Ep. 8: Let's talk food with gestational diabetes

Getting a gestational diabetes diagnosis comes with a lot of information - and a lot of it is about food. What to eat, when to eat, how much, what to avoid. It can feel like a lot very quickly, especially when you're already navigating pregnancy. And for many women, the food stuff brings up feelings that go beyond just nutrition.

That's why I wanted to kick off this little mini-series with a conversation that sets the tone before we get into the detail. Not rules, not restrictions - just a grounded, reassuring starting point for thinking about food with GDM.

I'm joined by Megan Core, the founder of Joy Nutrition Studio and an accredited practising dietitian and nutritionist based in Australia. Megan specialises in diabetes and hormonal conditions, and she has supported so many women with GDM to build real confidence around food - not just follow a plan. Over the next few episodes, we're going to be covering everything from carbs to protein to snacks and treats, and Megan is going to be walking us through all of it.

In this first episode, we're starting from the beginning - what the actual goal is with food when you have GDM, why everyone's experience looks so different, and what to focus on in that overwhelming first week after diagnosis. If you've just been diagnosed and you don't know where to start, this one is for you.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Why food guilt is one of the most common things Megan sees after a GDM diagnosis, and why you absolutely did not cause this through what you ate.
• The two main goals of food management with GDM - stabilising blood glucose levels and meeting your nutritional needs - and why it's a balancing act between the two.
• Why there's no set timeline for finding your rhythm, and why comparing your experience to someone else's is never going to be helpful.
• How insulin resistance changes throughout pregnancy, and why what's working for you now might need to shift as you get further along.
• Why two people can eat the exact same meal and have completely different blood glucose responses - and what factors play into that.
• The role that stress, sleep and cortisol can play in your levels, and why it's not always about the food itself.
• Megan's three simple principles for week one - focusing on mindset, not cutting carbs, and eating regular meals.
• Why going low-carb is one of the biggest mistakes Megan sees, and why carbohydrates are actually essential during pregnancy.
• What "doing well" with food actually looks like day to day - hint, it's less about perfection and more about confidence and consistency.
• Why mindset isn't just a nice-to-have but something that genuinely affects your food choices and your levels.
  
  

Resources & links mentioned:

• Joy Nutrition Studio → joynutritionstudio.com.au
• Megan on Instagram → @joy.nutrition.studio
  
  

About the guest

Megan Core is an accredited practising dietitian and nutritionist, and the founder of Joy Nutrition Studio based in Australia. She specialises in diabetes and hormonal conditions and has helped many women with gestational diabetes build real confidence with food. You can find her at joynutritionstudio.com.au or over on Instagram at @joy.nutrition.studio.

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated and lightly edited for clarity.

Celia (00:00) Navigating food with gestational diabetes can feel overwhelming. Between what to eat, when to eat, how food affects your levels and how to apply the guidance in real life, it's easy to feel like there are still gaps - questions you didn't think to ask in your education session, or situations that don't neatly fit into the guidelines. Over the next few episodes, we're going to cover the basics of carbs, protein and fibre, but we're also going to be exploring the nuances and scenarios that can catch you off guard.

I'm joined by Megan Core, founder of Joy Nutrition Studio. Megan is an accredited practising dietitian and nutritionist based in Australia. She specialises in diabetes and hormonal conditions and has helped many women with gestational diabetes build their confidence with food. Thank you so much for joining us, Megan.

Megan (00:48) Thank you for having me, Celia. I'm so excited.

Celia (00:50) Yeah, me too. Well, let's get right into it then. What do you think is the biggest misconception people have around food first after being diagnosed?

Megan (01:00) It can definitely feel really overwhelming. I also see a lot of women feel guilty or blame themselves and carry a little bit of food shame - that they might have caused this somehow. That's definitely a misconception and we like to clear that up straight away. You didn't cause your GDM through the foods you have eaten. I've met some women before who are like, oh, I ate so much ice cream in my first trimester, and they get a little bit worried.

Celia (01:27) Mmm.

Megan (01:30) You don't have to carry any blame around food. You didn't cause this. It's obviously a really complex background of different risk factors, and big things like genetics and hormones throughout pregnancy that are causing extra insulin resistance.

Celia (01:44) And I think that's something that is not just a misconception that women who get diagnosed carry. It seems like something that everyone kind of picks up on - and well-meaning family and friends can kind of comment on it too.

