Gestational diabetes is diabetes that affects a woman when she is pregnant. You usually have low sugar levels and it is difficult to know whether or not you have gestational diabetes. But, nevertheless, you need to take steps to reduce the far-reaching effects of the same.

The following are some of the home remedies that you can follow when you are pregnant and have gestational diabetes:

1. Schedule Your Diet

The best possible way of keeping yourself away from any type of diabetes or other adverse health effects is to schedule your diet in an appropriate manner. Apart from what you eat, how and when you eat it is also responsible for exposing you to a greater risk of adverse health-related consequences. When you schedule your diet in an appropriate manner, the risks of developing the condition is reduced to a considerable extent.

You should ideally go for small meals in an interval of two to three hours in a day’s time.

2. Sugar-Free Diet

As we know, diet plays an important role in controlling different types of diabetes. Gestational diabetes is no different and one of the best- known home remedies for gestational diabetes is to adopt a diet which is free from sugar. Instead of sugar, you can always opt for some of the sugar alternatives such as agave, stevia, as well as other prescribed natural sweeteners. This is particularly important during the time when you are about to deliver the baby. Foods high in sugar must be completely avoided during the last few months of pregnancy.

3. Physical Exercise

Doctors often believe that when you are pregnant, you should always do some or the other kind of movement. This is of great importance to both the mother and the child. When you are pregnant, you do gain weight. However, the regular form of exercise can go a long way in helping you manage the same. Having said that, when you are pregnant, you simply cannot go for any type of strenuous exercises. You should consult your doctor and do some light exercises.

4. Herbal Medication

Besides, some of the herbal medicines have been discovered by the experts that go a long way in helping to treat and even prevent gestational diabetes. Amongst the best-known herbal treatments for this type of diabetes is Astragalus. The medicine is known to stabilize the levels of blood glucose in the body if you include this herb along with other known diabetes treatment.

5. Eat Healthy Carbohydrates

When we talk about carbohydrates, it is often regarded as something that should be eliminated from the diet completely. However, the same need not be true. There are a few forms of carbohydrates that are necessary for the body. Complex carbohydrates are something that does not cause your blood glucose to fluctuate too much and hence, the same can be had when you are suffering from gestational diabetes. Thus, you should include green leafy vegetables, oats, lentils, milk, okra, quinoa, etc. in your diet.

6. Cinnamon Tea

Another natural way to treat diabetes is to include cinnamon tea in your diet. The spice helps a great deal in managing and stabilizing the levels of blood glucose in the blood. Not only that, cinnamon is known to reduce the levels of triglycerides as well as the levels of bad cholesterol which help treat gestational diabetes. It further helps in improving the sensitivity of the body towards insulin. You should have at least one cup of cinnamon tea daily when you are pregnant.

7. Effective Management of Stress

Stress is the cause of many diseases in human beings. Diabetes, particularly gestational diabetes is no different. The increased levels of the hormone cortisol in the body can lead to ill-effects in both the mother as well as the child. Stress can also lead to the child being born in a premature condition which may not be good for his or her health in the future years. Thus, managing stress is very important when you are a pregnant mother. You can do meditation or yoga to manage the same. Also important is to have a good night’s sleep. If you do not sleep well at night, you will have serious health issues. It is important to consult the doctor in case you have problems sleeping at night.

8. Have Adequate Amount of Vitamin C and Vitamin D

When you are pregnant, it is important that you ensure to have sufficient quantities of vitamin C and vitamin D in your body. The deficiency of both these vitamins can expose you to a greater risk of getting gestational diabetes. Try to eat food items that help you get adequate amounts of these vitamins. When you have these in sufficient quantities, you are at a lesser chance of developing gestational diabetes. Further vitamin D can help to promote good bacteria which is helpful for good health in a diabetes patient. Main sources of this vitamin include tofu, salmon, mushrooms, amongst other food items.

9. The inclusion of Protein in Your Diet

Protein is a very important nutrient that is required by one and all. It is the protein that you get from the food that helps to breakdown the carbohydrates into substances that can be used by the body for better production of energy. It is advisable that you should eat at least one protein item whenever you are eating a food that contains carbohydrates. This way, not only your digestion will improve, but you will also experience better metabolism.

10. Eat Food High in Fiber

When you are a diabetic patient, you should ideally go for all those food items that are high in fiber. Fiber goes a long way in helping the body to produce more and more insulin, thereby helping to treat and manage diabetes. Some of the best-known food products rich in fiber include nuts, flax seeds, etc.

We hope that the above post has been helpful in educating you about the home remedies that can help you treat gestational diabetes. Although the symptoms are not very clear, it is important to take care of the same because it has adverse health effects on both the mother as well as the child.