Has anybody tried this for gestational diabetes?

[titin]

Hi all,

Here are a couple of books I am reading regarding diabetes:

- amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Diab...

- amazon.co.uk/Neal-Barnards-...

The interesting thing about them is the relatively new studies about what causes diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, and how to reverse it. While most people would stay away from carbohydrates to keep their blood glucose low, these new studies go one step further and challenge why the blood glucose stays high. Each and everyone of your cells run on glucose. Once the beta cells start producing insulin, the body (your cells) should absorb the glucose present in the bloodstream. What these studies demonstrated scientifically is that the fat blocks this process, making a person more insulin resistant. High saturated fats like the one present in meat or cheese are the ones to blame. Donuts and croissants are also bad choices because they contain a lot of fat. Better choices are: fruit, rice, potatoes, corn, beans and plenty of vegetables, as these are low in fat.

Unfortunately, these books don't talk much about gestational diabetes. They put them in the group of type 2 diabetes. For sure, lowering your insulin resistance would help pregnant women with gestational diabetes but I would have liked these books to talk a bit more about it. What I found from the examples in the book is that they can take an overweight person from a high fasting glucose level of 8 mmol/l to a healthy 5.4 mmol/l. But can they take a mum-to-be with gestational diabetes with a 5.4 mmol/l (in theory too high for a pregnant woman 😳) to a lower 4 mmol/l? I do not know 🤷🏻‍♂️

Has anybody really try this (sticking to a 10g of fat max. per day) of plant based foods and daily exercise (preferable cardio)?

[Belangalo]

Hi Titin, I have gestational diabetes and I was not diabetic, am suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum (so eating next to nothing and throwing up all the time) and have a very strict low carb/keto diet.

My blood sugars all over the place even with insulin 4 times a day and I'm lucky if I manage to eat a handful of strawberries in a day.

My diabetes specialist can't explain it and the best guess is that my placenta is essentially malfunctioning and pumping out hormones that are screwing with my entire system and throwing everything out of wack to the point where stable medication just can't keep up. I have lost a tonne of weight from the hyperemesis even before I got the diabetes. Now I've lost even more. I am a lighter weight now than I was when I fell pregnant and I'm 36 weeks 4 days pregnant.

I think a lot of women can manage with diet and exercise while others like me can have all the stops pulled out and still no explanation for what is happening.

Good luck. My pregnancy has been the worst and most traumatic experience of my life...and I was SO EXCITED to finally fall pregnant with my beloved.

[titin in reply to Belangalo]

Yes, that isn't anything new according to the book. Putting the severe sickness on the side. Keto diets are well known for being high fat / low carb. According to the book, that makes you insulin resistant and you will need to take more insulin.

Hopefully, the hyperemesis gravidarum will pass. Good luck!

[Seb9]

I expect that following this diet would help pregnant women regulate their blood sugars, but then any low carb/sugar diet is going to help with that. I'm not sure if I could have gone plant based during pregnancy! Not having cake was bad enough without even more restrictions on my diet!!

My diet when I had GD was low in Carbohydrates, sugar etc, I ate lots of vegetables like Spinach, peas, carrots but also eggs, tomatoes, lean meat, avocado, cheese, eggs, pulses, I lost just over a stone in weight during my pregnancy and I tried to go for a walk everyday.

What I found with GD was that no two people were the same, I could not tolerate oats, but some people could have them and stay in under, I could eat ryvita crackers though and some people found those sent them high, so I think a lot of things with GD are trial and error. Are you struggling with your fasting rates? I didn't at first but as my 2nd pregnancy progessed my fasting rates creeped up so I had slow acting insulin overnight to help.

I don't think it's quite like type 2 diabetes which you can reverse, because in pregnancy it's being caused by the hormones your placenta is kicking out, and as your pregnancy goes on your placenta just makes it worse so I'm not sure how far into reverse you could get it. Also I think because you're only pregnant for such a short period you might not see results quickly enough and you may still need to have medication to keep it low so you don't put baby at any risk.

I had GD with both my pregnancies and much worse in my second pregnancy, I was on full dose of Metformin and insulin and with both pregnancies, the moment my placenta was gone, so was the diabetes. My diabetes consultant said that I would probably only continue to get worse with each pregnancy, luckily we're sticking at 2 so I won't need to go through it again.

Also with the cardio, you'd probably have to run it passed your GP or Midwife as you're not advised to start new exercise regimes when you're pregnant only to continue with what your body is already doing. I know for me even at 3 months post partum, the relaxin is still playing havoc with my joints and I have to be careful doing new activities.