How to prevent gestational diabetes? how common is gestational diabetes ? symptoms of gestational diabetes during pregnancy, risks of gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes often occurs in a brutal way during pregnancy. If he has to warn you, he must not worry you: Some dietary measures will allow you to better manage your diet as a result of your blood results. Find here the best tips to wait for baby serenely.

What is gestational diabetes?

What is gestational diabetes?
According to The WHO (World Health Organization) definition, gestational diabetes, also “Pregnancy diabetes “, is a carbohydrate tolerance disorder leading to a variable severity hyperglycemia, beginner or diagnosed for the first times during pregnancy.

Thus, as with other diabetes, gestational diabetes is a disorder of blood glucose control (sugar levels) resulting in an excess of glycemic in the blood (chronic hyperglycemia).

Gestational diabetes occurs in pregnant women near the end of the second trimester. It can be quite asymptomatic and thus go unnoticed or present symptoms similar to those of other types of diabetes: intense thirst, frequent and abundant urine, heavy fatigue, small discomfort, etc.

Gestational diabetes can last only the time of pregnancy and then disappear or be indicative of previously unknown diabetes. In all cases, gestational diabetes must be closely monitored and treated as it poses a risk to both the mother and the child.

At-risk situations
Pregnancy is a risk in itself of diabetes because the hormonal changes that the pregnant woman undergoes induce a physiological state of insulin resistance that can worsen as the pregnancy progresses.

Screening is done on a simple blood test, in the laboratory of medical tests, usually between 24th and 28th week of Amenorrhea in all pregnant women at risk. A first blood glucose test is performed on an empty stomach, followed by a OGTT (oral hyperglycemia) test that corresponds to the swallowing of 75 g of glucose in one intake. A single value above normal thresholds (0, 92g/L on an empty stomach; or 1, 80g/L 1h after oral glucose; or 1, 53g/L 2h after) is sufficient to detect gestational diabetes.

Since 2010, in France, Diabetologists and Gynecologists have agreed on the criteria for people at risk of gestational diabetes:

• Late pregnancy: Among women over 35 years of age, prevalence reaches 14.2%
• Body mass index (BMI > 25kg/m²): In overweight or obese women, prevalence is 11.1% and 19.1%, respectively.
• A personal history of gestational diabetes: for women who have already developed gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy, prevalence rises to 50%
• A family history of type 2 diabetes (parents, brother, sister)
• A history of fetal macrosomia: birth weight of a baby greater than 4 kg

 

Change your diet in prevention: the food to be replaced.

A balanced and controlled diet of carbohydrates (sugars) is the basis of good management of gestational diabetes. For example, if you have gestational diabetes, your goals are to keep blood glucose levels within acceptable limits and to avoid excessive increases (hyperglycemia).

To manage the impact of its diet on blood glucose, a somewhat unknown notion of the general public but for which information begins to circulate more, is very useful: glycemic indexes (GI).

The glycemic Index of a food is its ability to raise blood glucose (blood sugar levels) relative to a reference value, glucose.

The higher the Glycemic Index (GI) of a food, the more important it increases blood glucose. The opposite is of course valid. The goal, if you have gestational diabetes, is to prioritize foods with low or medium GI, or at least avoid those with high GI that cause too severely to increase your blood glucose.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of high GI foods and tips to replace them in order to keep the pleasure of putting yourself at the table throughout your pregnancy:

Sweet Drinks
Sweetened beverages, whether natural (fruit juice) or not (soda or syrup), cause blood sugar to rise. This is strangely the same for light drinks that would increase blood glucose as well as the conventional versions. The brain would indeed recognize sweeteners as a real sugar.

Tip: Prefer plain or bubbly water, nature or for a more festive touch with ice cubes and a lemon slice or mint leaves. Tomato or vegetable juices are also a good alternative for appetizers for example. If you fancy a glass of fruit juice, use a small glass (150 ml) that you will take instead of a fruit. Just be sure to always drink it after starting your meal to limit its effect on the increase in your blood glucose. In short: Do not drink fruit juice on an empty stomach!

Spread, honey, jam and sugar
Spreads, whether organic or not, without palm oil or not, sugar cane or not, increase blood glucose significantly. The same is the same for white sugar, red sugar and sweet sugar but also, especially for classic jams and honey.

