Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy. It is also known as gestational diabetes mellitus or GDM. Pregnant women who never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar levels during pregnancy are said to have gestational diabetes. However, it affects only a very small percentage of pregnant women.

High risk factors

• Overweight prior to pregnancy
• Glucose detected in the urine
• Impaired glucose tolerance
• Previously given birth to a stillborn baby or an overweight baby
• Family history of diabetes

Risk of the Baby

• The body of the baby is larger than normal and may need to be delivered by cesarean method
• The baby will experience a sharp drop in blood glucose due to the extra insulin made by the baby’s pancreas.
• The baby with excess insulin is at risk for obesity
• The baby may experience respiratory distress syndrome and breathing problems

Detect Symptoms

Screening for gestational diabetes is recommended after the 24th week and before the 28th week of pregnancy. Those in the higher risk group should check the blood glucose as early as possible.

For most women, gestational diabetes goes away after the birth of the baby but these women are more prone than other women to develop type 2 diabetes later on in life. It is recommended that women should have a blood test to check the blood sugar levels about six weeks after the birth of the baby.

Diet

Diet plays an important role in one’s health. Gestational diabetes diet should consist of food with less sugar and fat. Eat less carbohydrate and select foods rich in fibres such as fruits and vegetables, cereals and whole-grain breads. In addition to the recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals, ensure to drink at least 8 cups of water per day. While alcoholic drinks and smoking should be avoided, coffee and tea should be limited to not more than two cups per day.

If you are diabetic, you must learn all about the food for diabetics and how to incorporate the same in your regular meal plan. One of the best ways of treating diabetes is by controlling your food intake; it helps in relieving the symptoms of the condition. It is imperative to know what you must eat and what you must avoid when you are diabetic.

Scientists have cited that in the next two decades the global rate of patients with Type 2 diabetes would be twice the present number, which indeed is alarming. It is only through a proper diet for diabetics that you can actually control the condition and relieve yourself from the diabetes symptoms.

Ideally a diet containing higher amounts of fiber and lower amounts of fats is what is recommended for a diabetic patient. One has to cut out saturated and trans fats from their diet and also reduce the use of sugar and sweet foods. Saturated fats include animal fats like lard, butter and cheese, cream, chocolate and milk.

Foods for Diabetics - What You Can Eat

A diabetes menu can include adequate portions of carbohydrates. However, there is a measured portion for every individual which is better recommended by the doctor. Carbohydrates are the valuable sources of energy, minerals and essential vitamins. It provides you body with healthy fiber as well that helps in maintaining the blood glucose levels. Peas, beans, barley, oats and other foods belonging to these groups are loaded with fiber. You can include whole grain products like bread and some diabetic cookies for the purpose. These foods are very much a part of the regular American diabetes diet.

You must include a lot of vegetables in your regular diabetic diet plan; vegetables are the perfect foods for diabetics. You can include a wide variety of vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, spinach, cucumbers and cabbage. You can have them raw as salads or cooked with very little oil.

Fruits are good foods for diabetics as well, but as they contain natural sugars it is better to choose fruits with caution. Although diabetics need at least 2 servings of fruits regularly, you must avoid canned fruits as they are packed with sugary preservatives. Instead you can have whole fruits.

Proteins are a must for every diabetes meal. You can include lean meat, tofu, peanut butter, egg whites, fish, poultry, nuts and bans as some of the richest sources of proteins.

Foods to Avoid

There are certain foods that diabetics must not take. If you want to control the rising and falling blood glucose levels, you have to be strict about what you are eating.

Carbohydrates as stated above are good for diabetics when eaten in moderation. However, there are certain carbohydrates that you cannot eat, such as corn and potatoes. They are harmful.

Fruits are not recommended for diabetics due to high sugar content. Although natural, sugar has the same effect in any form. Less sugary fruits should be chosen in this respect.

Milk and milk products are strictly restricted, especially full cream milk. The skimmed version should be fine if taken in moderation.

Sweets and fats are better to be avoided. They have no nutritional value and they only add up to your tension and anxiety and increasing blood glucose numbers.

Like most diabetics, you might as well be shocked to know that you are actually suffering from diabetes when you haven’t experienced any diabetes signs and symptoms. You must have never understood or felt any change in your system or in your body, since there aren’t many such changes occurring with diabetes. You have always felt good about yourself until of course you were diagnosed with diabetes.

Diabetes isn’t characterized by any telltale sign or symptom. However, there are certain conditions that have been associated with diabetes and that seems to be a sign. As there is no defined diabetes cause, the symptoms are mostly vague or usually an indication of some other disease. Lack of any prominent symptoms and slow emergence of the condition are the two main reasons why diabetes is often left undetected for long.

There are two classic diabetes signs and symptoms that develop out of persistently higher levels of blood glucose - frequent urination and increased thirst or desire to drink water. Also, there are many other relevant symptoms of the condition that must not be ignored:

Frequent Urination or Polyuria: Frequent urination is one of the early signs of diabetes. It mainly happens due to increased water intake, which is again a symptom of the diabetes.

Increased Thirst for Water or Polydipsia: Because excessive sugar tends to build up in the bloodstream when a person is suffering from diabetes, water is pulled from tissues. This makes you thirsty more frequently and that leads to more water consumption, which eventually is responsible for frequent urination.

Flu-like Symptoms: Symptoms of flu are quite common with diabetics. The feelings are almost like viral illnesses that include symptoms such as, weakness, fatigue, and body ache and appetite loss in some cases. As sugar is the main fuel of the body, it fails to enter your cells when you are having diabetes, thus failing to do its usual job. This leads to tiredness and weakness.

Increased Hunger: Intense hunger is triggered due to diabetes as the body does not contain adequate insulin for moving sugar into the cells. This makes your organs depleted due to lack of energy and you start feeling hungry.

Rapid Weight Loss: Despite eating plenty of foods, which is unusually more than what you eat to kill your hunger, you are likely to lose weight rapidly. As the body fails to use glucose properly, it tends to use the alternative fuel sources stored in the muscles and fats. The body burns more calories as too much of glucose is lost through urine.

Vision Problems: Diabetes can affect your eyesight, thus creating problems with vision. Blurred vision is very common with diabetics. As the blood sugar levels are high, the fluids contained in the eyes are pulled from your lenses, thus giving a blurred vision. Higher levels of blood pressure can also lead to the development of small blood vessels in the yes that bleed.

Frequent Infections: Diabetes prevents infections from healing quickly and also makes a person more vulnerable to sores and chronic infections. The sores once caused become increasingly difficult to heal.