How to Manage Gestational Diabetes Without Medication
Cook from scratch., Eat complex carbohydrates., Avoid processed foods., Increase the fiber in your diet., Change the meats you eat., Increase vegetables and limit fruits., Watch your daily calorie intake., Exercise.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Cook from scratch.
To treat gestational diabetes, natural treatments are similar to medical treatments, but the dietary approaches in the natural treatment of gestational diabetes emphasize whole foods.
Keep your food as close to its original or natural form as possible.
This means that you should try to limit any processed or prepared foods and cook from scratch as much as possible.
If you are pressed for time, try using a crock pot or preparing the basics, such as rice, beans, meats, and vegetables, ahead of time and freezing those basics.Another ingredient that you can use in cooking from scratch that can help you is cinnamon.
Cinnamon has also been used to help control blood sugar levels and is considered safe for pregnant women in the amounts used normally in foods.This corresponds to approximately 1000 mg every day.While "natural" food companies like to tout the benefits of organic foods, research does not show a benefit in managing gestational diabetes.
It is most important to eat plenty of fresh, whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. -
Step 2: Eat complex carbohydrates.
Your diet should include at least around 40 to 50% of your daily intake of calories from complex, high fiber carbohydrates.Eat most of your complex carbohydrates at lunch and cut down on the portion sizes for other meals.
This helps to regulate your blood sugar and insulin production throughout the day.Complex carbohydrates are found in whole, unprocessed foods such as whole grains, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal.
Another good rule of thumb is no “white” foods, meaning no white bread, white pasta, or white rice, which are simple carbohydrates.
While both simple and complex carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in the body, the idea is that it takes the body longer to break down the complex carbohydrates than it takes to use the simple carbohydrates.
This means that the body has a better chance to process the glucose., Simple carbohydrates are often found in processed foods, which include added sugars like glucose, table sugar, and fructose such as high fructose corn syrup.
Recent studies have shown that the ingestion of high fructose corn syrup, especially from soft drinks and other beverages with high fructose corn syrup added, has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and obesity.Reading labels can be useful to determine the amount of sugars in processed food, but manufacturers are not required to list added sugars.
Avoid candies, cookies, cakes, and other confections.
The reason that processed foods should be avoided is that they include both simple carbohydrates along with added sugars.
Sugar by itself does not cause either diabetes or gestational diabetes, but ingesting more sugar-filled foods and beverages is linked to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes., Increased fiber can also help with your diabetes.
This means you can eat beans and whole grains, all which have increased fiber.
Add extra fiber with a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds at every meal.
Either get a coffee grinder to grind your own flaxseeds or keep pre-frozen ground seeds in your freezer to keep the healthy oils that you also get in flaxseeds from getting rancid., You should limit red meats from your diet.
Instead of steak or ground beef, increase fish and skinless poultry.
Look for wild-caught fish such as salmon, cod, haddock, and tuna.
These fish are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for your and your baby’s health.
Remove the skin from poultry such as chicken and turkey, as it is high in fat.
Make sure you eat lean meats that are not too high in fat.
Only 10 to 20% of your daily calorie intake should be from protein sources.
This includes other sources of protein as well, such as nuts., To keep with your healthy diet, you need to eat more vegetables.
Make sure you have at least one to two servings of vegetables with every meal.
You can eat them as a snack too.Even though fruit is good for you, when you have gestational diabetes, you should limit your fruit intake to no more than two a day.
This will help you control the amounts of sugars you eat that come from fruit.Avoid fruits such as pineapple, melons, bananas, raisins, and grapes.
They have a high glycemic index, which means they have more sugar that affects your blood sugar per serving than other fruits.
Your fruit intake should be eaten at lunch instead of breakfast or dinner, which helps keep your blood sugar down in the morning and night.
Avoid fruit juices, which are full of sugar as well, even if they are 100% juice., Normal weight gain during pregnancy is from
18.5 to
24.9 pounds.
Generally, the ADA recommends a calorie intake of between 2,000 and 2,500 calories a day for you and your baby.
Each trimester, your caloric intake will increase as your baby grows.
However, each pregnancy is different, so you should talk to your doctor and a registered dietitian to ensure that you are getting the right amount of calories per day based on your particular circumstance, weight, and blood sugar needs.During your doctor visits, your physician will most likely recommend a nutritionist to help control gestational diabetes.
If your physician doesn’t make that recommendation, insists on one.
Pregnancy presents a number of nutritional demands on your body and this is complicated by gestational diabetes.
Both you and your baby can benefit from professional, nutritional advice.Make sure you follow the list of healthy foods to increase your calories with healthy options. , Exercise is important for a healthy pregnancy.
Work to achieve at least thirty continuous minutes of exercise once or twice per day.
Walking is the easiest way to do this, but you can also go swimming or join a yoga class.
Mix it in with other activities to keep it interesting and to work other muscle groups.
You can also use an elliptical, conditioning machine or stationary bicycle.
Moderate physical activity can improve your glucose control.Avoid exercises that have you lying on your back or any activities where a fall or injury is possible.
Your chosen activity or activities should be done every day if possible.
Make sure you take it easy at first and work up to a moderate level of activity that works the muscles and slightly increases your heart rate.Make sure you listen to your doctor if he advises bed rest or little activity. -
Step 3: Avoid processed foods.
