Diet for Gestational Diabetes

Each year many women develop gestational diabetes during their pregnancy around the 24th to 28th week of their pregnancy.

You will experience symptoms such as feeling hungry, thirsty and tired more than usual. However some women may not even notice theses symptoms of gestational diabetes so it is important to always check with your doctor.

In most cases gestational diabetes will go away after giving birth, however it is important to maintain a healthy diet in order to prevent high blood sugar levels which can affect you and your baby.

In order to keep you blood sugar levels under control you will need to follow a gestational diabetes diet. This will include healthy foods and the amount of foods that you should be eating.

For example you should limit the amount of foods that contain high cholesterol in your diet such as egg yolks. You should only be consuming 300mg of cholesterol each day.

Fruits and vegetables will definitely be part of your gestational diabetes diet. You should be eating at least 20 servings of these every day. Preferably eat whole fruits and vegetables and not fruit juices or dried fruit.

Saturated fat is something you should stay away from. Only 10 percent of the amount of calories you consume should be saturated fats.

Fibre is something you DO want to include; you can get fibre from whole grains such as oats or from beans, fruits, vegetables and so on.

Sodium or salty foods should be avoided. Eat foods that have less than 140 mg of sodium and don't add any extra salt to your plate.

Of course, as with any pregnancy alcohol should be avoided completely. But also don't drink any soda or fruit drinks because they are high in sugar. Water or tea is always the best choice.

Your gestational diabetes diet should include all the food groups but remember to focus more on fruits and vegetables. The purpose of your diet is to keep your blood sugar levels under control so be careful and take note of what you are eating.