Meal Ideas for Gestational Diabetes - Scarsdale Medical Group

Meal Ideas for Gestational Diabetes
Wondering what to eat for snacks and meals to manage your blood glucose?
Each woman has a different tolerance to how many grams of carbohydrate
she can eat in one sitting and end up with a good blood glucose 1 hour later. An average
meal has 30-45 grams of total carbohydrate, and an average snack has 15-20 grams of
total carbohydrate. Often a pregnant woman will eat many times during the day,
especially if her meals need to be smaller than usual to control blood glucose.
Some suggestions…
Below is list of meals containing 30 grams of carbohydrate
1. Sandwich made with two slices of bread and egg, cheese, meat or tuna. Add light
mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onions or other non-starchy vegetables as
desired.
2. One-half sandwich (above) plus 8 ounce of nonfat or low-fat milk.
3. Two small six-inch size corn or flour tortillas with cheese, meat, avocado, lettuce,
tomato, low-fat sour cream, cilantro, scallions or salsa.
4. One small hamburger or turkey burger on a small bun or two slices of bread. Add
light mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onions or other non-starchy vegetables
as desired.
5. Twelve saltine crackers with cheese or peanut butter.
6. One whole grain English muffin with cheese, eggs or peanut butter.
7. One cup of cooked oatmeal (½ cup dry or 1 instant packet) with butter, cinnamon
or artificial sweetener (Splenda).
8. One-half whole grain bagel with peanut butter or cheese.
9. Three graham cracker squares and one cup of nonfat or low fat milk.
10. One cup of plain (unsweetened, no fruit) yogurt with 15 grapes or one cup of
melon or one very small banana.
11. One cup of soup (read label for 15 grams of carbohydrates) with six saltine
crackers.
12. Two-thirds cup of buttered noodles with Parmesan cheese and a green salad or
cooked vegetables.
13. Muffin-pizza made with one whole English muffin, pasta sauce (check label for
brand with less carbohydrates per serving), non-starchy vegetables and cheese.

Below is list of snacks containing 15 grams of carbohydrate
1. One cup of yogurt or cottage cheese (check label).
2. One cup of skim milk.
3. One piece of toast, with light butter or margarine if desired, and 1 egg.
4. Three cups of low fat microwave popcorn or 100 calorie size bag.
5. One half cup (4 oz) of sugar-free pudding.
6. 100 calorie size bag of pretzels, cookies or baked chips (read label for 15 grams of
carbohydrates).
7. 14 Ritz Crackers with beef, chicken or vegetable broth.
8. Two rice cakes.
9. One small piece of fruit (apple, orange, pear, peach) or ½ cup raspberries,
strawberries or blackberries.
10. Ten Kashi TLC crackers and one string cheese.
11. One piece of pita bread with feta cheese, olives, tomatoes, onions and lettuce.
12. Any type of veggies dipped in 6 tablespoons of hummus or 5 tablespoons
guacamole.
For more information, please contact:
Elizabeth DeRobertis, MS, RD, CDN, CDE
nutritionistliz@hotmail.com