What it is
A gestational diabetes diet, or GD diet, is how most mothers manage blood sugar after the diagnosis. The placenta makes hormones that make your body resist insulin. Carb counting means keeping the carbohydrate in each meal within a range your care team sets.
What's typical
Most GD plans use three meals and two or three snacks, with carbs at each but not too many. About 70 to 85 percent of mothers manage GD with food and walking alone. The rest add medicine, and that is not a failure.
What's known
ACOG and the American Diabetes Association both start GD care with a dietitian. The standard GD diet is 40 to 50 percent carbs. Lily Nichols, who wrote 'Real Food for Gestational Diabetes,' argues for fewer carbs and more protein and fat. Both views agree on walking after meals, which lowers post-meal sugar. Your meter settles the argument for your own body.
What helps
- Walk 10 to 15 minutes after each meal.
- Never eat a carb alone. Apple with peanut butter, toast with eggs, rice with chicken.
- Keep a simple log of meals and readings. Patterns show up in a week.
When to call someone
- Nowshaking or confusion that does not pass after eating, or a very high reading with vomiting.
- Todayfasting numbers over your target three days in a row, or you cannot eat because of illness.
- At your next visityou are hungry all the time, losing weight, or want to adjust the plan.
Who helps
Tools: Postpartum Meal Planner
Related
- Gestational diabetesPregnancy: Your Body
- Blood sugar, dizziness, and energy crashesPregnancy: Eating
- Protein: how much and from wherePregnancy: Eating
- What to eat in pregnancy: the short versionPregnancy: Eating
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Sources
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Gestational diabetes mellitus practice bulletin
- American Diabetes Association — Gestational diabetes and a healthy baby
- Lily Nichols RDN — Real Food for Gestational Diabetes
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