I have been the oh so lucky one to be in the 4 to 8% of Women who are diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. For those of you who do not know what this is, its Diabetes formed between months 5 and 6 of ones Pregnancy, due to the high Hormone Levels and lack of Insulin created by the body. The biggest threat posed by Gestational Diabetes is that the developing infant runs a high risk of being born with Type 2 Diabetes, if not kept in check, and that women who are diagnosed with GD are at a higher risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes later on in life.
Sadly, Diabetes affects almost 200 million people worldwide today, and shows all the signs of being classified as a modern day epidemic. Worst to this, is it is estimated that the number of diabetics in the world will double by the next decade. This is obviously a big issue, and I am going to do my best to inform you all in the most creative, fashionable, humorous way I can thanks to the outlet I have created with Little Miss Mama.
Those that are more likely to get Gestational Diabetes are:
- You’re obese {your body mass index is over 30}.
- You’ve had Gestational Diabetes in a previous pregnancy.
- You have sugar in your urine.
- You have a strong family history of diabetes.
- You’ve previously given birth to a big baby. Some use 8 pounds, 13 ounces as the cutoff; others use 9 pounds, 14 ounces.
- You’ve had an unexplained stillbirth.
- You’ve had a baby with a birth defect.
- You have high blood pressure.
- You’re over 35.
I promise to Exercise – and report my progress, to Cook and Bake – with Carbohydrate and Sugar portions in mind, sharing my yummy goodness with you all and of course to do the best I can to wake everyone up around us that thinks they are invisible to a disease like this. WAKE UP!! 200 Million people is a whole heck of a lot of us, lets do what we can to dwindle this number back, one blogger at a time.
Why is Exercise Important?
Regular exercise increases the efficiency or potency of your body’s own insulin. This may allow you to keep your blood sugar levels in the normal range while using less or no insulin. Moderate exercise also helps blunt your appetite, helping you keep you weight gain down to normal levels, maintaining the correct weight gain is very important in preventing high blood sugar levels.
How the Dietitians explained it to me was, if you exercise after each meal {breakfast, lunch and dinner}, a brisk walk for a mere 10 minutes, your body movement creates the insulin needed to take care of the Carbs and Sugar that you just consumed.
What to pay attention to when Cooking and Baking?
Some people believe that all you need to avoid is anything high in sugar, don’t get me wrong – it’s exactly what I thought. However most other and I are mistaken, you should really be paying close attention to sugar but more importantly carbohydrates. If your body cannot produce enough insulin to turn the sugars and carbs into energy at a good pace they then store both as fat in the body and will continue to keep your blood levels high.
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