Managing Gestational Diabetes with Healthy Food Choices

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Managing Gestational Diabetes with Healthy Food Choices

“A Happy Pregnancy is a Healthy Pregnancy”

Managing Gestational Diabetes is easier than you think by making Healthy Food Choices. High blood sugar levels during pregnancy can lead to gestational diabetes, putting you and your developing baby’s health at risk.

Why Diabetes is More Prevalent in Pregnancy?

During pregnancy, your body makes more insulin to maintain healthy blood sugar levels, but sometimes you don’t produce enough. Gestational diabetes may cause your baby to have breathing difficulties, jaundice, low blood sugar and obesity later in life. If not managed effectively, it can put you at risk for having a larger baby, which can lead to problems in the delivery room and high blood pressure.

Managing or Preventing Gestational Diabetes

With diet and exercise, it is possible for you to control your blood sugar levels without taking insulin or medication. Whether during pregnancy or any other time one of the safest ways to manage blood sugar levels is to avoid processed foods such as canned, packet, cold meats. Avoiding foods such as: white bread, packet breakfast, baked foods, white rice. cereals biscuits, lollies, chocolate maybe the occasional piece of dark chocolate. As these foods spike rapidly your blood sugar levels.

Foods that Help Balance Blood Sugar Levels are:

Wholegrains: such as oatmeal, quinoa, nuts such as almonds, barley.
Vegetables and Fruit: especially low carb vegetables such as leafy greens, capsicum, celery, mushrooms, eggplant, squash such as zucchini, brussel sprouts, onions, garlic and avocado. Include some of these vegetables raw throughout the day for extra support, they also make great snacks without being harmful to your weight. Fruits to support healthy blood sugar are blueberries, strawberries, melon,
Healthy Protein: organic chicken, lean red meat, eggs and wild caught fish. Lentils and beans are great ways to implement healthy protein. These can be added to salads or soups.
Snacks: If you are wanting to have dry biscuits the best that are free from chemicals, preservatives, low in sugar and salt is the Orgran brand. Roasted almonds, homemade popcorn without salt or butter, raw vegies such as carrot, capsicum, cucumber, celery.

Follow this Simple Eating Plan

Drink 2 – 2 ½ litres of filtered water per day – Water acts as a main messenger for vitamins, minerals and nutrients; secondly it cleanses the toxins that you taking in and these affect the quality of your cells. You loose 1.5 litres of water each day through perspiration and breathing so this also needs to be replaced otherwise dehydration takes place and major organ damage is commencing.

As a fresh start to the day ½ -1 lemon squeezed into a glass of warm water first thing in the morning. Then it is important to clean your teeth, as the lemon will damage the enamel coating on your teeth.

Breakfast: It is necessary to have 2 – 3 pieces of fruit per day, so what better time to have it than breakfast. These can include mango, 4 –5 strawberries, kiwi fruit, banana, rock melon, honey dew, pineapple, apple and apricots. Add to this a tablespoon of L.S.A. mix, organic muesli or porridge, then add a couple of tablespoons of Plain Greek yogurt.

Another way to have this is to put it all in a blender and you can drink it as a smoothie.

Herbal teas such as green, chamomile, white tea, dandelion and peppermint are of benefit for not only stabilizing blood sugar levels. They also work as great antioxidants, with chamomile and peppermint being calming and soothing for both nervous system as well as supporting your digestion.

Breakfast made Easy: Most Important Meal of the day! — **Click on Image above for More Easy Breakfast Ideas**

Daily Menu Example

Two eggs poached, scrambled or boiled . You may like to include some cooked tomato, asparagus, mushrooms and wilted baby spinach.

Mid – morning snacks can include:

A piece of fruit, tub of yogurt, a handful of almonds or some homous with pitta bread, orgran dry biscuits as mentioned or vegetables sticks such as carrot, celery cucumber, broccoli or capsicum.

Lunch: Can include any of your proteins, vegetables or salad items.

Cooked chicken breast, turkey or fish patties, these can be cooked the night before with a salad for example – Lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, celery, grated carrot, onion, alfalfa, chickpeas or soya beans, avocado and some cottage cheese or fetta cheese.

If it is cold weather you can include a cup of homemade vegetable soup.

Dinner: Fish – this can be eaten two to three times per week, preferably at least one fish meal

Additional Support for a Healthy Pregnancy and Lifestyle:

Get at least 8 hours sleep per night. At the beginning and toward the end of your pregnancy you may find you will need a catnap during the day. Try to keep this at no longer than 30 minutes, so that it doesn’t disrupt you from having a good night’s sleep.

Exercise: Maintaining a good level of activity throughout your pregnancy is important. It helps to maintain a healthy weight, reduces pain, helps down the track for an easy delivery and helps maintain a good mindset.

Relaxation: Take time out during the day to – STOP and become Mindless. Let your thoughts go and just relax picturing something relaxing like a waterfall.