‘Typical’ GD Dietary Advice vs Gestational Diabetes UK Dietary Advice
What do I mean by “typical GD dietary advice”? Simply put, it’s the guidance most commonly given in hospitals across the UK and Ireland, such as the Eatwell Guide shown below.
Dietary advice can vary widely, but in this post, I’ve shared some of the most common recommendations I see given to women diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
Some of the ‘typical’ GD dietary advice used across the UK and Ireland
In 2024, I conducted a Google Forms survey for patients diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. Here are the results of the Dietary advice given to 3,270 women diagnosed with GDM:
The Eatwell Guide
Have you seen the Eatwell Guide?
The Eatwell Guide is one of the most commonly given tools for patients with gestational diabetes.
The issue is that it’s quite carb-heavy. The yellow section is mainly high-carb foods, and even some fruits and vegetables in the green section are high in carbohydrates. Low-fat dairy options in the blue section often contain extra carbs to compensate for the reduced fat content.
Carbs turn into glucose in the bloodstream and so this is why following the Eatwell Guide can be extremely tricky
You might also find it interesting that the Eatwell Guide was created by a group appointed by Public Health England, made up largely of food and drink industry representatives rather than independent experts. It is not fully evidence-based.
Carb Counting
Have you been told to “carb count”, eat a specific amount of carbs per meal or snack, or follow set portions of carbs and protein each day?
Carb counting encourages you to eat a certain amount of carbohydrates, assuming you can tolerate that exact amount per meal or snack. If your blood sugar rises, medication is often prescribed so you can “handle” those carbs.
From experience, I’ve seen that everyone tolerates different types of carbs differently. This doesn’t just vary from person to person—it can also change from one pregnancy to the next in the same individual. For example, 50g of wholewheat pasta might be fine, but 50g of potato may not be, or vice versa.
I often see posts in my Facebook support group where mothers have followed the recommended carb amounts exactly, yet their blood sugar levels are still above target—and they’re left wondering why.
Please take a look at my post on carbs to learn more about them in the gestational diabetes diet.
Low GI foods
Being advised to choose low GI foods is helpful, however, this alone is not enough.
The Glycaemic Index (GI) is a ranking from 1-100 and relates to how quickly these foods make your blood glucose levels rise after eating them.
Glycaemic Index (GI): Food Fact Sheet, BDA
Just because a food is low GI (low on the glycaemic index) doesn’t mean it will be tolerated by everyone. For example, porridge oats are low GI, but many women with gestational diabetes find them difficult to manage—porridge is actually a common food that can cause blood sugar spikes.
Food swaps, lists to try and lists to avoid
Have you been handed lists of “good” foods, swaps, and foods to avoid? Told to stick to low-fat or fat-free products? Or limited to just a matchbox-sized piece of cheese a day?
Maybe you’ve been told not to snack or to stop eating after a certain time, which is especially tricky if you work late shifts or nights.
You might also have been told to eat a set number of fruit portions each day or that you must have cereal or toast for breakfast. And if you don’t, medication could be suggested to help you cope.
The problem is, some of this advice just doesn’t work for gestational diabetes. Foods like white crumpets, malt loaf (Soreen), Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, low-sugar jam, grapes, and diet yoghurts are often recommended as “good” choices—but many women find their blood sugar still spikes, leaving them frustrated and confused.
Cut back a bit, or just eat your normal diet and test
You may have been told to simply cut out sweets, sugar, and cakes, reduce portion sizes, or maybe even not change your diet at all and just monitor your blood sugar to see what happens.
I find this kind of “advice” really unhelpful. A positive gestational diabetes diagnosis means your blood sugar is already high, or your body isn’t producing or using enough insulin to keep it in check after a glucose load. So, telling you to carry on eating as usual and just “see what happens”? Not ideal.
With a few small tweaks and adjustments, you can often significantly improve blood sugar control. Waiting to see what happens often leads to unnecessary stress and reactive measures later. Plus, depending on your testing times and targets, you might see low readings after high-carb meals, missing the spikes entirely and assuming your body is handling these foods fine—when it really isn’t.
