Gestational diabetes diet

[Quiegal]

I had my test yesterday and today had a phone call saying I have it.

So got to watch my diet.

Really have no idea what I can eat. Well I know all the sugar stuff, cakes, chocolate I can't.

I know some foods like rice, pasta etc. All the carbohydrates.

Even I know some fruits you can't eat.

Anyone have this? What do you eat.

Look on the Gestational Diabetes UK website and join the FB forum. Loads of really useful advice from fellow sufferers. Got me through it when I had it. NHS dietary advice for GD is bloody awful.

People do vary with what they can tolerate but I couldn't eat any cereals at all. I lived on Greek yoghurt with berries or eggs for breakfast. I'm veggie, but if you eat meat, you can fill your boots with protein. Cheese also saved me. I could eat some white carbs as long as they were smothered in cheese. Jacket potatoes and chips with cheese. Wholemeal pasta too. The only bread I could tolerate was that linseed stuff, Vogel.

High protein, low carb. You’ll find out quite quickly what are the best foods for you and what do avoid once you start taking your readings.

Lots of eggs on toast for breakfast and lunch, chicken and veg, salmon and veg. cous cous was a good alternative for rice or pasta.

The GDUK website is honestly a life saver - its got recipes, shopping lists, everything.!

@SuperfastJellyfish weetabix was good for me for breakfast and I remember someone on here accusing me pretty much of lying on the GD thread at the time because it made their readings go wild! That was when I learned what works for one didn’t necessarily work for others.

Carbs and cheese (or butter) worked pretty well for me too, even better if you thre in a tin of beans. It’s a voyage of culinary discovery!

OP, the other thing that was good for me was a half hour walk each day - my levels were better the days I included that.

Good rules to follow at least until you get a test kit and instructions so you can check your sugar levels:

• always pair a carb with a protein. Egg on toast, apple slices with peanut butter, crackers with cheese, pasta with beef ragu.

• go for complex carbs rather than simple so multigrain seeded bread instead of white bread.

• avoid root veg, try to go for green veg grown above ground, brocolli, asparagus, green beans

• high fat is good, low fat is bad. They add lots of sugar to low fat foods. Muller light yoghurt spiked my sugar levels insanely high.

If you look up low GI recipes you should get lots of good ideas. Remember you are not doing a keto diet, you should not eliminate carbs, you need to eat every food group, you just need to choose less processed carbs and add fat and protein to help your body break down the sugar.

Thanks all for advice.

Agree with all of what FatAgain said. Although I couldn’t manage even seeded bread without seeing a spike. Different people can manage different carbs ok (though sugar, cake, white bread are out for everyone).

I ate a lot of : meat/fish with veg, nuts, eggs, avocado, soup, salads, salami, casseroles without the mash.

Replaced rice/potatoes with green lentils or pearl barley (cooked in stock).

Was fairly relaxed about fruit but always after a meal not on its own.

Doing some exercise (even a walk around the block or up/down the stairs) after meals also helps.

The Glucose Goddess on Instagram has good tips.

Oh and cheese! Mmmm cheese.

I had this, and I found pairing carbs with protein or fat, eg a cheese sandwich, the fat would help to curb the blood sugar spike. Also going for a walk after a heavier meal will help to bring sugars down, but you have to put in a decent bit of effort and get out of breath - a nice slow little stroll won't cut it (I did a lot of trial and error on this!)

I lived off rotisserie chicken in brown pitta breads with salad cheese and hummus - it almost had no effect on my readings. Fajitas were also weirdly a good option for me.

I cut out all refined sugar. And had a little fruit.

So none of the obvious stuff but also the sugar in certain crisps, crackers, bread ketchup, etc. It was tough

Also brown everything. And low potatoes and bananas.

Don't feel like you have to go on a salad and grilled chicken diet. You're not trying to lose weight, or deprive yourself. Yes you need to have balance so should aim for Vege's, oily fish, lean protein and all the 'good' healthy foods but there are also plenty of indulgent, treaty foods that are GD friendly

Steak and cheddar sandwich
Baked sweet potato with chilli and sour cream
Dippy egg with asparagus
Berries with dark chocolate ganache (dark chocolate melted and mixed with double cream)
Bacon, fried egg, fried mushrooms, baked beans and grilled tomato

So don't make yourself miserable denying yourself.

Having said that, there was a list of 'things I will eat as soon as I have this baby' made up partly of generally banned in pregnancy foods and GD unsuitable. I really enjoyed those meals.

Thank you for you advice.

Don't feel like you have to go on a salad and grilled chicken diet. You're not trying to lose weight

Agree again!

Things may have changed but when I had GD the nurse’s dietary advice was terrible - assumed everyone with GD is also massively overweight and so advised low fat this and that and watching calories. Which is really not right for GD, it’s about avoiding blood sugar spikes not losing weight, and in fact having some fat in your meal helps avoid a spike.

Even if someone with GD does want to lose weight, cutting out sugar and high GI carbs (sugar bread mash cereal etc) is likely to help with this anyway, no need to also watch calories or go low fat.

Just to warn you in case you get the old fashioned NHS advice!

Thank you so much for all the advice