When you’re pregnant, especially if you have diabetes in pregnancy, figuring out how to eat can be difficult. When you search the internet for information about diabetic diets, you will see that no one agrees about how frequently to eat, how many carbohydrates to consume, how many calories you need, or whether you need snacks between meals. So what are we supposed to do?!
Over the next few weeks, we will review four diets that are good for pregnancy, with or without diabetes: the Whole30, Mediterranean, Paleo, and ketogenic diets. All these diets have merits, although they differ in subtle ways.
We are starting today with the Whole30 diet. This is an elimination diet, meaning that foods that tend to cause problems for people are eliminated for 30 days. If you have a history of food allergies, or if you have frequent issues with acne, digestive problems, fatigue, cravings, or chronic pain, then this program is a good way to sort through which foods may be aggravating your problems.
For 30 days, you eat essentially no processed foods. Stick with vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, eggs, and nuts. NO sugar, grains, dairy, or legumes (beans and peanuts). Yes to green beans and sugar snap peas. No to baked goods or even artificial sweeteners. No cheat days – if you have a brownie, you start the 30 days over again.
My daughter and I are in the middle of a Whole30 month. After a couple of weeks, I can say that I have more energy, I am sleeping better, and most of all, food tastes better! When I gave up eating sweets, I started to appreciate fruits. Bonus – I am noticing that eating fruit at the end of a meal doesn’t make my blood glucoses rise as other sugars do. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.
If you’re looking for healthy recipes for pregnancy, any Whole30 recipe will fit the bill. Potatoes are allowed, so don’t overdo these if you’re diabetic. Up next week: the Mediterranean diet.
Let me know if you have any questions about which diet is best for you in the comments below.