Are you experiencing high blood sugar during pregnancy? This condition is known as gestational diabetes. It is associated with hormonal changes, which occur in your body during pregnancy. Women who are overweight, above the age of 25, and have a family history of diabetes are more likely to experience gestational diabetes. In most cases, the blood sugar levels return to normal after giving birth, and proper management enables you to keep away from any complications during pregnancy as well. 

Here are ways by which you can control your sugar levels during pregnancy:

Develop an ideal diet plan. You should consult a registered dietitian for framing a diet, which is specific to your condition. Your overall health, age, and other health conditions, if present, are taken into consideration while shaping your diet plan.
Cut down your consumption of sugary food items and drinks. Avoid having candies, soda, cakes, cookies, and all food products, which contain simple sugar in large amounts. This can boost your blood sugar levels rapidly and worsen gestational diabetes.
Have three to four small meals regularly, and also eat snacks in between. Eating frequently prevents the crashing of your blood sugar levels between meals.
Reduce your amount of carbohydrate intake. Instead, consume a lot of food rich in fiber like fruits, vegetables, and whole grain.
Drink a lot of water every day. Sufficient hydration of your body is important for stabilizing your blood sugar levels to keep away from complications during pregnancy.
Undertake regular, light activity after your doctor s approval. Activities like walking and swimming help in keeping your blood sugar under control. Exercising during pregnancy is also important for weight loss after giving birth.
Buy a glucose meter and get your blood sugar levels checked frequently. Most common meters require you to prick your finger with a needle and drop your blood on a strip for testing. You can make changes in your diet and medication for preventing a hypoglycemic episode, based on your regular results.
If your doctor recommends it, you should test your urine ketones. Ketones occur in your urine, while your body burns fat to produce energy. These are harmful for your growing baby.
Apart from these, you should take insulin strictly according to your doctor s instructions. Your doctor will instruct you in detail about how and when to administer insulin. You will also be provided with information on storing insulin at a safe place.


High Sugar During Pregnancy - Tips To Help You Control It!

9 health benefits of walnuts:

1. Lowers risk of diabetes
2. Promotes a healthy heart and circulatory system
3. Lowers cholesterol levels
4. Boosts brain power and improves memory
5. Slows the progression of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis
6. Acts as an anti-inflammatory food
7. Rich in antioxidant properties
8. Fights breast and prostate cancer
9. Improves reproductive health in men.

9 Ultimate Reasons to Eat Walnuts Everyday

In simple terms, hyperglycemia is the medical term for abnormally high levels of sugar in the blood stream. The blood sugar level range is 65-110 mg/dl and can extend up to 120-140 mg/dl a few hours after eating. However, when a person has eaten no food, but has a blood sugar level of more than 126 mg/dl, that may be a symptom of diabetes mellitus.


Reasons Behind it
A person who is hyperglycemic is most likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, which may be type 1 or type 2.


Type 1 diabetes is caused when the immune system destroys the insulin secreting cells in the pancreas. The insulin production in the body stops, thereby, causing an enormous increase in the sugar levels. In such a situation, nothing, but external dose of insulin will be required to survive.
Type 2 diabetes is caused when the body stops responding to the insulin produced by the body and in a desperate attempt to maintain blood sugar level, the pancreas produce excess insulin. In this case, changing lifestyle, food-habits and taking proper medication can be the only way out for a healthy life.


Therefore, the major causes leading to increase in blood sugar level might be:
Inadequate supply of insulin
Slow or no reaction of the body to the insulin produced by the body


Tips to manage hyperglycemia
Here are some important tips that could help individuals regulate their blood sugar levels:
As we know, the carbohydrates break down into glucose, which is absorbed by the body cells with the help of insulin. So, in case of hyperglycemia, individuals should manage or better, cut off, carbohydrate intake in their meals.
Another important element to be highly monitored is the blood cholesterol level. For this, you must curb eating oily and spicy food.
It is very important that individuals limit their alcohol intake because alcohol contains huge amount of calories and carbs, which might lead to sky-rocketing blood-sugar levels.
The diet should contain adequate portions of nuts and olive oil.
Eating fatty milk products and fatty food should be strictly avoided.
Each and every food should be inspected for sugar because even a slight bit of sugar can mess up the entire process of managing the sugar level.
Individuals should try stress-free mild work out, as heavy work out could cause the blood-sugar level to rise in case of type 2 diabetes.
Anxiety, tension and stress would not help the process in anyway.


Proper medication and check-ups are necessary. It is important to be fit and healthy.

Hyperglycemia - 10 Tips to Manage it

Pregnancy can be a tricky time for most women, although it is not a pathological condition. One must be prepared for pregnancy with the best of health in the pre-pregnancy period. This also includes women who are suffering from diabetes. The complications during pregnancy and delivery increase manifold if one has not controlled the glucose and blood sugar levels before getting pregnant. So read on to know more about coping with the pregnancy if you happen to have diabetes.

Complications: Pregnancy with diabetes can cause severe complications if blood sugar levels are not controlled properly before pregnancy. This can cause diabetes to become even worse in the long run, with the onset of various other related ailments like kidney disease, heart disease, eye problems and more. It can also increase the risk of premature delivery, and too much birth weight of the baby as well as low glucose levels right after the baby s birth. Further, one can also lose the baby to a miscarriage due to excessively high blood sugar levels. This can also affect the glucose and blood sugar level of the baby as the glucose passes through the body.

