Diet for Gestational Diabetes

One of the most common complications of pregnancy, gestational diabetes is a result of hormonal fluctuations. It affects up to 5 percent of pregnant women. The condition occurs when the body is not able to create enough or properly utilize insulin, resulting in too much glucose (which is ingested in the form of carbohydrate, then broken down into sugar) in the bloodstream. If you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, follow your health care provider's recommendations to protect your health and that of your baby.

Eating Habits

Your health care provider will prescribe a diet to regulate your blood sugar and keep it stable--or send you to a nutritionist. Your gestational diabetes diet will have you eat several small meals and snacks--including one after dinner--throughout the day.

Eat Breakfast

Begin every day with breakfast since blood sugar levels are lowest in the morning. Your prescribed breakfast might include eggs or peanut butter for protein, whole-wheat toast (complex carbohydrate), and a slice of melon.

Watch Carbohydrate Intake

Choose whole grains over refined flour. Refined carbohydrates and sugars are the chief contributors to spikes in blood sugar.

As carbs are broken down into glucose, it is important to monitor the amount eaten to ensure the body can break the carbs down.

Use the following basic carbohydrate counts as a general guide:

Breakfast: 15 grams (about the size of a small bagel)
Snacks: 15 to 30 grams (about the size of three graham cracker squares)
Lunch: 45 to 60 grams (about one-fourth the size of a large baked potato and a cup of corn or green beans)
Dinner: 45 to 60 grams (about a cup of pasta or rice and two-thirds of a cup of lima beans)

Limit Sugars

As much as possible, cut simple sugars--such as desserts, fruit juices that are not 100 percent juice, flavored teas, soda and other high-sugar foods--from your diet. They elevate blood sugar very quickly, which can cause the body's systems to overload and cause symptoms including extreme fatigue, nausea, excessive thirst and blurred vision. Check with your health care practitioner before substituting artificial sweeteners for sugar.

Consume High-Fiber Foods

While avoiding foods high in sugar, make efforts to consume high-fiber foods such as dried peas, legumes, beans, whole-grain bread and pasta, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. These types of foods are digested slowly by the body and therefore keep blood sugar levels more even.