A person who develops gestational diabetes should come up with some sort of diet to protect themselves and the fetus.

What is Gestational Diabetes?

Gestational diabetes occurs when a woman is pregnant. This occurs in women who do not have diabetes but, develop high blood sugar when they get pregnant. The woman's blood sugar generally goes back to normal after she has the baby.

The best way to keep this under control is by exercising regularly and developing a diet that minimizes your exposure to sugar. A healthy diet includes eating enough carbohydrates, protein and fat. It's important that you eat these three things in conjunction with one another. Eating too many carbohydrates at once can spike your blood sugar. Eating carbs with protein and fat will minimize these hikes.

Finding the Right Plan for You

Finding the right balance between exercise, carbohydrates, fats and proteins is going to take a little while. Everyone reacts differently to it. They also react differently to gestational diabetes diets. How much you eat and when you eat will depend largely on how much you weigh, how far along your are in your pregnancy and how developed your diabetes is. Your doctor or nutritionist will look at all of these factors to start you on a diet. Keep in mind that this diet may have to be tweaked several times before it's correct.

Most doctors will suggest that you eat small meals throughout the day. None of your meals, or snacks should be more than three hours a part. Eating smaller meals more frequently will help regulate your blood sugar. For some women, avoiding carbohydrates in the morning is helpful. Starting the day with proteins only will help keep your blood sugar down.

The most effective way to regulate your diet is by paying very close attention to what you're eating. If you don't know what carbohydrates are, ask your doctor to break down the food pyramid for you. If you're not good at remembering to eat many, small meals, wear a stopwatch and set it so it goes off every two hours. This will help you keep in line with your gestational diabetes diet.