Gestational diabetes snacks

[mum2bemay22]

Just been told I have gestational diabetes, haven’t been able to see the diabetic midwife yet to find out what I can and can’t have but I’m cutting out most sugar up until then. I’m so hungry though and desperate to snack! Has anyone got any tips or ideas on snacks? Thanks ☺️

No carbohydrates and no sweet stuff (or not too much). Egg is a good one, or avocado and nuts. Just have a look at diet advice for genuine diabetics. .

I ate cheese by the ton with cherry tomatoes. Also slices of ham or salami.

nuts, apple with peanut butter, cheese...will try and think of some more!

gestationaldiabetes.co.uk and associated fb group is really helpful. much better than the hospital dietician in my experience.

I used to make egg cheese and ham muffins and have a box of them in the fridge. Sugar free boiled sweets.

To be honest though, I think I just cut back on snacking. Sorry, I know that’s not what you want to hear.

Thanks everyone, that’s really helpful! I like the idea of the muffins I’m definitely going to try them. Do you have a recipe link for them piffpaffpoff?

Recipe here. You can throw pretty much anything into the egg, goats cheese, sweet potato and broccoli was another fave. (Steam the veg for 5 mins before putting in the oven).

My DH was recently diagnosed with diabetes and I've been trying out lots of recipes. If you don't mind doing a bit of baking, these have been the biggest success www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/low-carb-granola-bars. They are yummy.

I use chopped nuts and also packets of mixed seeds from Poundland to cut down on the faff. Coconut oil is expensive and bear in mind that you don't need 6 actual tablespoons of the solid stuff - melt about 2-3 tbsp and that should be equal.

Lots of diabetic recipes use almond flour - just use ground almonds instead (again from Poundshop) as it's much cheaper.

I really recommend The Sugar Free Family Cookbook by Sarah Flower. I make hazelnut and chocolate chip cookies from that, which also disappear quickly....

I also make cheesy biscuits with hardly any flour - I can dig out the recipe if you would like it.

I’m not sure why you need snacks if you’re eating three healthy meals a day? Try having plenty of fibrous vegetables in your meals, along with slow release carbs such as brown rice, wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, oatmeal etc. These will keep your blood sugar steady all day, instead of peaking and troughing after refined sugar snacks.
You need very few extra calories in pregnancy - about the equivalent of two extra slices of toast a day in the final trimester. You certainly don’t need to “eat for two” or shovel in the snacks! If you’re hungry, you may be craving the minerals or vitamins that are missing in your processed snacks. You will find these in healthy well balanced meals.

I second looking at the gestational diabetes website - it's well worth the £7 a month to get all the recipes. I made the chocolate brownies several times. My go to snacks were:
Granny Smith apple and cheese
80% cocoa dark chocolate and nuts
Ryvita or oatcakes with cream cheese
Cucumber and celery sticks with dip
Chicken leg
Sugar free jelly

My pregnancy hba1c never went above 40 as I was obsessed with it! I ate iceberg lettuce, punnet after punnet of cherry tomatoes, full 600g bags of carrot battons and ice cubes.

Thanks for all the helpful advice and websites with snacks! Babdoc, even the dietician said to eat snacks during the day lol so there definitely is need for it sorry ☺️! And I think we would all be lying if we said we didn’t snack between healthy meals!
I’m definitely going to try all the websites and the book!!

bluechameleon, which website are you referring to? I can’t find it 😕

THe problem with snacking (despite what the dietitian says!) is that it means you are regularly increasing your insulin response. I know how hard it is in pregnancy, I would eat like a horse in all of mine! But see if you can cut it down a little eg if you feel like a snack, look at the clock, if it’s say 11, think, just one more hour till lunch, then make sure lunch has some healthy filling fats like advocado, cheese, natural Greek yogurt as well as some protein. Try and eat a filling breakfast too, which should help keep you going till lunch, again, high meat content sausages, bacon, eggs, small amount of beans.
If you feel like you have to snack, try nuts, veg sticks, boiled eggs, cheese cubes.

Forgot to include picture!

Utterly confused by some of these responses. You are meant to snack if you have gestational diabetes. It helps keep your blood sugar stable and avoids peaks and troughs. Slow release carb and protein combos are good. I ate a lot of oat cakes with either butter and cheese or peanut butter.

www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk
It's really good, it explains what you need to eat and why in much more detail than the dietician (in my experience). There are some free recipes and some you pay for, and if you pay you also get sample meal plans. Another useful element is that it tells you the best options for different types of food e.g. which brand of yoghurt or bread to buy. And has ideas for different special occasions such as eating out or parties. I used it loads.