Contents:
- Medical Video: Top 10 Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy
- Eating lots of potatoes before pregnancy risks triggering gestational diabetes
- Can pregnant women consume potatoes?
- How to prevent gestational diabetes while pregnant?
- Eat healthy foods and drinks
- Stay active
- Reduce weight before pregnancy occurs
Medical Video: Top 10 Foods To Avoid During Pregnancy
One health complication that may arise during pregnancy is gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes not only affects health during pregnancy, but this condition can continue to occur even though the mother is no longer experiencing pregnancy, and will affect the development of the fetus.
At least 7% of pregnancies experience complications in the form of gestational diabetes. According to Diabetes Journal, gestational diabetes is experienced by 200 thousand pregnant women each year. Gestational diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels during pregnancy exceed normal, and insulin cannot handle it. Until now there has been no clear explanation of the causes of increased blood sugar levels in gestational diabetes experienced by pregnant women, but experts consider that the lifestyle and the choice of food applied by the mother caused this to occur. This is evidenced in a recent study that stated that consuming too many potatoes before pregnancy can cause gestational diabetes in the mother. Why does this happen?
Eating lots of potatoes before pregnancy risks triggering gestational diabetes
This statement was made by researchers who examined the diet of pregnant women in the United States, which involved 21,993 pregnant women who stated that they like and almost all often consume potatoes since before pregnancy. This research was conducted from 1991 to 2001. During 10 years of research, experts looked at the diet of mothers by giving questionnaires in the form of records of their diet every two years. For the potato consumption pattern, the researchers noted how many potatoes were eaten in one meal, how they were cooked and served, and how often they ate potatoes in one day.
Then the results of the study showed that out of 21,993 pregnant women, 845 cases of gestational diabetes occurred. The researchers concluded that gestational diabetes cases were found to be only 5.5%. While mothers who consumed more than 5 servings of potatoes in one week had a 1.5 times higher risk of developing gestational diabetes. The group that consumed 1 to 4 servings of potatoes a week had 1.2 to 1.27 times the chance for gestational diabetes. In addition, at the end of the study, researchers stated that replacing 2 servings of potatoes with wheat or various other types of vegetables in one week, can reduce the risk of gestational diabetes by 9 to 12 percent.
Can pregnant women consume potatoes?
Potatoes are one of the most consumed staple foods in the whole world, besides rice and wheat. Although potatoes are rich in vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and some phytochemicals, potatoes are also high in sugar and glycemic index which can make blood sugar rise rapidly.
Eating too many potatoes, such as french fries, is an example of a poor diet. Potatoes contain a high amount of sugar and glycemic index, so when they enter the body, they are broken down and become blood sugar. The glycemic index is a measure of how fast a food containing carbohydrates is converted by the body into blood sugar. The higher the glycemic index, the easier the food will be to increase blood sugar in a moment. Therefore, potatoes can increase postprandial blood sugar levels in a fast time.
In addition, excessive consumption of potatoes can cause oxidative stress in the body. Oxidative stress is a condition in which the body produces free radicals due to bodily dysfunction. Then this condition results in the pancreatic beta cells that are supposed to produce insulin to regulate the amount of blood sugar, become damaged and do not function properly. When insulin produced by pancreatic beta cells is not enough to regulate very high blood sugar, the body will experience hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia that occurs during pregnancy results in gestational diabetes.
How to prevent gestational diabetes while pregnant?
Lifestyle and diet before pregnancy will greatly affect the situation when pregnant. Therefore, here are some ways that can be applied to prevent gestational diabetes:
Eat healthy foods and drinks
Choose foods that are low in sugar and high in fiber. In addition, limit foods that are high in fat and calories which can increase body weight and fat levels in the body. Expand to consume fruits, vegetables, and wheat.
Stay active
Exercising before and during pregnancy can prevent gestational diabetes from happening. At least do 30 minutes of exercise in one day, such as walking, cycling, and swimming.
Reduce weight before pregnancy occurs
If you have excess weight, then you should lose weight to the ideal level to reduce the risk of complications during pregnancy.
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