Related conditions: If you happen to have high blood sugar levels, then you and your baby can get affected in an adverse way. To begin with, you may come down with severe depression regarding how you will be able to manage your diabetes and pregnancy together, and also due to the implications of the condition after the birth of the baby. It can also cause a condition called Preeclampsia in which the pregnant woman s blood pressure becomes high and too much protein starts to pass from the urine, which can also result in frequent urination and life-threatening defects and problems for you and the baby. In such cases, you will have to be hospitalised and the baby will need to be delivered via a C section or a Caesarean Section.



Planning ahead: If you know that you are trying to conceive, the best way is to be fully prepared well in advance. This includes planning ahead for managing the blood sugar levels and keeping the risk of other ailments at bay. You can start by losing excessive weight and seek treatment to bring down the blood sugar levels. Exercising and watching your diet are also some good ways to ensure that your Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes is in control.

Medical Team: It is pertinent to be in touch with your medical team on a constant basis. This team should include the obstetrician and gynaecologist as well as your regular doctor to whom you can report any changes.
Keep health close to your heart when you are pregnant by taking care of all existing ailments.

If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a doctor and ask a free question.

Diabetes in Pregnancy - How to Tackle it?

High blood sugar occurs when the insulin in the body fails to metabolize the sugar from the food, which raises the amount of glucose in your blood. It is a metabolic disorder which can be managed effectively with the help of lifestyle modifications such as exercise and food. This article is going to focus on the foods that you can eat to lower your blood sugar levels.

Here are 9 foods that you can use to reduce blood sugar levels:

Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a herb which is very effective in getting your blood sugar down to manageable levels. You can simply sprinkle cinnamon on your food before eating it.

Fenugreek (methi): Fenugreek is a common spice which is used in almost all Indian cuisines. It has a number of health benefits, one of which is reducing blood sugar levels. Soaking fenugreek in water and then drinking it the next day is a very effective remedy in combating sugar problems.

Garlic: Not just for sending away the vampires!, it is also very effective in blood sugar control. Extracts of garlic have been shown to increase insulin in the body which is required to metabolize the sugar in the body.

Heart Healthy Fats: Heart healthy fat based foods such as nuts and seeds are good for increasing the good cholesterol levels (HDL) in the body. Avocadoes contain nutrients which lower the risks of various diseases such as diabetes. In a nutshell, these fats make the cells of the body less resistant to insulin.

Blueberries: Blueberries contain anthocyanin (water soluble pigments) which is very good for your health. They also contain fiber in large amounts which make you feel fuller faster. This fruit has also been shown to improve insulin sensitivity in the body.

Vinegar: Vinegar is an age old remedy to control blood sugar levels; it contains acetic acid which causes a reduction in certain harmful enzymes in the stomach. Vinegar is also known to prevent blood sugar spikes when consumed with food.

Complex Carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates raise your blood sugar but not like its cousin, simple carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates cause an immediate spike in your blood sugar levels where as complex carbs provide a steady stream of energy. So drop that packet of refined flour and get that whole wheat variant.

Cherries: Cherries, especially tart cherries and dark sweet cherries, are full of anthrocyanins. Insulin resistance prevents insulin from working properly to control blood sugar in normal ranges. Eating a diet high in anthrocyanins can mean improved use of insulin and lower blood sugars.

Nuts: People who eat nuts regularly have lower rates of heart disease than people who don't eat them. Even among the healthiest eaters, the ones who also eat nuts boast the best health record.

9 Foods That Can Reduce Your Blood Sugar Level

How to prevent Diabetes

Prevention is better than cure, and this is the absolute truth when it comes to battling Diabetes

If you want to prevent Diabetes from occurring within in your family and friends than you should understand and remember the basics of it.

Diabetes mellitus is neither a singular nor isolated form of occurrence. It a group of diseases, marked by high blood sugar levels which occurs when our body is unable to produce and utilize insulin optimally. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas and it is important to maintain blood sugar. 

Common symptoms of Diabetes include 

1. Increased thirst and Urination

2. Increased Hunger

3. Weight loss

4. Fatigue

5. Blurred Vision

6. Extreme craving (for fatty and sugary food items)

Uncontrolled Diabetes can lead to complications such as Blindness, Loss of Memory, Kidney malfunction, Fatty Liver, Heart Disease, Nerve Damage leading to Amputations.

Type 2 Diabetes is most common variety. it develops when the body fails to utilize the insulin properly and is most commonly now found in overweight children. 

Here are 5 ways you can prevent it 

1. Curb it young: Forget the myth that children cannot get diabetes. Today, children as young as 12 years of age are suffering from Type 2 Diabetes. Introduce a healthy diet routine for the children as well as for adults in the family. Children are known to emulate what they learn from their elders and thus it is imperative that inculcate healthy eating habits in them right from childhood.

2. Stay Stress-free:  Reduce stress in daily life. Stress causes sudden surges in insulin levels.

3. Workout: Exercising regularly helps to keep diabetes at bay.

4. Say No to junk food: Keep Junk Foods restricted to once or maybe twice a month. These days almost all restaurants offer healthy but tasty options to choose from and therefore family or business outings can no longer be an excuse to indulge in heavy, calorific food that is devoid of any real nutrition.

5. Mind your weight: If you are more than 5 Kgs overweight, then please consider going on a diet immediately to reduce sugar levels in your body. Not only would you feel more energetic but also more ‘alive!’

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'Consult'.

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