Gestational Diabetes - What do you eat? I need ideas please.

[Phoenix]

Only found out on Tuesday i have it so need a few meal ideas and snack ideas please.

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Hi there - this thread is a little old. [[https://www.mumsnet.com/pregnancy/gestational-diabetes
If you want to read more about gestational diabetes, we’ve got some information here]]. MNHQ

Anyone?

Lentils are good - soup, dal etc.

Sweet potatoes (yummy!) are low GI and you can make chips out of them by baking/roasting them.

Humous and things (try pears dipped in it is really delish).

You can buy savoury oatcakes in little packets (cheesy flavour etc) and they really are not bad.

Ricecakes - marmite ones are edible.

Will try to think of some more - I had GD. While it is a pain in the arse, I bet you feel so much better once you start eating better. It altered my mood LOADS,

hi, i had GD when preg with LO and i ate low GI foods. basically cut out all sugars, starches with high GI eg white bread.

if you google low GI foods, you will find lots of info.

goodluck! are you testing your blood sugar everyday?

for meals, stir frys are good, chicken with veg for example. basmatic rice is low GI. for snacks, i ate seeds, fruit like apples.

Yeah the key is to try and have really balanced meals, so try and have carbs (like heron22 says low GI ones), protein and tonnes of veg at each meal. Buckwheat pasta is really low GI and is quite tasty if you have it with a creamy (low fat creme fraiche) sauce. Have new potatoes instead of old, floury ones -small portions - and add a bit of fat to them to slow down the sugars. I'm veggie so found it hard to get enough protein at first but once you get used to it it's fine.

Good luck!

Thank you.

Yes i'm testing everyday, 1hr after 1 meal. I did it after breakfast today (shreddies and milk) and it was 9.5, ooops. So i'm going to try egg on a slice of wholemeal toast tomorrow.

Have protein with your carbs
Avoid fruit
Try porridge for brekkie not manufactured cereals or alternatively eat a cooked breakfast

Stoneground bread and wholegrain brown rice, chick pea and lentil dishes

Shreddies and milk will give you a high reading because both the milk and the shreddies contain sugars. A small slice of wholemeal with egg or bacon was fine.

I had GD and DS was born at 38 weeks on Wednesday. I've actually lost weight during the pregnancy and feel a lot better for it. I didn't particularly stick to low GI food, just ate sensible, balanced meals and watched the quantities.

For lunch I'd have a seeded wrap with hummus, salad and tuna with carrot sticks. For our evening meal, I found that I could pretty much eat what we did before, so had lots of meals with meat or fish with veg and some sort of potato.

I used to have a blt sandwich with stone ground wholemeal bread and mayo for breakfast yummy!

oh and you can get wholemeal penne pasta which is good for a pasta bake with lots of veggies.

eat your carbs with fats or protein (cheese is perfect) to slow down absorption of the sugars/starch.

How far along are you? Are you controlling by diet alone?

If you are more than a few weeks from giving birth, I would enquire about insulin. I use it (I'm Type II diabetic, diet controlled, except now that I am pregnant, I use insulin). It is much easier to control with insulin. And there is less constriction on what you can and can't eat.

I'm 29wks. I've only been testing as of today

At 29 weeks, I'd ask for insulin. You still have quite a bit to go and it is so much easier to manage when you use insulin.

hi tee i was diagnosed at 28 weeks with GD and managed to control it with metformin and diet. the thought of injections filled me with terror! but thats just me

I really struggled with insulin, to be honest. I think the hospital rushed to put me on insulin instead of waiting for me to get it diet controlled. As a result, I had lots of hypos and had to have my insulin dose reduced massively during my pregnancy.

I stuck rigidly to the eating plan and having given birth 4 days ago, I am a dress size smaller than my pre-pregnancy weight and I am determined to continue with the diet. The nurse tried to convince me that using insulin would mean I could eat what I wanted, but given that the diet plan, exercise etc is a sensible and healthy approach, I decided to cut out sugar etc. I have really reaped the benefits and hopefully I can delay the onset of type 2 diabetes for as long as possible as a result.

