Every pregnant woman needs to pay attention to her diet, but this is especially true for the 3 to 6 percent who develop gestational diabetes. Though symptoms are often mild for the mother, high blood sugar levels can be dangerous for the baby. Fortunately, it’s easy to manage gestational diabetes to help ensure an easier delivery and healthier baby.

Women are generally more likely than men to develop diabetes, a blood sugar disorder, but some experience especially high glucose, or blood sugar, levels during pregnancy. The risk of developing gestational diabetes rises if you’re over age 25; if you have a family history of diabetes, obesity, glucose intolerance, or sugar in the urine; or if you’ve a previous child with a heavy birthweight. During the second trimester, the placenta starts to produce hormones, one of which may block the action of insulin–the hormone that allows glucose into cells to be used for energy. This may cause symptoms such as increased thirst and urination, weight loss (even though she’s hungry and eating more), fatigue, and nausea. Meanwhile, the increased sugar in the mother’s blood may cause the baby to grow large, to perhaps more than 9 lbs., making delivery difficult. The baby may experience a dangerous drop in blood sugar after birth and be at higher risk of respiratory problems.

Because it’s hard to predict who will develop gestational diabetes, all pregnant women should be screened for it between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy–when the fetus begins producing hormones that may affect the mother’s blood sugar levels. A woman at risk–one who has a history of diabetes or is obese–may be screened earlier, however.

For 75 percent of women with gestational diabetes, following a prescribed diet helps keep glucose levels under control. (Other women may require insulin injections.) Regular exercise also helps by increasing the body’s ability to use blood sugar for energy.

Gestational diabetes increases the risk of other serious pregnancy complications, including polyhyramnios, a condition in which excess amniotic fluid causes the uterus to stretch and makes breathing difficult, and toxemia, which may cause hypertension and swelling. Women with high blood sugar are also more prone to urinary tract and yeast infections.

In most cases, gestational diabetes can be properly managed with a diet that provides enough calories and nutrients while helping to maintain normal glucose levels, which health-care providers will closely monitor. Each woman’s diet must be tailored to her individual needs–a registered dietitian usually provides nutritional counseling–but it will most likely include these elements:

• Add a Tad of Fat. — Fat raises blood sugar levels more slowly than carbohydrates do because it takes the body longer to break them down into glucose. If you’re advised to increase your fat intake a bit, choose monounsaturates–drizzle olive oil on bread or dice avocado onto a salad. Nuts such as almonds and cashews also provide protein, which like fat, is more slowly broken down by the body.
• Curb the Carbs. — Though carbohydrates remain indispensable for energy during pregnancy, large amounts can cause blood sugar to soar. Limit mealtime portions to just one reasonable serving of a given food–1/2 cup pasta, 1/2 cup cereal, or a piece of fruit. Whenever possible, choose whole foods over processed types.
• Graze Away. — A small lunch may leave you ravenous and more inclined to overeat at dinner, but your body may not be able to manufacture enough insulin to handle the glucose overload. Plan healthy between-meal snacks, such as cheese and crackers or low-fat yogurt, to keep your appetite and blood sugar levels in check.
• Fill up on Fiber. — Soluble fiber appears to stabilize blood sugar by forming a sticky gel in the intestine that prevents glucose from being quickly absorbed into the blood. Good sources of soluble fiber include fresh fruits (with their skins), such as apples, peaches, and raspberries; legumes such as black beans, kidney beans, and lentils; and grains, especially oatmeal, barley, and wheat germ.
• Note Nutrients. — Certain vitamins and minerals are especially helpful for pregnant women with diabetes: Antioxidant vitamins C (found in cantaloupe and peppers) and E (in chickpeas and sweet potatoes) protect cells from damage that increase risk of heart disease and eye problems, common among people with diabetes, while chromium (in broccoli, grapefruit, and turkey) improves sugar regulation.

For many women, gestational diabetes disappears when the baby arrives, but the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in later years is higher. This may be due to a genetic predisposition for the disease, which pregnancy uncovers.

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body does not properly process sugar. While diabetes often runs in families, its onset and course cannot be predicted or prevented. But, with medication, proper nutrition and exercise, diabetics live healthy lives.

Uncontrolled, however, it can cause heart and blood vessel disorders that may lead to blindness, gangrene, kidney disease, and even death.

There are two basic types of diabetes. Type I, the more severe, is caused by a deficiency of the hormone insulin. With Type II, or noninsulin-dependent diabetes, there may be enough insulin, but the body’s cells have trouble using it.

In either form, excess sugar builds up in the blood because insulin is unable to regulate it. The sugar then “spills” into the urine, where it is excreted from the body. Frequent urination or excessive thirst often signals high blood sugar levels.

