Pregnancy is not the Time to be Scared of Food

Diet for Gestational Diabetes

For many South Asian women, pregnancy comes with an extra worry: blood sugar.

Women of South Asian origin are recognised as being at higher risk of developing gestational diabetes, which is why ethnicity itself is considered a risk factor for screening during pregnancy.

And once gestational diabetes is diagnosed, food can suddenly become stressful.

Can I eat this? Will my sugar spike? Is this harming my baby?

We have spoken to mothers who became almost scared to eat. They were checking their fasting glucose every morning and their glucose after meals, watching the glucometer and worrying about every number.

But pregnancy is precisely the time when not eating enough nutritious food is the wrong answer.

Good sugar control matters - but so does good nutrition

Keeping glucose within the targets recommended by your maternity and diabetes team is important. Good glucose control reduces the risks associated with gestational diabetes, including excessive fetal growth, birth complications and neonatal hypoglycaemia.

For women monitoring at home, commonly used pregnancy targets include fasting glucose below 5.3 mmol/L (95 mg/dL) and 1-hour post-meal glucose below 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL), although your own doctor may set different targets.

The first approach for many women is therefore simple:

Change what is on the plate. Move regularly. Measure what happens.

If glucose remains above target, medication such as metformin or insulin may still be necessary - and it should never be delayed when your doctor recommends it. But many women are initially given an opportunity to achieve control through diet and exercise.

And this is where the quality of carbohydrates becomes particularly important. This is where the glycemic index and load of food comes is of paramount importance..

A roti that doesn’t make you frightened of the glucometer

We have been working with an endocrinologist at Manipal Hospital and have also heard directly from pregnant women using Ruby Roti.

What mothers often tell us is remarkably simple:

“I can finally eat a proper meal without being frightened of my post-meal reading.”

Ruby Roti was designed as a very-low-GI, very-low-GL staple made from natural plant ingredients, without protein isolates or preservatives.

In individual customers, we have seen post-meal glucose rises fall dramatically compared with their previous staple—sometimes by 70–100% - meaning their post meal spike is flatter. These are real-world observations, so they should not be interpreted as a guarantee of the same response in every pregnancy as every individual’s response is different.

What matters is that the mother can see her own response on her glucometer.

And at the same time she is eating food - not simply removing food.

Two Ruby Rotis provide roughly 18–20 g protein & around 15 g fibre, while supplying substantially more protein and fibre than a conventional rice or wheat-based staple.

That matters during pregnancy too.

Three nutrition principles we tell pregnant mothers

1. Don’t simply cut carbohydrates - upgrade them.
Choose carbohydrates that produce a smaller glucose rise and combine them with vegetables, protein and healthy fats. Your post-meal glucose reading can help show how your own body responds. Choose low GI and GL foods are have published numbers. Don’t trust claims, check your post-meal blood sugar and decide that is best for you.

2. Pregnancy needs protein from nutritious food.
Indian dietary guidance recommends additional protein during pregnancy—approximately 8 g/day extra in the second trimester and 18 g/day extra in the third trimester. Rather than chasing very high-protein supplements, aim for a varied diet using foods such as dals, beans, curd, paneer, eggs, nuts, seeds and other appropriate protein sources. WHO also cautions against unnecessarily high-protein supplementation during pregnancy.

3. Don’t forget fibre and water.
Constipation is extremely common during pregnancy, particularly later on. Around 30 g of fibre per day is a useful target, alongside adequate fluids, and fibre should be increased gradually if your usual intake is low.

One less thing to worry about

Pregnancy already comes with enough things to think about.

Scans. Appointments. Supplements. Baby movements. Sleep. Exercise. What to eat. What not to eat.

Food should not become another source of fear.

Whether or not you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, being thoughtful about blood sugar is particularly worthwhile for women of South Asian origin.

Sometimes a relatively simple change to the staple on your plate can achieve three things at once:

A smaller glucose rise.
More protein.
More fibre.

And perhaps the fourth benefit is the one that matters most when you’re pregnant:

a little more peace of mind.

If you have gestational diabetes, dietary changes should complement, not replace-the advice of your obstetric, diabetes or dietetic team. Medication may be important when glucose targets cannot be achieved through lifestyle measures alone.