Meal Planning for Gestational Diabetes

Your blood sugars are affected by:

• What you eat
• When you eat
• How much you eat

Key ingredients to a healthy meal plan:

• Do not eat fruit, milk, or cold cereal before
• lunch
• Eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day
• Eat meals and snacks 2 to 3 hours apart
• Do not go longer than 10 hours between bedtime snack and the next morning’s breakfast
• Eat protein (meat, eggs, cheese, tofu, nuts, etc.) with every meal and snack

Avoid these foods and beverages:

• Sweet beverages such as: fruit juice, nectars, juice cocktails, fruit smoothies, regular soda, Kool-Aid®, fruit punch, lemonade, sweetened iced teas, horchata, jamaica, Gatorade® and other sports drinks.

• Foods that have added sugar including:
  • Condiments such as: sugar, honey, molasses, jam, jelly, sweet salad dressings (Thousand Island, honey mustard, French, raspberry vinaigrette), BBQ sauce, ketchup, teriyaki sauce, sweet ‘n sour sauce
  • Sweets/desserts such as: pie, cake, donuts, cookies, candy, frozen yogurt, ice cream, pudding, custard, chocolate (sugar free versions o.k. - just count the carbohydrates toward your meal/snack allowance)
  • Other foods with sugar such as: many jarred pasta sauces, sticky rice, baked beans

• Convenience foods that say “instant” on the box. These are foods you add water to, heat and they cook quickly, including:
  • Hot cereal (quick oats, packets of instant oatmeal), soups (Cup Noodles®, Top Ramen®), instant rice, instant noodles and boxed instant potatoes

Your meal plan will be individualized to your needs by your dietitian.