Megan (01:57) I know. Yeah, we like to clear that up straight away because there's so much misinformation out there, and other opinions from, you know, your friend's auntie who had GDM once, or random information that you just don't need. Please try not to stress and don't feel guilty - you haven't caused this. It's quite a complex situation going on in the background.

Celia (02:21) So what would you say is the overall goal with food when it comes to gestational diabetes?

Megan (02:28) There are probably two main things we look at with food. The first is we want to be stabilising the blood glucose levels throughout the pregnancy and reducing spikes. That's to make sure there's a safe pregnancy for mum and to reduce any complications during the pregnancy and birth.

And then the second main thing is to make sure we're meeting the nutritional needs of mum - enough energy coming in and enough to grow a healthy baby, and also supporting mum's body throughout that time. So yeah, stable blood glucose levels while still meeting your nutritional needs and getting what you need.

Celia (03:14) Yeah, so it sounds like a balancing act between those things.

Megan (03:17) Definitely, yep.

Celia (03:20) Is there a rough timeline from when you first get diagnosed to when you are finding your rhythm with those goals? Or does it kind of vary person to person?

Megan (03:31) Yeah, there's definitely not a straight answer for that. Everyone's timeline is going to be really different. And that's something to remember - your experience of gestational diabetes can be completely different to someone else's, and try not to compare yourself because everyone is really different with their lifestyle and the food that they eat, and also their insulin resistance and blood glucose levels will be different.

So some people might have relatively stable levels with just a few spikes here and there, and they might have prior knowledge about nutrition - or they've had GDM before, or they've had PCOS, or someone in their family has diabetes - so they might have a bit of background knowledge already and find it quite quick and easy to implement a few little strategies. It might only take a couple of days or a week or two before they're like, this is actually quite easy.

But I definitely still meet a lot of people who have the opposite - their levels might be all over the place no matter what they're trying, and they might not have that background knowledge so everything is new and overwhelming. That's where you obviously need to lean into support to learn, because knowledge is power. So yeah, some people might find their rhythm quite quickly, some people it might be weeks or months and it might feel a bit tricky - and that's okay. You need that close support from your team. Everyone will be different.

Celia (04:55) Yeah. And I think too, given that your own insulin resistance can change over the pregnancy as well - it's not just, am I getting a hang of this? Your body can throw you new curve balls.

Megan (05:08) Yeah, definitely. And as you probably know from other episodes, the insulin resistance increases throughout the pregnancy. So if you're looking at a graph, early on it's lower, and then right up to about 36 or 37 weeks the insulin resistance increases. And that's for every pregnancy. So when you've got gestational diabetes tied into that as well, you might be managing really well with your levels a bit earlier on - but I'd still encourage you to keep in contact with your team or reach out if things start to change, because later in pregnancy the insulin resistance will increase and your levels might start changing again.

Celia (05:46) Yeah, so your routine might need to look a little different.

Megan (05:50) Yeah.

Celia (05:50) Can you give me an idea of how different food management could look from one person to another? Because I've heard people say that certain foods - like they can't even look at rice without their levels going crazy. And for other people it's totally fine. I've always wondered - is it really that different from person to person?

Megan (06:10) Yeah, definitely. Background insulin resistance will be different. Two people could eat the exact same meal and their blood glucose levels will respond differently. It's quite a complex mix of background factors that go into that. But if you already had pre-existing insulin resistance, or you're experiencing quite strong insulin resistance throughout your pregnancy, then you might eat something like rice or bread - a carbohydrate - and things will spike up really quickly compared to someone else who doesn't have as much background insulin resistance.

And then how much insulin resistance we have can also be influenced by simple day-to-day things like how well you slept the night before, and what your cortisol and your stress hormones are doing - or how busy you are, how much you've got on your mind. It might not be physical stress but maybe some more psychological stress going on.

Celia (07:09) So there's like a myriad of factors that just would never look the same person to person. But I think it's really helpful just to hear that, because so often we jump into the forums and we're trying to get ideas from each other, which is so helpful - but it's the catch-22 of like, oh, that didn't work for me, or my plan isn't looking that way. I think that context is definitely helpful to hear.

Megan (07:31) Yeah, everyone is so individual - your lifestyle and the food that you eat - and it's just really important that you get individualised care and individualised support.

Celia (07:41) I think the internet advice can only go so far - and I say that as the one doing a podcast on it! Let me say it really clearly: talk to your team.

