Now we are going to talk about gestational diabetes mellitus what is gestational diabetes mellitus?
It is diabetes that is detected first time during pregnancy so we see a lot of women who were non-diabetic before pregnancy suddenly become diabetic during pregnancy so why does this happen so in pregnancy what happens is uh placenta which is the barrier that is which carries the nutrients to the baby so that placenta also uh produces certain types of hormones so few of the hormones they act on this insulin and make it unavailable and they cause a situation called insulin resistance.
Where insulin cannot act and it leads to high glucose levels in the blood so glucose uh despite getting absorbed into the cells gets freely circulating in the blood so which leads to high blood sugar levels it usually happens after 20 to 24 weeks.
So what happens with these increased glucose levels when these increased glucose levels are there it leads to a lot of metabolic disturbances in the baby. The baby may become big and large for gestational age baby it, because of this overweight the mother can land into cesarean section pre-term deliveries, and because even the sugars are not detected the sugar levels becomes very high. It may so cause sudden intraocular and fetal death also so whenever you’re going for a regular antenatal checkup in the first resist.
Get your sugars tested so that when your sugar levels are normal then it is a normal pregnancy but if your sugar levels are high and there are a lot of options and treatments available to treat such pregnancies.
Whenever your sugar levels are raised your Gynae may advise your dietary therapy dietary modification therapy, when your sugar levels are under control sometimes you may need medical management in the terms of tablets or if your sugar levels are very high and uncontrollable then you can you may have to go for insulin injections.
Also so this gestational diabetes comes in the high-risk pregnancy category so you should be under close monitoring with your gynecologist your sugar levels need to be checked every day, with a lot of care all this diet management and whatever medical management is given to you now you can go for a successful pregnancy see even after the delivery.
Sometimes what happens is the babies can go into hypoglycemia because of the mother’s sugar levels sometimes the baby’s metabolic disturbances can also come in the babies like hypocalciuric. Hypo calcium and hypomagnesemia these babies which are born to diabetic mothers may later be prone to obesity in their uh future also so all of you get preconception counseling done even before planning a pregnancy get a gynecologist checkup done and get your sugar levels checked.
If your sugar levels are high so get a proper appropriate treatment to get your sugar levels under control then only pran pregnancy to have a good successful pregnancy.
Top 10 foods to avoid when you have gestational diabetes.
During their pregnancy treatment for gestational diabetes. Starts with dietary guidelines and restrictions let’s explore the top 10 foods to avoid when you have gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that only occurs in pregnant women this happens when a mother’s body does not produce enough insulin to help us process sugar and without the correct amount, we end up with high blood sugar.
High blood sugar is a serious problem for both mothers and babies and can lead to miscarriage pre-term birth and fetal death another issue contributing to the development of gestational diabetes is insulin resistance that naturally occurs during pregnancy insulin resistance allows more glucose to be accessible to the developing baby.
However, the excess amount of glucose in our diet combined with inadequate production of insulin leads to the development of gestational diabetes.
The first food to avoid on our list is sweetened drinks this includes sodas teas and juices these drinks are loaded with sugar in the form of carbohydrates and empty calories. Empty calories are calories that have no nutritional value carbohydrates are also called carbs and they are the sugar that’s found in food too many carbs can lead to high blood sugar but eating carbs can also cause blood sugar spikes followed by blood sugar crashes which are not good for you.
A healthy alternative to sweetened drinks is to infuse plain water with
slices of fresh fruit for natural flavor and sweetness another food to avoid with gestational diabetes is specialty coffee drinks including frappuccinos cappuccinos lattes frappes and espressos many consider having one of these drinks a day as an acceptable treat, however, these drinks are loaded with sugar, and saturated fats which are both unhealthy choices when you have gestational diabetes over 400 calories can be found in just one of these drinks alone and these are empty calories providing little nutritional value to your diet a healthy alternative would be black coffee or coffee using artificial sweeteners and a small amount of skim milk.
Now let’s talk about whole cow’s milk the next food to avoid on our list is whole cow’s milk. Whole cow’s milk can be an issue for gestational diabetes on two fronts it’s full of sugar in the form of lactose as well as fat, fat contributes to weight gain and makes controlling blood sugar more difficult, if you must have milk in your diet try to switch to skim milk or one percent you should note that skim milk has a lot of carbs per serving alternative sick cow’s milk including soy milk almond milk and rice milk also contain a lot of sugar and should be avoided when possible.
The best rule of thumb is to try and eliminate all forms of milk when you have gestational diabetes.
Pancake syrup whether real or artificial is super high in sugar and provides no nutritional value to your diet another issue with pancake syrup is that we rarely measure it when serving it on our pancakes or waffles pancakes and waffles are super absorbent, so most of the poured syrup will be eaten by us a healthy alternative to regular syrup
is to switch to a light or low-calorie pancake syrup these have about half the calories in the sugar of regular syrup.
When serving even these healthy versions make sure to know your serving size and use as little as possible hidden carbohydrates are a source of sugar that needs to be avoided a common source of these hidden carbs is found in salad dressings and condiments like ketchup and barbecue sauce plenty of times.
New mothers will take a diabetic diet very seriously only to forget that the sauces we normally top our foods with are very high in sugar even salty sauces have hidden carbohydrates, be sure to read all labels when using condiments and measure the serving size. Whenever possible switch to low-sugar or sugar-free alternatives for many who love ice cream but are concerned with its fat content sherbet is their go-to alternative sugars are often made using fruit and can appear to be a very healthy alternative.
The real truth is that for the same serving, size sherbert has twice the
calories of ice cream a healthy alternative may be to invest in an ice cream maker and make your sugar-free ice cream or skip the ice
cream and sherbet all together until you give birth.
Next on our list are baked potatoes with all the fixings baked potatoes can be a healthy choice in moderation however once butter cheese sour cream and bacon are added this once healthy choice turns into a disaster these added toppings increase the fat and sodium content of the meal which are both bad for anyone who has gestational diabetes a healthy alternative would be to skip the baked potato all together and instead reach for a baked sweet potato which has many beneficial nutrients for your pregnancy and can also be eaten in moderation.
Next on our list is sweetened cereals now before you say I don’t add any sugar to my cereal be aware most cereals are high in carbohydrates, to begin with, added sugar and fat are added.
When you pour milk into the bowl many bowls of cereal that appear healthy are very high in sugar for example shredded wheat without milk contains 46 grams of carbohydrates per serving processed oatmeal and grits can also contain high amounts of sugar it’s best to steer clear of cereals all together when you have gestational diabetes a healthier alternative would be eggs and fresh fruit for breakfast.
Fried foods should be avoided completely when you have gestational diabetes fried foods are high in fat and cholesterol which can lead to an increase in weight.
Gain and poor cardiovascular health both can complicate your gestational diabetes additionally the frying process often removes essential nutrients from the food leaving this a very unhealthy choice best to stick with fresh fruits vegetables and meats that have been steamed or grilled.
Finally on our list of foods to avoid with gestational diabetes are desserts
however, during pregnancy with gestational diabetes, these can be very dangerous indulgence desserts containing high levels of sugar which can create dangerous spikes in your blood sugar.
It’s best to steer clear of these full-sugar treats and instead opt for sugar-free versions or fresh fruit having gestational diabetes can be dangerous making it very important to keep your blood sugar under control through proper diet and nutrition.
I hope this has explained the top 10 foods you should avoid if you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes please share your comments and let us know what topics you would like to hear more about.