Join Slimming World, do not gain ANY weight
You might have been told to join Slimming World to help lower your BMI, or even warned that you shouldn’t gain any weight for the rest of your pregnancy. It can feel overwhelming—while your baby is growing, you’re expected to diet or lose weight, sometimes without clear guidance on how to do it safely.
Slimming World can work for some women, but it can be tricky to follow with gestational diabetes because the plan is often quite carb-heavy.
If you want to learn more about how to follow the Slimming World Food Optimising plan with gestational diabetes, you can check out my full post here.
No help or guidance whatsoever! Consult Dr Google!
Maybe no one has given you any dietary guidance at all. Sadly, this happens far too often, and some mums are just told to “Google it.”
If that sounds familiar, then lucky for you—you’ve found us!
This is the “typical” NHS gestational diabetes dietary advice. Some of it can help lower blood sugar readings, but much of it may leave you struggling to achieve stable, lower levels. This can lead to starting medication or insulin sooner, or needing higher doses than you might otherwise require.
Medication is valuable for those who need it, but why start if a few simple dietary tweaks could help you achieve stable blood sugar without it? For many women, food can be as powerful as medicine—yet mothers are often not given the best guidance to make this possible.
Not all advice is poor
While a lot of the examples above reflect the usual gestational diabetes advice, it’s great to know that some dietitians, diabetes specialist midwives, and clinics give the same guidance we do. Even better, more and more are recommending our website and Facebook group after seeing the results in their patients and hearing feedback from others.
A huge thank you to all the clinics offering fantastic advice—we just wish there were even more of you!
Gestational Diabetes UK GD Dietary Advice
When I started the GD UK Mums Facebook group back in 2014, many women were relying heavily on medication and struggling to manage their diet, which often led to more inductions of labour. After going through three GD pregnancies myself, running the group, and spending lots of time researching, I’ve found ways to make a real difference in blood sugar levels with smarter dietary choices.
The advice shared here will probably be different from what you’ve been told. (I’ve seen so many posts from women feeling confused because the information they receive is often contradictory.) I’m not a medical professional, but I’ve spent the last ten years researching and learning about gestational diabetes, focusing on how diet and exercise can help lower and stabilise blood sugar levels.
You don’t have to follow my advice, but it’s here to give you another perspective—especially if other approaches haven’t worked for you. You can read through the articles on this website, explore the research links, and learn from hundreds of women with gestational diabetes who have been in your shoes and tried these strategies. Our Facebook group has now supported over 30,000 women, sharing tips, experiences, and advice that really works!
The low-carb, high-fat approach to diabetes management is gaining recognition beyond my own work. Many healthcare professionals are now exploring these dietary strategies to address obesity and diabetes, and an increasing body of research supports their effectiveness.
While this approach may differ from traditional low-fat guidance, it is worth examining the evidence and expanding your understanding of nutrition in the context of blood sugar management.
I developed the 8 Golden Rules to simplify the key principles of the diet, helping achieve lower and more stable blood sugar levels. You can find the full details here.
Concerns about weight-gain following a higher fat GD Diet
If you’re worried about weight gain on a high-fat diet, here’s some good news. In a 2024 survey with 3,270 responses, 54% of women lost weight, and another 15% stayed the same, which, when you factor in the baby, placenta, and fluid, effectively means they lost weight too. That’s a total of 69% of women losing weight while following a higher-fat diet!
This isn’t a weight-loss plan, but for many women, it can be a welcome side effect.
“Urgh… I feel soooo unhealthy on this diet. It can’t be good for you!”
Once you become familiar with the 8 Golden Rules, you may notice that you naturally stick to the same safe foods that help keep your blood sugar stable. Many women—especially those who previously ate a lot of fruit, a higher-carb diet, or low-fat foods—often feel that the gestational diabetes diet we recommend seems “unhealthy” at first.
