Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) are more susceptible to several health risks of their own later in life. These include diabetes, but also high blood pressure. Is there a way to reverse this trend?
A Healthy Diet for New Mothers Can Protect Them for Years:
Data from the Nurses’ Health Study II shows that women who had gestational diabetes and then followed a healthful diet similar to the DASH diet or the Mediterranean diet may be able to prevent that problem. Both diets are rich in vegetables, fruit, and whole grains such as brown rice or steel-cut oats. Neither contain much red meat or refined sweets such as sugar or desserts. The DASH diet also contains low-fat dairy products, while the Mediterranean diet has more emphasis on nuts, olive oil and fish. (You can read more about the DASH diet here. Or look at information on the Mediterranean diet here. We also discuss both diets in detail in our book, The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies.)
What Do the Data Show?
The data were collected between 1989 and 2011 on approximately 4,000 women who reported gestational diabetes. Every few years, they reported what they were eating.
More Vegetables, Please:
Those who consumed more vegetables, fruits, legumes like lentils, peas and beans and whole grains were 25 percent less likely to be diagnosed with high blood pressure than those who ate less healthful fare. In this study, women were not told what to eat, although their food choices were tabulated. Trying to follow an eating pattern similar to the DASH diet could probably benefit all of us, whether or not we’ve ever had gestational diabetes.
