Healthy Diet in Early Pregnancy Reduces Risk of Gestational Diabetes

Obesity is a significant risk factor for developing gestational diabetes, and an increasing number of pregnant women are overweight or obese. Dietary habits have an impact on both obesity and the onset of gestational diabetes.

We investigated the connection between dietary intake and onset of gestational diabetes in 351 women. The women’s nutrient intake was calculated from food diaries, on the basis of which two dietary patterns, a healthier and an unhealthier dietary pattern, were identified. In addition, the overall quality of the diet in reference to that recommended was described with a diet quality index and the inflammatory potential with a dietary inflammatory index. (Pajunen et al. 2021)

Our research results show that following a healthy diet, including vegetables, fruit, berries, and wholegrain products as well as unsaturated fats, in early pregnancy reduces the risk of gestational diabetes. In addition, we found that a higher dietary inflammatory index, meaning a diet that increases the low-grade inflammatory markers in the body was connected to an increased risk of developing gestational diabetes. Furthermore, a higher consumption of fat and especially saturated fats was connected to gestational diabetes. This is of interest as the intake of saturated fats is known to increase the body’s inflammation. Our findings indicate that mothers who are overweight or obese already before the pregnancy would most likely benefit from dietary guidance in early pregnancy. (Pajunen et al 2021)