Having diabetes means you need to eat foods from each food group. Include breads and cereals, milk products, vegetables, fruits, meat and fish, nuts and legumes, and fats and oils.

Minimize sugars and fats while maximizing starches and proteins. The old standard of avoiding carbohydrates no longer applies. In fact, a diet in which 50 to 60% of total calories is obtained through complex carbohydrates is recommended. Keep fat to 30% of calories.

Control your caloric intake; being overweight makes diabetes worse. Weight management, especially in Type II diabetes, is crucial. Losing even a small amount of weight can improve or even normalize blood sugar levels in older diabetics.

Type I diabetics must eat meals on a regular schedule in order to balance their injections of insulin. All diabetics need to space their meals throughout the day so as to minimize extreme highs and lows of blood sugar levels.

If you haven’t been physically active, start slowly and build the intensity. Consult your doctor before starting your exercise program. Be aware that strenuous exercise can throw you out of balance by lowering blood glucose too much; this could lead to hypoglycemia.

Moderate exercise helps lower blood sugar by “burning” it off, making tissues more responsive to insulin and reducing weight. It also reduces fat and cholesterol in the bloodstream and lowers blood pressure. This is important because diabetics are at high risk for heart and vascular diseases.

Babies born to diabetics have a greater risk of birth defects than others. To minimize the risk:

• Get your body in the best possible condition three to six months before you conceive. If you must lose weight, do it under supervision of your doctor.
• Choose a doctor trained to care for diabetic mothers and their babies.
• Closely monitor your blood glucose before and during your pregnancy.
• Breastfeeding is good for both you and the baby, but it will set up new conditions for controlling blood sugar.

Gestational diabetes occurs in women who are not diabetic prior to pregnancy, but who develop insulin resistance during their pregnancy. Women who develop gestational diabetes are unable to produce enough insulin for their bodies. Since not enough insulin is available to convert the glucose in the blood stream into energy for the body, the glucose levels increase causing hyperglycemia. This can be a serious condition if it goes undiagnosed and untreated. If the pregnant woman is getting appropriate prenatal care, her health care practitioner is checking for glucose in the urine routinely, and some perform a finger stick as well.

Gestational diabetes may not be as serious as an insulin dependent diabetic going through pregnancy and delivery, but it can’t be ignored either. A proper diet is essential in controlling blood sugar levels in gestational diabetes, as well as regular exercise and keeping weight gain under control. These factors all contribute to the birth of a healthy baby. According to www.diabetes.org, if a mother with gestational diabetes does not keep her blood glucose levels under control, the developing fetus will be required to make more insulin to process the extra blood glucose that is transferred to it via the placenta. The fetus has no real use for this extra energy so it is stored as fat. This extra fat can cause the infant to be large or macrosomic, which can lead to complications during delivery, such as shoulder dystocia or dislocation. The infant can be so large that it must be delivered via Cesarean section because it is too large to pass through the birth canal. The newborn infant of the mother with gestational diabetes can also be prone to having low blood sugar values after birth, and must be monitored for signs of hypoglycemia. A macrosomic baby is also prone to obesity and to potentially developing Type II diabetes later on in his adult life.

Gestational diabetes can be managed, and doesn’t have to be an issue at all during pregnancy. Women are encouraged to check their blood sugar levels throughout the day and instructed to administer insulin if it is required. If women with gestational diabetes can keep their blood glucose levels under control, they are less likely to have complications during the birth of their baby. Most women do not continue to have high blood glucose levels after pregnancy, but some do go on to develop Type I or II diabetes later on. Gestational diabetes usually occurs with subsequent pregnancies as well. If you are pregnant and have developed gestational diabetes, it is very important that you keep your regular prenatal appointments and follow through with all recommendations made by your health care provider. It is all in the best interest of you and your baby.

One of the most undemanding and most workable ways to lower your blood sugar levels, lower the risk factors of developing cardiovascular disease, and perk up your health is exercise.

In spite of that, in today’s inactive world where many jobs can be carried out online from an ergonomic chair in front of a computer, or with a streaming line of messages from a fax machine, exercising can be a hard argument to win over.

The Weight of Exercise

Everyone should exercise, yet health experts tell us that only 30% of the United States population gets the recommended 30 minutes of daily physical activity, and 25% are not active at all. In fact, inactivity is
thought to be one of the main reasons for the surge of type 2 diabetes in the U.S.; because inactivity and obesity promote insulin resistance.

The good news is that it is never too late to get moving, and exercise is one of the easiest ways to start controlling your diabetes. For people with type 2 diabetes in particular, exercise can improve insulin sensitivity, lower the risk of heart disease, and promote weight loss.

Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes is on the rise. The number of people diagnosed with diabetes every year increased by 48% between 1980 and 1994. Nearly all the new cases were Type 2 Diabetes, or adult-onset, the kind that usually develops around middle age. Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes include increased thirst, appetite,
and need to urinate, feeling tired, edgy, or sick to the stomach, blurred vision, tingling or loss of feeling in the hands.