Megan (07:44) Yeah, true. It's true. Like, we can talk about all the big things today and over the few episodes to come, but at the end of the day people need really individualised care. So it's important to stay close to your team.

Celia (08:01) Yeah. So if someone was in week one - just wrapping their head around all this - are there two or three simple principles you would suggest they focus on?

Megan (08:08) Yeah, for sure. Number one - it's probably going to feel quite new and overwhelming, especially if you haven't had GDM before. I really like to focus on mindset first, and just like we said at the start, reassure people that they haven't caused this through food and try to lower the stress levels around food. Because the last thing we want is someone going off on a really restrictive path or starting to feel really fearful of foods - or fearful of carbs especially.

So my first advice would be to think about your mindset, stay calm, try not to stress, and think nourish, not restrict. Because you are pregnant and you are literally growing a human, which is incredible - so you really need to still be eating to support yourself and bub.

Megan (09:05) The second thing is carbs - and I know we're going to talk about that a lot in detail next episode - but my first advice to newly diagnosed women with GDM is: please don't go low carb.

I think in the internet and diet culture world, carbohydrates really get demonised. Unfortunately, they get painted out to be the bad guy, but we really need carbohydrates in our diet. They should make up 45 to 65% of our total energy intake. And especially during pregnancy - if you're thinking about how do you grow a baby, glucose, which we get from carbs, is the fuel source to grow your baby.

So please don't go low carb, and don't start cutting out lots of foods or even cutting out all your favourite foods. You'll get more individual advice from your team.

The third point is just to think about the structure of how you're eating. Eating regular meals is really beneficial for steady blood glucose levels and avoiding spikes. It sounds really simple - eat regular meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner - and it sounds simple because it is. Don't overcomplicate it. You don't have to fast or skip meals. Just eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in between are really helpful too - morning tea, afternoon tea and supper. That way you're eating every couple of hours to support your body and keep your blood sugar levels stable throughout the day.

Celia (10:39) That makes a lot of sense. I feel like even from having had it to now, one of the silver linings of gestational diabetes is taking that knowledge and applying it to my toddler. Now that I know about the effect that it can have on you, I see it play out in a tiny body. I actually feel like it's made me a better mum in that way - I'm conscious of that with the timing of her food and snacking too. It's a reminder for me as well.

Megan (10:50) Yeah, I mean the everyday person doesn't know a lot about blood glucose levels or insulin. This isn't something that we really learn about unless your family had diabetes or gestational diabetes, or you went to an appointment and chatted about it. So it's not common knowledge, but it's definitely helpful for yourself. Even if you don't have gestational diabetes or another type of diabetes, eating regular meals and keeping stable blood sugar levels is really helpful.

Celia (11:37) Yeah. My one parenting hack! Like, you can crack the code on that.

So what would you say doing well with food would actually look like day to day once you're getting into managing gestational diabetes?

Megan (11:53) It's going to look different for everyone - there's no perfect routine to follow. But doing well, for me, would be to see someone with gestational diabetes feeling really confident and not stressed about food. They're not restricting, they're eating really adequate and nutritious meals regularly - like we were saying, that regular structure throughout the day. And they know enough about carbohydrates to be choosing the right type and amount so that their meals aren't spiking their blood glucose levels too much, and they're keeping them nice and steady.

So I suppose yeah, it's that balance between mindset - not feeling stressed - and making sure you're nourishing your body during the pregnancy and eating regularly, and then on the more clinical side, seeing that their blood glucose levels aren't spiking after their meals. That's obviously a win.

Celia (12:58) I love that, because I feel like mindset is such a key part of it - and we're definitely going to talk about that more in future episodes. But the way that it's such a factor, like you said, with stress levels. Yeah.

Megan (13:03) Yeah, mindset is everything. It affects your food choices so much. I think food is quite psychological.

Celia (13:18) Absolutely. Okay, well, I think we've set the scene for what's ahead - because eating well with GDM isn't just about following rules. It's about building confidence and gradually learning about food and listening to your body along the way and what it's telling you.

So in the next few episodes, we're going to unpack that more together. We're going to go deeper into carbs, as we mentioned, so you can feel confident with those. We'll explore how protein and fibre can help you build balanced meals. We're going to talk about snacks - and I'm most excited about learning how to still treat yourself and join in with celebrations - because that stuff does not have to be off the table when you're managing gestational diabetes. So stay tuned.