Nutritional therapy for gestational diabetes mellitus: what does the evidence say?

Abstract

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a disease, which is characterized by glucose intolerance first recognized during pregnancy, but which does not meet criteria of overt diabetes. GDM is a major medico-social problem, because is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The main method of GDM treatment is nutrition therapy, which can be supplemented with anti-hyperglycemic agents. Lifestyle modification has shown to be effective in preventing the complications of GDM. Despite this fact, there is no consensus on which dietary recommendations should be recommended in case of glucose intolerance during pregnancy. Most of current guideline recommendations suggest to control carbohydrate or calorie intake, diet with low glycemic index, Mediterranean or DASH diet. Another essential aspect of nutrition therapy in GDM is a safety of a diet outcomes for both mothers and their offspring. The purpose of this review is to evaluate current recommendations for GDM nutrition management and their supporting evidence. Along with this the goal is to the review common and uncommon proposed GDM diets, and ultimately and to provide an analysis of their safety and efficacy, the possibility of application in clinical practice for the treatment of patients with GDM.