The causes of type 2 diabetes are complex and not completely understood, although research is discovering new clues at a rapid pace.

However, it has already been proven that one of the reasons for the boom in Type 2 Diabetes is the widening of waistbands and the trend toward a more deskbound and inactive lifestyle in the United States and other developed countries. In America, the shift has been striking; in the 1990s alone, obesity increased by 61% and diagnosed diabetes by 49%.

For this reason, health experts encourage those who already have Type 2 Diabetes to start benefitting from the  wonders that exercise can do for them. Without exercise, people have the tendency to become obese. Once they are obese, they have a greater chance of developing Type 2 Diabetes.

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that over 80% of people with Type 2 Diabetes are clinically overweight. Therefore, it is high time that people, whether afflicted with Type 2 Diabetes or not, to start doing those jumping and stretching activities.

Getting Started

The first order of business with any exercise plan, especially if you’re a “couch potato,” is to consult with your doctor. If you have cardiac risk factors, your doctor may want to perform a stress test to establish a safe level of exercise for you.

Certain diabetic complications will also dictate what type of exercise program you can take on. Activities like weightlifting, jogging, or high-impact aerobics can possibly pose a risk for people with Diabetic
Retinopathy, due to the risk for further blood vessel damage and possible retinal detachment.

If you are already active in sports or work out regularly, it will still be to your benefit to discuss your regular routine with your doctor. If you are taking insulin, you may need to take special precautions to prevent hypoglycemia during your workout.

Start Slow

For those who have Type 2 Diabetes, your exercise routine can be as simple as a brisk nightly neighborhood walk. If you have not been very active before now, start slowly and work your way up. Walk the dog or get out in the yard and do some yard work like raking leaves. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park in the back of the lot and walk. Every little bit of exercise helps; in fact, it really helps a lot.

As little as 15 to 30 minutes of daily, heart-pumping exercise can make a big difference in your blood glucose levels and your risk of developing diabetic complications. One of the easiest and least expensive ways of getting moving is to start a walking program. All you need is a good pair of well-fitting, supportive shoes and a direction to head in.

Indeed, you don’t have to spend money on costly health club memberships, or on the latest piece of  exercise equipment to start your exercise program. What you need is the willingness and the determination to start exercising to a healthier Type 2 Diabetes-free life.

The results will be the sweetest reward for the effort expended.

Diets come in all forms and one that many people rely on is the low Glycemic Index Diet.

The Index is a number value or scale, from 0 to 100, that tell us how quickly the carbohydrate in a certain food will raise blood sugar in the body. The low level on the scale is 55 and below, medium index levels are between 56 and 69, and high on the index scale is 70 and above. Different carbs (carbohydrates) will convert to glucose (sugar) and enter the bloodstream at different rates, and therefore vary in how much of a blood sugar spike you experience.

This blood sugar spike is important because a sudden flood of glucose into the blood puts a demand on the pancreas to release a corresponding amount of insulin. Insulin will bring our blood sugar back to an acceptable level by transferring the glucose from the blood and into your cells where the cells use all they need for energy, with the excess being stored as fat. Excessive levels of both blood glucose and insulin have been associated with many health concerns, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.

Foods with a high glycemic index rating are those that fill you up quickly, give a fast burst of energy, but then leave you feeling hungry, lethargic, sleepy, moody, and irritable a short time later when you crash from the “sugar high”. These foods include white bread, pasta and white rice. These are the same foods that many nutritionist refer to as “bad carbs”.

Food with a low glycemic index reading, on the other hand, fill you up, but raise blood sugar slowly and steadily, giving you a longer feeling of being full and continuous energy. These are also foods containing carbohydrates, but are considered “good carbs” as found in fruits and vegetables.

Obviously diabetics must concern themselves with these numbers for better control over their condition. However, having some familiarity with the glycemic index ratings of foods can be effective for those who are attempting to lose weight. Many physicians are recommending Glycemic Index Diets because short-term studies show that consuming foods with a low glycemic index (gi) number can be an effective approach to long term weight loss, as foods with a low gi makes you feel full longer and stay satisfied longer, thus you are less likely to overeat, and because the body is actually utilizing the amount of glucose being produced, there is no excess glucose being stored as fat.

Eating a low Glycemic Index Diet is not about avoiding carbs all together, but focusing on the more healthful carbs. Foods with low glycemic index make it possible to enjoy all foods, even those that rank high because combining these two together helps to balance out the count, with index levels in the medium range. So if you crave foods with more sugar, try eating them with foods that rank lower on the scale so that your health will not be compromised. Remember, it’s the overall diet that counts, and not individual foods.