Gestational Diabetes And Food: A Balancing Act

Many women who never had diabetes are shocked when they are diagnosed with gestational diabetes.  Food takes on a whole new meaning.It is the stuff of life – but, could also trigger a diabetic coma if you treat your diet casually.  The good news is that your gestational diabetes and food suspicions will end as soon as the baby pops out.  The better news is that nine months or so is good time to learn better eating habits for your overall health, not just your blood sugar levels. 

Pay Attention To Your Carbs

With gestational diabetes and food, counting your daily intake of carbohydrates is key.Carbohydrates converts to glucose (blood sugar), which is what you will watching like a hawk.  Carbohydrates effects your blood sugar and monitoring your blood sugar helps you with monitoring your carbohydrates.  It might seem daunting at first, but you’ll get the hang of managing gestational diabetes with food.

You want to make sure your carbs are spread out throughout your day.  This is also true of your calories.  With a growing baby, you need to eat about 300 extra calories per day.  That means you will be eating about 2200 calories per day.  Check with your doctor to be sure. You need to have five or six small meals rather than three large ones. 

You also need to cut out fatty meats, high fat snacks and lots of processed or fast food.  A good idea is to fill a third of your plate with protein, a third with carbohydrates and another third with fruits and vegetables.

Your Relationship With Food

A major gestational diabetes risk is if you are overweight and over 25 when you get pregnant.  This means you have probably been having some food issues and have been trying to have a better relationship with food, anyway.  Well, gestational diabetes will force you to eat better.  This will help not only your growing baby’s health and your blood sugar, but your joints, your heart and many other health conditions.

With gestational diabetes, food intake alone will often not be enough to be sure that you and your baby get through the pregnancy okay.  You also need to go to all of your check ups, learn to monitor your blood sugar, exercise regularly and take any medication prescribed.  Please don’t do any fad diets, colon cleansings, fastings or any drastic measures like that.  Your body will not be able to handle the shock.

Go here for more about diabetes symptoms and diabetic meal plan.

Which Women Have The Most Gestational Diabetes Risk?

Theoretically, all women who get pregnant have some gestational diabetes risk.This is one reason why getting pregnant is such a big deal.  It’s not just about how to raise the kid, but if your body can even handle the strain of pregnancy.  It can react very badly to the hormonal and chemical tidal waves of pregnancy, including making your blood sugar levels rebellious.  But there are some women who have a higher gestational diabetes risk.

Older Than 25

As if we needed more proof that life’s not fair, your gestational diabetes risk raises if you are over 25 when you breed.  Unfortunately, many women find they have no choice but to have their first baby after the age of 25 for financial and security reasons.  But, even as early as one hundred years ago, women were expected to have had many babies by age 25.  Evolution is a bit slow to catch up with social change.

Overweight

Many seriously overweight women have fertility problems, but those who do manage to get pregnant significantly are at greater gestational diabetes risk than a woman within ten pounds of her ideal body weight.  If you are not sure what your ideal body weight is, ask your doctor.  Don’t rely on magazines or insurance companies to tell you what it is.  If you are overweight, pregnant and get gestational diabetes, the gestational diabetes diet you go on can help you learn how to save yourself from many other health problems in the future.

Not White

It is unknown why white women have less of a gestational diabetes risk than blacks, Native Americans, Asians or Hispanics.  It is possible that white people generally can get a better variety of foods, but that’s not always the case.  Although more studies need to be done as to why white women have less of a gestational diabetes risk than other nationalities, it doesn’t help us in the meantime.

However, if you are not white and trying to get pregnant, you now know that reducing your weight (if you are overweight) and eating as sensibly as possible can reduce your gestational diabetes risk.

Family History

One of the most important ways of assessing your gestational diabetes risk is looking at the family health history of your sisters, mother, grandmothers and aunts.  If any of them had gestational diabetes, your gestational diabetes risk has just raised significantly.  But even if you do get gestational diabetes, it’s not the end of the world.  It is a very treatable condition.

Go here for more about diabetes symptoms and diabetic meal plan.

Who Has The Most Risk Of Gestational Diabetes?

All women who become pregnant are at some risk of gestational diabetes. Becoming pregnant is something that not all women find easy. It also follows that some women find it easier to cope with pregnancy than others. This is particularly true for the first pregnancy. Although women’s body’s are designed for pregnancy, it is something that each woman has to deal with as a new adventure when first becoming pregnant. There are so many changes for a woman’s body to cope with that some find it easier than others. One of the reasons that doctors and nurses monitor woman during pregnancy, is so that they can help them if they find any aspect of the pregnancy difficult. One of the difficult aspects is the development of gestational diabetes.

Known Risks of Gestational Diabetes

1 Over 25 years old.

Although women’s bodies are designed for babies, it seems that nature has not understood that many women have their babies when they are older. Some women prefer to establish their career first, some women wait for financial reasons, some women just don’t feel ready in themselves for babies when they are younger. However, it seems that our bodies have not caught up with the modern world which means we may find it a little more difficult to be pregnant when we are older. We may keep ourselves as fit as possible, but the risk of gestational diabetes is still there.

2 Overweight

Some overweight women may have fertility problems but those who do become pregnant are at greater risk of developing gestational diabetes than those who are within ten pounds of their ideal weight. If you are not sure what your ideal weight is, it is best to consult your doctor. You will then have an unbiased medical view. Whatever you do don’t compare your self to models in magazines. Even insurance companies can generalise. It is always best to seek a medical viewpoint. The other benefit is that they may recommend a helpful diet to aid your weight loss, if you need it, and may well have ideas of the kinds of foods you need to eat to help your body absorb all the vitamins, iron and other nutrients you will need during pregnancy.

3 Not White

This is a lesser known risk. No one knows why but it appears that white women have less risk of gestational diabetes than others. Particularly at risk are Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics and those from the continent of Africa. We don’t know if it is the choice of foods in the different cultures or what it is that causes this phenomena. What is certain is that we need to do more research to find out the probable cause for this unusual fact.

4. Family History

Another important risk factor is to assess your family history. Any near female relative who has had gestational diabetes, puts you at greater risk of the condition. You need to check with your sisters, mother, grandmothers and aunts. The advent of family tree research is something that many people are doing and one of the things it can reveal is any medical history that may be relevant.

Whatever the outcome, it is important to remember that gestational diabetes is treatable and it usually goes when the baby is born. The most important thing is to work with your doctor and the nursing team to ensure that you and your new baby, are and remain, as healthy as possible.