-
Step 4: Increase the fiber in your diet.
-
Step 5: Change the meats you eat.
-
Step 6: Increase vegetables and limit fruits.
-
Step 7: Watch your daily calorie intake.
-
Step 8: Exercise.
Detailed Guide
To treat gestational diabetes, natural treatments are similar to medical treatments, but the dietary approaches in the natural treatment of gestational diabetes emphasize whole foods.
Keep your food as close to its original or natural form as possible.
This means that you should try to limit any processed or prepared foods and cook from scratch as much as possible.
If you are pressed for time, try using a crock pot or preparing the basics, such as rice, beans, meats, and vegetables, ahead of time and freezing those basics.Another ingredient that you can use in cooking from scratch that can help you is cinnamon.
Cinnamon has also been used to help control blood sugar levels and is considered safe for pregnant women in the amounts used normally in foods.This corresponds to approximately 1000 mg every day.While "natural" food companies like to tout the benefits of organic foods, research does not show a benefit in managing gestational diabetes.
It is most important to eat plenty of fresh, whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Your diet should include at least around 40 to 50% of your daily intake of calories from complex, high fiber carbohydrates.Eat most of your complex carbohydrates at lunch and cut down on the portion sizes for other meals.
This helps to regulate your blood sugar and insulin production throughout the day.Complex carbohydrates are found in whole, unprocessed foods such as whole grains, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal.
Another good rule of thumb is no “white” foods, meaning no white bread, white pasta, or white rice, which are simple carbohydrates.
While both simple and complex carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in the body, the idea is that it takes the body longer to break down the complex carbohydrates than it takes to use the simple carbohydrates.
This means that the body has a better chance to process the glucose., Simple carbohydrates are often found in processed foods, which include added sugars like glucose, table sugar, and fructose such as high fructose corn syrup.
Recent studies have shown that the ingestion of high fructose corn syrup, especially from soft drinks and other beverages with high fructose corn syrup added, has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and obesity.Reading labels can be useful to determine the amount of sugars in processed food, but manufacturers are not required to list added sugars.
Avoid candies, cookies, cakes, and other confections.
The reason that processed foods should be avoided is that they include both simple carbohydrates along with added sugars.
Sugar by itself does not cause either diabetes or gestational diabetes, but ingesting more sugar-filled foods and beverages is linked to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes., Increased fiber can also help with your diabetes.
This means you can eat beans and whole grains, all which have increased fiber.
Add extra fiber with a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds at every meal.
Either get a coffee grinder to grind your own flaxseeds or keep pre-frozen ground seeds in your freezer to keep the healthy oils that you also get in flaxseeds from getting rancid., You should limit red meats from your diet.
Instead of steak or ground beef, increase fish and skinless poultry.
Look for wild-caught fish such as salmon, cod, haddock, and tuna.
These fish are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for your and your baby’s health.
Remove the skin from poultry such as chicken and turkey, as it is high in fat.
Make sure you eat lean meats that are not too high in fat.
Only 10 to 20% of your daily calorie intake should be from protein sources.
This includes other sources of protein as well, such as nuts., To keep with your healthy diet, you need to eat more vegetables.
Make sure you have at least one to two servings of vegetables with every meal.
You can eat them as a snack too.Even though fruit is good for you, when you have gestational diabetes, you should limit your fruit intake to no more than two a day.
This will help you control the amounts of sugars you eat that come from fruit.Avoid fruits such as pineapple, melons, bananas, raisins, and grapes.
They have a high glycemic index, which means they have more sugar that affects your blood sugar per serving than other fruits.
Your fruit intake should be eaten at lunch instead of breakfast or dinner, which helps keep your blood sugar down in the morning and night.
Avoid fruit juices, which are full of sugar as well, even if they are 100% juice., Normal weight gain during pregnancy is from
18.5 to
24.9 pounds.
Generally, the ADA recommends a calorie intake of between 2,000 and 2,500 calories a day for you and your baby.
Each trimester, your caloric intake will increase as your baby grows.
However, each pregnancy is different, so you should talk to your doctor and a registered dietitian to ensure that you are getting the right amount of calories per day based on your particular circumstance, weight, and blood sugar needs.During your doctor visits, your physician will most likely recommend a nutritionist to help control gestational diabetes.
If your physician doesn’t make that recommendation, insists on one.
Pregnancy presents a number of nutritional demands on your body and this is complicated by gestational diabetes.
Both you and your baby can benefit from professional, nutritional advice.Make sure you follow the list of healthy foods to increase your calories with healthy options. , Exercise is important for a healthy pregnancy.
Work to achieve at least thirty continuous minutes of exercise once or twice per day.
Walking is the easiest way to do this, but you can also go swimming or join a yoga class.
Mix it in with other activities to keep it interesting and to work other muscle groups.
You can also use an elliptical, conditioning machine or stationary bicycle.
Moderate physical activity can improve your glucose control.Avoid exercises that have you lying on your back or any activities where a fall or injury is possible.
Your chosen activity or activities should be done every day if possible.
Make sure you take it easy at first and work up to a moderate level of activity that works the muscles and slightly increases your heart rate.Make sure you listen to your doctor if he advises bed rest or little activity.
About the Author
Christopher Hernandez
Experienced content creator specializing in crafts guides and tutorials.
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