This basic guide is to give you information to lower your blood glucose.  The guidelines are general ways to use food to control your blood sugar level during pregnancy.

Diabetes and Food

When you eat or drink, food breaks down into simple sugars called glucose which is used to give energy to your body.  A hormone produced by your pancreas called insulin helps the body absorb this glucose for energy.  Without insulin, glucose would not be able to get into the body’s cells and blood glucose would rise.

Diabetes and Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates have the biggest impact on blood sugar levels as they are quickly broken down during the digestion process.  It’s very important to manage the amount of carbohydrates eaten.  Balancing carbohydrates with protein and fat at each meal will help stabilize and slow down the digestive process so that sugar will slowly be released into the blood instead of quickly.

Healthy Eating Goals:

• Eat 3 small meals, 2 or 3 snacks at regular times each day.  Do not skip meals or even snacks!
• Eat less carbohydrates at breakfast than at other meal times since this is when insulin resistance is the greatest.
• Try to eat the same amount of carbohydrates for each meal or snack.
• For morning sickness, eat 1 to 2 servings of crackers, pretzels or cereal before getting out of bed.  Make sure to eat small and frequent meals each day and try to avoid fried, fatty and greasy foods.  If you are taking insulin and have morning sickness, make sure you know how to treat low blood glucose.
• High fiber foods such as whole-grain cereals, breads, pasta, rice and eating fruits and vegetables with slow down the release of glucose entering the blood.
• Eat foods with less sugar and fat
• Drink at least 8 cups or 64 ounces of liquids each day.
• Take your vitamins and minerals daily.
• Eat and drink 4 servings of dairy products and calcium rich food a day minimum.  Aim to get 1200 mg of calcium in your daily diet.  You can find calcium in dairy products, nuts, foods fortified with calcium, green vegetables, and unsweetened ready to eat cereals that are calcium fortified.
• Eat 3 servings of iron rich food per day at least to get 30 mg of iron each day.  You can find sources of iron include enriched grain products, poultry, fish, eggs, leafy green vegetables, lean meat.
• Choose at least one source of Vitamin C each day via sources from oranges, honeydew, broccoli, cauliflower, green peppers, tomatoes, mustard greens, grapefruits, strawberries, and brussels sprouts.
• Choose at least once source of folic acid each day.  Sources for folic acids include dark green leafy vegetables, fruits, black-eyed peas and fortified grain products.
• Choose at least one source of Vitamin A each day by eating carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, apricots, beets, or spinach.
• Most importantly…do not diet or try to lose weight during your pregnancy.  Ask your doctor how much weight you should gain during your pregnancy.  A woman of average weight and height should expect to gain between 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy.

See Gestational Diabetes Diet Plan

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