Pay Attention to What—and When—You Eat

A healthy, balanced diet is recommended for all pregnant women. You’ll need to eat foods from all of the major food groups, including dairy products, meat and other proteins, breads and grains, and fruits and vegetables.

Women with gestational diabetes need to take additional dietary precautions to help keep their blood sugar levels normal. For instance, your doctor may recommend the following strategies:

• Watch how many carbohydrates you eat. Some experts think that diets too high in carbohydrates make it difficult to control blood sugar levels. However, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) warns that eating too few carbohydrates can lead to unhealthy increases in fatty foods. The ADA recommends keeping carbohydrate intake during pregnancy to about 50% of the calories you consume.
• Choose foods high in fiber. Fiber can help keep your blood sugar at normal levels. High-fiber foods include whole-grain breads and cereals, fruits, vegetables, and dried peas and beans.
• Avoid foods high in simple sugars, which can push up blood sugar levels. Foods with lots of sugar include baked goods, ice cream, and soda. When your sweet tooth kicks in, reach for a piece of fruit instead of a cookie.
• Stick to a low-fat diet. Fat makes insulin react less efficiently. You can cut back on fat with healthy diet substitutions.
• Time meals and snacks appropriately. To keep blood sugar levels normal, you should space your meals and snacks out evenly over the course of the day. Also, don’t skip meals. This can cause your blood sugar to get too low, which can harm your baby.
• Treat yourself to a bedtime snack to keep your blood sugar at a healthy level during the night. Examples of a good bedtime snack include an ounce of cheese and a few crackers or half of a chicken sandwich on whole-wheat bread.