., as well as some dairy and meats – you will consume more protein and everything else in the process.

The bottom line is this: when your caloric needs are met, your protein needs are met automatically. So we should all focus on eating healthy natural foods, and forget about trying to get enough protein.

If you eat nutrient rich foods, such as green vegetables, green leaf salads, fruits and other natural, unprocessed foods, you’ll be getting all the nourishment you and your baby need. All these foods contain all the nutrients our body need in perfect proportions – including protein, fats, calcium and everything else that we need to properly function and stay healthy.

Healthy diet for pregnancy and beyond

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

Do you have a question or comment about normal blood sugar levels, preventing disease or other health related issue? Talk to us in the comment section!