You choose which foods to eat on this diet, and you decide how to pair them with carbohydrates. If it feels like you’re eating too much fat or too much cheese, try switching up your protein and fat sources—cheese isn’t the only option for pairing with carbs!
Use the Instagram account, the ideas on the website and the Facebook Group to find alternative ideas.
You may not tolerate fruit so well at the moment, but there should be a wealth of vegetables that you can still eat instead.
Remember to go for REAL FOOD, avoiding processed foods where possible.
Following the 8 Golden Rules could allow you to maintain good blood sugar levels even with foods like a doner kebab with salad and plenty of mayonnaise, a diet Coke, or a bucket of fried chicken. Ultimately, you choose what to eat within the rules—the diet is only as “unhealthy” as you decide to make it!
*Don’t forget that you may experience symptoms of a ‘sugar detox’ when changing your diet.
Worried about a high-fat diet and your health?
High-fat diet, cholesterol and heart disease
Following my 8 Golden Rules dietary approach involves incorporating healthy fats into your meals. Fat plays an important role by slowing the release of glucose from carbohydrates into the bloodstream and helping you feel fuller for longer.
For many people, the idea of eating more fat can raise concerns—after all, we’ve been taught to think, “Fat = gaining weight!”
You’ve just been diagnosed with a condition that could cause your baby to grow larger than expected, and now you’re reading advice recommending adding more fat to your diet. It probably sounds completely counterintuitive—almost like, “What planet are we on?!”
It’s natural to think that eating more fat will only lead to more problems—weight gain, bigger babies, higher cholesterol, and even heart disease. After all, we’ve been told for decades that fat is unhealthy.
However, recent research tells a very different story, showing that certain natural fats can actually play a beneficial role in managing blood sugar levels and overall health.
Please take a look at my full article on dietary fat.
Check out the Public Health Collaboration and my other dietary articles on this website, where I share more research and evidence. Remember this GD dietary advice is about eating REAL FOOD!
Here are some further links to take a look at:
Effects of Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diets: A Randomized Trial
Saturated fat is not the major issue
Saturated fat link with heart disease questioned
The Diet-Heart Myth: Cholesterol and Saturated Fat Are Not the Enemy
Does Low Carb Have a Cholesterol Problem?
What Do You Do if You Get Elevated Cholesterol on a Low-Carb Diet?
Top 9 Biggest Myths About Dietary Fat and Cholesterol
Fat v Carbs with Jamie Owen on BBC iPlayer
Here are some examples of the GD dietary advice given to our members:
To eat whole potatoes rather than mashed and to make the bulk of my meals low fat and starchy with plenty of fruit
“Buy M&S ready meals as they are great for blood sugar levels”…. unlike the meals I currently cook from scratch for my whole family made of REAL FOOD at reasonable cost???!
To start testing my blood sugars the next day, after diagnosis of GD, to go home have cake treat day
I was told I could start the next day and go and have a takeaway for tea
Only have 2 portions of protein a day, snack on only raw veg, eat low fat, only a few pieces of cheese, and that all carbs – including white carbs is OK just small portions. Cereal is fine to also have. If I wanted a piece of cake then to up my insulin a few notches. Fruit I can have 3 pieces a day. Also ‘have I thought about changing my diet to a western diet!’ because being Chinese must mean I live on a diet of rice and noodles, right?!
My doctor told me to have porridge for breakfast as it was a slow release food. It gave me some of my worst morning numbers.
To drink pure orange with my iron tablets! Spiked me massively
I was told to continue on my healthy diet, and my low fruit high in nuts muesli would be fine, but to add in snacks of whole meal toast and Dairylea which I was a bit disgusted at being told to eat processed food when I didn’t eat any, and low fat yogurt, but I quickly found my cereal on a morning was no good and equally having a no carb protein salad was no good either, bread was a definite no no for me, as were potatoes in any form, I’m so glad I found the group quickly and followed the advice of protein, fat and small carbs with every meal which balanced my readings out.
Stick to Weetabix or shredded wheat for breakfast as that would be best! Gave me an 11.9!!!!!