Tip: For the morning, on your toast, opt for butter. Every once in a while, on weekends, for example, allow yourself an equivalent of a tablespoon of jam without added sugars that you will find in the organic or dietetic department. To sweeten your beverages, prefer the agave syrup or fructose that you will find there also in large area at the bio-ray. Their GI is 15 and 30 versus 100 for sugar respectively. As for the spread, the complete almond puree without added sugars to which you can add a little agave syrup, is an excellent alternative for a point consumption.

Sweet Desserts and Pastries
Desserts such as pastries, desserts and ice creams are to be consumed in a very exceptional way given their effects on blood glucose. The same is the same for candies, sweets and chocolate bars made up almost exclusively of poor quality sugars.

Tip: Do not deprive yourself of a good dessert if it makes you want, but only if your glycemic results allow it and especially occasionally. Once a week seems to be a reasonable frequency. Again, if you fall for a sweet dessert, be sure to eat it at the end of the meal, after consuming a nice amount of vegetables that will reduce the glycemic load of the meal.

Refined cereal products and white bread
Cereals are naturally rich in fibers, vitamins, minerals and trace elements. But these nutritional virtues are dwindling as the cereal is processed and refined. This is how white bread (and complete bread) has an almost similar effect to white sugar on blood glucose. Conventional pasta is also a cereal product that has been widely processed and refined to the point where it bounces the blood sugar rate.

Tip: Continue to regularly eat cereal products such as pasta and rice but opt for the full pasta and full rice version. Also prefer basmati rice which is the variety that increases the least blood glucose. Also think about bulgour, quinoa, lentils, broken peas, chickpeas and dry beans to vary the pleasures. These foods have little effect on the elevation of your blood glucose. For bread, prefer bread to sound and black bread for example. And if you make your own bread, do it with the full flour that you will find at the bio-ray of your big surface.

Potatoes
Potatoes, regardless of how they are cooked and prepared, are a true glycemic bomb: their IG ranges from 65 to 95.

Tip: You can replace potatoes in all your dishes that contain sweet potatoes (GI = 50): gratin, soup, raclette, etc. If you want a potato, salad or fries For example or a few fries, always accompany them with a beautiful green salad to balance the glycemic load of the meal. The ideal is to always eat at least as much salad as potato.

 

The foods on which to bet

Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are health foods par excellence, which, in addition to being rich in vitamins, minerals, fibres and antioxidants, induce a very moderate increase in blood glucose.

Besides, if some fruits are reputed to be sweet, only papaya, guava and banana very ripe (with tasks on the skin) are to be consumed in moderation to avoid the peak of blood glucose. For other fruits, the quantity will be limited to one serving per meal. The best thing is to consume the fruit at the end of the meal to limit the elevation of the blood glucose.

The vegetables are to be consumed at will, without any exception.

Legumes
Legumes, also called “Dry vegetables”, Group: lentils (orange, green, black), lentils, dry beans (roses, reds, whites, blacks, Coco, Azuki, Tarbais, Mungs, Flagellate, chowder), beans, peas (broken, chick, integers).

Legumes also have undeniable nutritional strengths during pregnancy: high in protein and essential amino acids, fiber and minerals, vitamin B9, they have a negligible effect on blood glucose. To make them more digestible, two tricks: soak them one night in cold water with a drizzle of lemon or add a teaspoon of baking soda in the cooking water.

Dairy
Milkings, rich in calcium and protein, whether cow, ewe or goat, are to be preferred during pregnancy. These are yogurts, white cheese, Faisselle and small Swiss. However, be careful not to confuse them with the dessert creams and other sweet desserts that abound in the supermarket shelves. For milking, the best is to choose nature and add your touch of gluttony: cinnamon, lemon juice, vanilla grains, etc. You can even add your fresh fruit cut or eat it with your compote. And why not mix a milk with a fresh fruit and a few ice cubes to make a delicious refreshing beverage.

Meat, fish and eggs.
Rich in protein but also in fatty acids and vitamins, meat, fish and eggs are a whole food group that should not be neglected during pregnancy. Especially since none of these foods contain carbohydrates, so they will not increase your blood glucose.

Opt for a serving of meat, fish or 2 eggs, both at lunchtime and in the evening. And be sure to consume at least twice a week of fish (including once a fatty fish) for its richness in omega-3.