What do I have to change?

Healthy eating is important for everyone, but is even more important if you have diabetes and during pregnancy. The foods that you eat will affect your blood glucose levels and your baby’s development. When newly diagnosed, you should be referred to a specialist dietitian for dietary advice that should help you manage your condition.

Healthy eating guidelines for diabetes are based on the same guidelines that are applicable to the wider general population. There’s not a special diet for diabetes – it’s really about balancing healthy eating food choices, and achieving good blood glucose control and weight management.

If you have found out that you have gestational diabetes, making small changes to your lifestyle can help to keep your blood glucose levels well controlled. During pregnancy it is especially important to follow a healthy eating plan with items from a variety of food groups.

The most important things to consider when thinking about food when you have diabetes are:

• Eat regularly – 3 meals a day.
• Avoid sweet and sugary foods.
• Eat more high fibre foods and limit starchy foods, focusing on low glycaemic index foods (which will be explained later in this section).
• Cut down on fatty foods.
• Eat plenty of vegetables and have fruits in moderation, spread out through the day.
• Exercise – try to continue to exercise during pregnancy, but modulate this to what you are capable of as the pregnancy progresses.