How to Eat and Exercise to Reduce Gestational Diabetes Risk

There’s a lot to think about when you’re pregnant. Are you getting enough sleep? Are you exercising safely? Are you maintaining a healthy diet? If you develop gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy), your daily decisions become even more important.

But managing diabetes while you’re pregnant can be confusing, and it’s not always easy to determine what you should change. Gestational diabetes counseling can help you adopt the healthy habits that will protect you and your baby.

“It’s important for pregnant moms to know that gestational diabetes isn’t something that they caused,” says Sonia Angel, MS, RDN, a certified diabetes care and educational specialist at Memorial Healthcare System. “But they need help to know what foods to eat, how to manage their medications and how to exercise safely. Gestational diabetes counseling provides that guidance.”

What is Gestational Diabetes?

Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that develops specifically during pregnancy. It affects between 7 percent and 10 percent of pregnancies every year. And doctors estimate that roughly 10 percent of cases involve people who had undiagnosed diabetes before pregnancy.

Having gestational diabetes can increase your risk of:

• Cesarean (C-section) delivery
• Eye diseases (later in life)
• Pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy)
• Type 2 diabetes (later in life)

Doctors use a two-part test to screen pregnant patients for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. First, you drink a high-sugar solution and take a blood test after an hour. If your blood sugar level is high enough — over 130 mg/dL — you’ll take a second three-hour test to determine if you have the condition.

If you’re diagnosed, you’ll need to test your blood sugar four times daily, Angel says. Before meals, your blood sugar should be below 95 mg/dL. It should be between 120 mg/dL and 140 mg/dL after meals.

What to Eat To Reduce Gestational Diabetes Risk

Knowing what foods to eat can be the trickiest part of controlling your gestational diabetes, Angel says. Many people make the mistake of only focusing on their sugar intake. Instead, she advises that you focus on how many carbohydrates you eat.

Good tips include the following:

• Add protein. Carbohydrates like rice, bread, fruit and yogurt raise your blood sugar. Adding protein to your meals can help you control that blood sugar spike, Angel says. For example, eat beans with rice or add peanut butter or cheese to bread.
  
  
• Keep some carbs. Don’t eliminate all carbohydrates from your diet, as you may develop hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This condition can trigger nausea, dizziness and shakiness. Instead, choose whole-grain starches like brown rice, quinoa and whole-grain pasta.
  
  
• Watch your drinks. It’s also important to avoid drinking carbohydrates. Smoothies are tempting, but those with added sugar are high in carbohydrates and can affect your blood sugar faster than solid foods.
  
  
• Set a schedule. Angel says eating smaller meals every four hours and adjusting your meals around what you normally eat is key to controlling your gestational diabetes.
  
  
• Tailor your menu. Choose foods you normally eat, including nutrient dense and high fiber foods.

What Exercises Can Help Reduce Gestational Diabetes

Making healthy food choices is only part of managing your gestational diabetes. Incorporating exercise is also important.

“I’m a big advocate of exercise. It’s one of the self-care behaviors that is scientifically proven to help with blood sugar control,” she says. “I teach moms that exercise is part of their treatment, part of their medicine.”

If you aren’t accustomed to strenuous workouts, pregnancy isn’t the time to start. But you can add physical activity to your day based on your abilities.

For example, Angel recommends walking for 15 to 20 minutes after a meal or swimming three times a week if you have access to a pool.

Gestational Diabetes Counseling

Once you’re diagnosed, counseling can help you learn to manage your condition. Keeping close tabs on the condition is critical because it can limit the risk of Type 2 diabetes later in life for you and your baby.

The sooner counseling starts, the better. Angel says she tries to meet with all newly diagnosed patients within two weeks. She devotes each session to developing and monitoring a culturally sensitive management plan that fits each person’s lifestyle.

“During the first hour-long session, I teach pregnant moms about food groups, carbohydrates and calories and how to keep of log of their food and blood sugar levels. I also discuss their medication and teach them how to use it, whether it’s pills or an injection,” she says. “But most importantly, I show them how to integrate all of these behaviors into their everyday life to help manage their diabetes.”

After the first session, Angel meets with patients every two weeks for the remainder of their pregnancy. In these visits, she assesses whether their gestational diabetes is under control and makes any necessary changes.

Reasons to Consider Gestational Diabetes Counseling

If you have gestational diabetes, counseling is an opportunity for you to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors that will improve your current well-being and safeguard your baby’s health for the future, Angel says.

“Once our pregnant moms adapt to a carb-control diet and incorporate exercise into their routine, 95 percent of the time they do really well,” she says. “The counseling is amazing because it gives them a sense of empowerment and relief. When they come to see me, they’re usually overwhelmed. But they leave the sessions knowing what and how to eat and how to take care of themselves.”

Memorial Diabetes and Nutrition Center's gestational diabetes counselors can educate you on choices that may control your blood sugar and keep you and your baby healthy. We’re ready to partner with you for the rest of your pregnancy.