Gestational Diabetes and Food

There are many new things for women to cope with when they become pregnant. Suddenly, everything you do, eat, and drink takes on a new meaning. What holidays have you planned, are you able to fly, can you cope with the heat, what medicines can you use, how far should you walk, can you exercise, etc. One of the lesser know things is the possibility of gestational diabetes. Mums are so taken with what they can or can’t do that few consider diabetes as a possibility. It does mean you will have to pay close attention to what you eat and drink, but the good news is that gestational diabetes normally ends when baby arrives.

Watching The Carbs.

If you find you have gestational diabetes, then you will soon discover that counting your daily intake of carbohydrates is a key factor in dealing with this problem. Since carbohydrates convert to glucose (blood sugar), you will need to keep a close eye on them. Indeed the monitoring of the both (Carbohydrates and blood sugar), will help you to help your body at this time and although it seems quite daunting, you will soon get the hang of it.

First of all you need to take five or six small meals spread out through the day rather than two or three larger ones. This will automatically ensure that your intake of calories (and carbohydrates0 are spread out over the day. With a growing baby it is usual to need an extra 300 calories a day (not the double portions that used to be suggested) so the total would be around 2200 calories.

Next you need to look at what you are eating. It is best to avoid fatty meats, high fat snacks and lots of processed or fast food. The idea is to eat more natural food that is preferably home cooked. A good idea is to divide your plate into thirds. You make up your meal with a third of protein, a third of carbohydrates plus a third of fruit and vegetables.

Your Relationship with Food

Risks with gestational diabetes usually come for women who are overweight or are over the age of 25 years when they become pregnant. It is really important to consider what you are eating since it will lay down good practices for the feeding of your growing family and help to teach them healthy habits and food choices. If you are slightly overweight it will help not to put on too much extra weight and put extra strain on your joints and heart.

You will also need to monitor everything very carefully. It is essential that you attend all of your check-ups and discuss things with your doctor or midwife regularly. Pregnancy is not the time to diet to lose weight, neither is it the time to use fad diets, or any form of fasting or cleansing diets. It will put too much of a strain on your body. The best you can do is to monitor your progress and try to eat as healthy and balanced a diet as possible to ensure a healthy pregnancy and a health baby at the end of your gestation.