A Diet Plan For Gestational Diabetes – It’s All About Control
If your midwife or doctor tells you that you have gestational diabetes, you’ll need a diet plan to help you control your blood sugar. Let’s look at the specifics about gestational diabetes and how and why you need to control your blood sugar.
What It’s All About
Gestational diabetes is a condition of high blood sugar only during pregnancy. Most of the time, the body can regulate the level of blood sugar by insulin that the body makes. In the case of those with gestational diabetes, the body isn’t making the insulin it needs.
Because the blood sugar isn’t being controlled, the high glucose (blood sugar) is taking extra glucose to the growing baby, who then puts on extra weight. This is not a good thing! Remember, that baby has to get out somehow, and it is easier if they are not that big.
What’s A Girl To Do?
If you show signs of gestational diabetes, your doctor or midwife will want to give you a glucose test. This is usually done between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy. Depending on the results of the test, you may need to adjust your lifestyle to take better care of your body and your baby’s body. This will include a diet plan to control your gestational diabetes.
Goals Of A Gestational Diabetes Diet Plan
If you follow a well-prepared diet plan for gestational diabetes, it will help you control your blood sugar. It will also help you control your weight gain – while you need to gain weight to grow your baby, you don’t want uncontrolled weight gain. Generally, a total weight gain under about 35 pounds is best. Check with your doctor or midwife for specific recommendations in your situation.
With gestational diabetes, the diet plan should focus on controlling the carbohydrates you eat. The carbohydrates, both the sugars and starches, are converted by the body into blood sugar. But all carbohydrates are not created equal. Some will convert very quickly, giving a spike in blood sugar. Others are more slowly digested, and help the blood sugar to stay at a more even level. The more slowly digested forms are the best for those with gestational diabetes. The diet plan should primarily have these for carbohydrates.
Some examples of quickly changing carbohydrates (also known as high glycemic foods) are fruit juices, sodas, flavored teas, desserts. Milk is also a simple sugar, so be careful with the quantities you drink.
High fiber foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables, dried peas and beans, and whole grain breads and cereals, are broken down and used by the body much more slowly. Focus on them in your diet plan for gestational diabetes.
In this eBook, you are going to learn the 21 Diabetic Myths that many people may have heard and learn the truth about each of them.
I hope you gain some benefit from reading this short eBook. Many of the myths worry folks when they first become diagnosed as a diabetic.
