Having gestational diabetes during pregnancy can mean that too much sugar is passed to your developing baby, increasing their risk of becoming diabetic later in life. Following a well planned gestational diabetes diet can reduce this risk by controlling the level of sugar in your blood, and reducing the amount that is passed to your baby via the placenta.
There are other issues that can arise from your baby receiving too much sugar. The main problem will be that your baby could grow exceptionally large, causing difficulties with delivery. Overweight babies have a much higher chance of being born by cesarean section and experiencing birth complications than normal weight babies.
What causes gestational diabetes?
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Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs when a woman is pregnant. About four percent of all pregnant women suffer from gestational diabetes. The disease is caused when the body is unable to process insulin, causing high levels of sugar in the blood, very similar to type 2 diabetes. It usually occurs during the second quarter, and often disappears after birth. Left untreated, gestational diabetes can cause damage to the fetus and mother.
What triggers gestational diabetes? Gestational diabetes begins when the female body is not able to make and use all the insulin requirements during pregnancy due to hormonal changes caused by pregnancy. During pregnancy, hormones from the placenta help the baby grow and develop. However, these hormones make it more difficult for a woman’s body to use insulin, the development of insulin resistance. In most cases this is not a problem: the need for insulin rises, the pancreas increases its production. But when a pregnant woman from the pancreas is not sufficient for the demand for insulin and blood sugar too high, the result is gestational diabetes.
Who is at risk for gestational diabetes? May a woman at risk for gestational diabetes if:
* More than 25 years
* Are overweight
* A family history of type 2 diabetes
* Known gestational diabetes during a previous pregnancy,
* In a previous pregnancy or the inexplicable death of a child with a birth weight more than nine pounds, or
* East African, Hispanic or Native American.
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What Are the Foods to Avoid For Diabetics…
What one eats is very important from the standpoint of his health.
The main concern while monitoring and control of diabetes is that the sugar level does not cross the normal range. That means reducing some types of food and regularly consume foods that are good at regulating diabetes.
People with diabetes should try to maintain a healthy weight and eating a diet that is:
“Low-fat
“Low sugar
“Low salt
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