Daily exercise will help lower your blood sugar too, so if you can manage it, try and do 10-20 minutes of exercise every day. I used Davina's pre-natal workout.

Good luck!

Phoenix - it's not that bad and you've only a little way to go now too so fingers crossed you may be able to stay diet controlled!
I was diet controlled GD in 2nd pg then on insulin in 3rd pg. No sign of GD in current pg (31 wks) and I would second, third and fourth the impact that exercise and low GI foods have on your sugar levels - particularly eating protein with every meal and cutting right down on fruit.
I often ate porridge (made with water & no sugar) for brekkie, if I wasn't having a cooked one. I ate Burgen bread(soya & linseed) and really upped the lean chicken, salads and veg. Nuts & seeds and veg sticks for snacks (Nairns oat biscuits are lower GI than most for a big treat) I had to cut out potatoes completely as they sent my sugars soaring, but sweet potato (mash/chips)and brown rice/wholemeal pasta was ok. I also had my fair share of very dark chocolate

Also - your body needs plenty of water to process and get rid of excess sugars. I was advised to drink a glass of water 1/2 hr before eating and again about an hour after (so as not to dilute digestive juices and/or fill you up!)
good luck and hope that helps!

*llareggub - congratulations on your new baby!
The rushed insulin was my fear too (why are they so keen to medicate )as my insulin production seemed to be delayed, rather than reduced, so I got loads of really low readings without even being on the stuff - I worked really hard to stay off it with DC3 but ended up on a very small amount and didn't need it in labour either (though I had to test hourly to prove I was ok to the registrar - they wanted me on an insulin drip throughout) since labour = marathon the chances of overly high sugar were pretty low IMHO.

sorry - slight waffle there but everyone's different and I get a bit narked with Dr's using a "one size fits all" approach

Can I suggest you get one of the GI diet cookbooks? They're an absolute godsend for a newly-diagnosed diabetic and actually saved me from going onto insulin (which I desperately wanted to avoid). I'm very, very strict with my meals and snacks but have a very sweet tooth - if I stick rigidly to the green foods then I usually have a low enough blood sugar reading that I can get away with a wee treat in the evening.

Your local library might actually have them in, too.

All i'm really drinking is water at the mo anyway.

I got my blood down to 6.8 1hr after breakfast this morning with weetabix and milk so that's better than yesterday. I just need to do some tests after my other daily meals. (I did just have a nibble on a donut that dh was eating in front of me though )

I've finished work now too so getting 3 good meals a day will be easier at home. And we're going to start going swimming once a week so that is some excercise

Thanks for all the advice and congrats llareggub

breakfast- wheetabix/branflakes with milk- good to keep you moving as well, lunch- salad and soup. make up big pots of soup and freeze them in freezer bags for 1 portion a day (my fabes are orange soup-carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, onions, celary), leek, potato and cauliflour, and mix chunky veg). with salad pit small strips of chicken, a can of tuna or low fat cottage cheese. dinner- meatballs with wholewheat pasta, omlette with veg, chicken breast with carrots and broccoli etc. also good diet for post pregnancy!

I know they're not very appetising but are super noodles ok?

I was just pondering food myself I can't remember what they're made of but I'm inclined to think they're not ok - they're not wholegrain/wholewheat are they so will probably send your sugar up (unless you have loads and loads of protein with them!) Sorry not to be more positive.

Just wondered cos they're quick and easy and we're going to a caravan for 4 days tomorrow. I'll get some proper noodles or just have pasta

Hi, I was just diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes last Thursday, so would welcome any tips to keep my blood sugars down. At present am having to keep a diary and test my blood sugars before and after my meals and also at bedtime! And then go back to the ante natal diabetic clinic next week, to assess whether it will be diet, tablet or insulin controlled!

avoid branflakes/weetabix - they have a high GI, if you want a cereal for breakfast then try oatibix or porridge.

branflakes have as much sugar in them as cheerios/crunchy nut corn flakes!!

this site has got a good list of foods with GI values..