How to Protect and Analyze Blood Sugar Levels While Pregnant
Gestational diabetes (a temporary form of diabetes) is the most common kind of blood sugar disruption during pregnancy. It’s characterized by high blood sugar levels and your body’s inability to produce enough insulin.
But gestational diabetes isn’t the only way you can experience blood sugar imbalance during pregnancy. Even without a diagnosis, you may notice food cravings, mood swings, and energy lulls — all related to your blood sugar levels. This is common during pregnancy, and as a holistic nutritionist, I have a number of simple tools you can use to prevent it.
Normal Blood Sugar Levels for Pregnancy
Your blood sugar levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day. For instance, your fasting blood sugar should be around 60–90 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). After a meal, a normal range rises to 140–180.
If needed, you can keep track of these levels with a continuous glucose monitor (although I only recommend this for people with gestational diabetes). You can also get your A1C tested to find out your average blood sugar stability over the last 3 months.
Your normal blood sugar levels tell you how well your cells respond to insulin and how much insulin is needed to convert food into energy. If your blood sugar levels are dramatically outside the normal range, you may be diagnosed with gestational diabetes (which is extremely common in pregnancy). If your levels are just slightly outside of the normal range, you may have insulin resistance and will need to adjust a few lifestyle habits.
Blood Sugar Levels in Gestational Diabetes
Most women go through a standard gestational diabetes test during pregnancy. This test involves drinking a sugary drink and then testing blood sugar levels an hour later. If your levels are above 190, you may be diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
Symptoms of Blood Sugar Imbalance During Pregnancy
If you passed the gestational diabetes test with flying colors, you likely don’t have to worry about checking your blood sugar levels. That said, blood sugar imbalance is common in pregnancy and can leave you feeling dizzy, cranky, and generally unwell. It’s important to stay aware of the symptoms and recognize when high or low blood sugar is impacting you.
Mood swings
Fatigue between meals
Frequent headaches
Weight fluctuation (unrelated to pregnancy)
Darkened skin around the neck or armpits
Frequent yeast infections
Cravings for carbohydrates
Feeling jittery after a meal
How to Balance Blood Sugar Levels While Pregnant
There are plenty of natural ways to balance your blood sugar without any pharmaceutical medications. These are the ones I commonly share with my clients:
1. Prioritize Fats and Protein
Eating a diet high in fats and protein won’t change how your cells react to insulin, but it can lower the insulin load. This is an easy way to reduce your blood sugar levels and manage your cravings and spikes without extreme interventions. While you adjust your diet, you should also make efforts to increase your cells’ sensitivity.
2. Take a Walk After You Eat
Using your muscles after a meal can help your body synthesize insulin. Again, it’s not a fix for your cells, but this is an easy way to manage the highs and lows of blood sugar imbalance. You can take a walk in your neighborhood, complete a high-intensity workout, or simply enjoy a yoga flow.
3. Eat Your Fiber First
Fiber can line your gut and hit your bloodstream before sugar and carbohydrates do. This helps to slow the blood sugar spike, allowing your body to properly distribute energy. Since fiber is part of a healthy diet, I recommend eating it with every meal and eating it first.
4. Protect Your Liver Health
The liver is often overlooked when it comes to blood sugar regulation, but it can be the root cause issue. Your liver works to balance and release glucose into the bloodstream, regulating blood sugar levels and playing an important role in a healthy metabolism. If it’s overtaxed with environmental toxins, this may show up as insulin resistance.
5. Limit Processed Foods
Heavily processed foods are another root cause issue of blood sugar dysregulation. Our bodies just aren’t meant to take on the heavy sugar and carb load that comes with packaged and refined foods. Simple swaps can energize your cells and give you better long-term results with blood sugar management. For example, kamut flour contains a higher mineral content and is low on the glycemic index. It’s been studied for its positive impact on blood sugar levels.
6. Hydrate Your Cells
Remember, your cells play an important role in how well your body uses insulin. The diagnosis “insulin resistant” refers to your cells’ inability to respond to insulin. I recommend hydrating your cells with electrolytes and trace minerals (particularly selenium and chromium, which have been studied for their blood sugar benefits).
7. Detox Before Pregnancy
If you have the ability to detox your body before pregnancy, I highly recommend it. Releasing your kidneys, liver, and mitochondria from the burden of heavy metals, mold, and environmental toxins can set you up for a healthy and vibrant pregnancy — free of blood sugar swings.
8. Eat Breakfast Intentionally
As women, it’s easy for us to skip meals and call it “healthy.” But doing this or eating a high-carbohydrate snack with your coffee could be setting you up for all-day blood sugar swings. Spiking your blood sugar at the beginning of the day sets you up for a dramatic blood sugar drop (usually about two hours later). This leads to a yo-yo of blood sugar spikes all day long. It’s best to eat a nutrient-dense breakfast that’s fueled by protein, fats, and fiber.
Blood Sugar Balance Should Always Include Short-Term and Long-Term Strategies (Yes, Even During Pregnancy)
One of the gaps I notice in blood sugar management during pregnancy is the lack of a long-term strategy. Modern recommendations include a low-carb diet, regular exercise, and eating your food in the right order. These are powerful strategies that promote a temporary solution, but they don’t address the cell. I always recommend combining these short-term strategies (for comfort) with long-term strategies (for healing).
When my clients target both long-term and short-term strategies and combine them with intentional lab testing, that’s when we really start to see the needle move. You deserve to feel energized, empowered, and clearheaded during your pregnancy. And when it comes to insulin resistance, there are simple ways to make this happen.
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About the Author:
Katie Braswell is a holistic nutritionist focused on optimizing women’s health at all stages of pregnancy and motherhood. She believes women’s health recommendations are drastically behind the times and has made it her mission to change that — using real food and ancestral methods that help women regain vibrancy and wellness. Her continued education has led her to graduate from the Lily Nichols Prenatal Nutrition Institute and the Fertility Academy.