How Can A Vegetarian Diet Help Your Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is a medical condition that affects blood sugar levels in the body. These sugar levels originate from the foods that we eat. When we sit down to a meal each day the food is digested into it’s smallest parts so the cells in our body can use them. Many of the foods we eat turn into simple sugars. These sugars need insulin to be transported across the cell wall so the cells can use them for energy.

In the condition of gestational diabetes the body becomes resistant to the insulin and then can’t use the sugar in the body for energy. Gestational diabetes is very much like type 2 diabetes or what used to be called adult-onset diabetes.

A vegetarian diet and gestational diabetes aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact eating a vegetarian diet and gestational diabetes may be just what the doctor ordered to help maintain appropriate blood sugar levels and control the gestational diabetes so that the mother and baby don’t suffer the complications often associated with diabetes that is out of control.

This vegetarian lifestyle is very compatible with diabetes when you work out a food plan with your registered dietician or nutritionist who has experience with both. When you incorporate a vegetarian diet and gestational diabetes there are several factors that should be considered. Eating a well balanced vegetarian diet often helps to balance blood sugar levels because the carbohydrates that are eaten aren’t processed and aren’t as calorie dense.

When you are developing a vegetarian diet with your registered dietician (RD) you must talk about protein sources. Protein should be approximately 20% of your daily intake of calories. Nuts, beans and soy are good sources of protein for people following a vegetarian diet.

Although it’s easier to minimize your carbohydrate intake sometimes the foods you may be higher in carbs than you might have thought. Corn, peas and potatoes are high in carbohydrates. One serving of mashed potatoes, corn and peas is ½ a cup of cook vegetable. Watch your servings and measure what you eat to be sure you are following the correct portions.

And, just because you are staying away from meat and processed foods doesn’t mean that sweets, junk food and carbonated drinks are suddenly healthy. These are still foods that should be severely limited in your diet and your blood sugar levels monitored frequently when you fall short and eat them.

In a study published in Diabetes Care researchers found that over 50% of participants who ate a vegan diet, all whole raw foods, very little (less than 10%) processed foods and no animal products such as dairy or meat, were able to decrease the amount of medication they used to manage their disease. The participants who ate the vegan diet, as opposed to the diet recommended by the American Diabetic Association, had lower cholesterol, greater weight loss, and A1C blood glucose measurements were better.

A vegetarian diet and gestational diabetes isn’t a choice for every woman. And, those who do chose this lifestyle have a variety of choices in their diet depending upon the criteria they use to define a vegetarian diet. Research has found that people who eat a vegetarian diet are healthier, have lower risk of heart disease, stroke, immune mediated illnesses and cardiac failure. A vegetarian diet, though restricting meat, has a great deal of variety and taste to offer those who chose this lifestyle.