I wasn’t given any advice
It was just awful all round. ‘Just eat as normal and if you need medication your numbers will decide that.’ ‘cut out fruit and have low fat dairy options.’
They were obsessed with my weight (only just over the 30 bmi) and told me to have everything low fat. When I switched back to full fat (milk, yoghurt) I was able to eat muesli and some cereals again without raising my bs. I also lost more weight
Eat Weetabix, don’t snack, eat crumpets and scones. Oh and the best was the meal plan she gave me.. Weetabix, jacket potato cheese and beans, bean salad. Every meal was beans, considering she was a professional she didn’t understand a vegetarian diet!! Just beans!
My 1st GD pregnancy in xxxx I asked what to do if I felt hungry, could I snack etc I was told to ‘brush my teeth and have a glass of water’!! I was also told orange juice and porridge for breakfast was fine. My 2nd GD pregnancy in Suffolk was excellent and they advised the same as the website does. They worked with me along side your advice
Weetabix for breakfast! & look online for ideas…. Apart from this website everything I found online contradicted it’s self & sent my levels too high
All I got was switch to whole meal and don’t add extra sugar to cereals….
Fill up on yoghurt! Preferably low fat. Best breakfast is toast, cereal and nothing cooked.
I guess my hospital normally pushes yoghurt because when I said I don’t eat it she was stumped ! “Oh do you like crumpets ? You can have two of those or some porridge for breakfast” five minutes later “do you eat crumpets? Eat two of those with low fat spread ” it was so strange also at least half my plate should be carbs then veg and a tiny amount of protein. She was really annoyed that my consultant had said carbs where bad and to stay away (both sets of advice were terrible in my opinion)
My dietitian told me to carry on as normal!! No other advice given. Luckily I did my own research and all has been well
“Cereal, biscuits, potatoes are all OK to eat. Don’t be afraid to eat. Eat your normal diet just smaller portions. Cut out cake and chocolate though! “
‘Slimming world is fine, even with their unlimited fruit and carbs’
Low fat, and wholegrain carbs. Couldn’t handle carbs at all. They also suggested porridge!
Have low fat options and have things like shredded wheat for brekkie…. Safe to say cereal send my levels through the roof….
Drink orange juice for constipation. Told to have ‘low fat’ foods. Weetabix for breakfast.
I was just told to follow a “healthy eating plan with a bit of everything in moderation” very vague
I didn’t get any dietary advice!! Apart from my consultant telling me about double carbs being a definite no-no. I didn’t have a diabetic midwife and I saw a dietitian 1 who basically told me I had to cut out all sugar and that was all. And a sonographer who told me it was my fault I got gd because I are to many chocolate biscuits and got fat
I was told my diet was fine but the only thing they would suggest changing is limit my fruit snacks to no more than 3 a day…..
Was told I could basically eat what I wanted just smaller portions, no fizzy drinks and keep treats to once a week and keep the portion size down , she also told me that tums shouldn’t affect readings, they are pure sugar nearly at 2g a tablet …. Go figure
Despite being a medical professional, I was patronised and told to stop eating takeaways and chocolate. When I pointed out that I didn’t eat either as I had been doing Weight Watchers for nearly a year, they refused to believe me. I was also told that peanut butter was one of the worst things to consume and that I would be better off having jam on toast by a consultant endocrinologist!
To have Weetabix topped with fruit for breakfast, only have low fat yoghurt and all fruit and veg were fine. Also, was advised that a good lunch would be a jacket potato with either baked beans or tuna
Sweetcorn is a ‘free’ vegetable
“just have 2 biscuits as a snack instead of 4”. I don’t even bloody eat biscuits!
Second time around i had great advice! Though my dietician said cereal like Weetabix were fine as my diabetic midwife stood behind her shaking her head and mouthing NO at me!! Totally went with my midwifes advice after that ! First time around I unfortunately wasn’t a member of the FB group and also had the Weetabix and porridge is fine speech, had Weetabix the next morning! Don’t count a bs of 10.1 after 2 hours as fine!
Take a break for Christmas or my Birthday
