Gestational Diabetes and Baby Shower Menu

I am mom to a type 1 diabetic....'sugar free' does not mean carbohydrate free - often there are more...plus sugar alternatives are generally not advised for pregnant women as they can cause birth defects (and are in ALL items marked 'sugar free' - talk to her or have veggies, cheese, meat trays - the taco idea is great as long as you have corn tortillas as they are much lower in carb...good luck!

Google low glycemic diet. This is best for everyone but can actually prevent or control gestational or type 2 without medication. (Jenny Craig and Nutrisystems are now using it for their weight loss programs)

Generally speaking meats and cheeses are low glycemic. Most proteins are, however legumes are mostly medium glycemic. Most nuts are low glycemic. Green veggies like broccoli or cauliflower are good. Carrots are a no-no. Fruit platters with higer fiber are best but most fruits are okay. Pineapple is a no-no.....as you can see there is a general rule of thumb but the glycemic index does not have a hard and fast gage.

No bread or crackers unless they are spelt or sprout breads....Mayonnaise without sugar is okay (Dukes is the only one I know that doesn't add sugar) but store bought dressings are usually very high glycemic and loaded with high fructose corn syrup that is a killer!

Bacon, eggs, cheeses, veggies..you could do an omelet buffet too!

If you decide to do a low glycemic menu your friend will probably think you really went all out for her. There are some really cool things you can do with different types of fruits and veggies as well as funky kinds of breads!

Hope this helps!

M.

Veggie tray w/light dip, little lunch meat sandwiches, fruit tray

You can basically have the same menu you were originally planning.
The mom to be will want to limit sugar and carbs. But you also need to think of all your other guests. So you should consider some type of sugar free desert. Since it's brunch, consider a nice fruit platter. A veggie quiche is also a good choice. So are mini bagels and cream cheese (keep the cream cheese the low fat kind and don't get the special fruit flavored ones). It may not fit into your brunch menu, but if it does a veggie tray is a great choice.

Beverages... at most showers a punch is served. Make sure you have water available, add a few slices of lemon. Seltzer is another good choice. Unsweetned ice tea, the other guest can add sugar or sweet & low if they choose.

Good luck.

I agree that you should run it by the mom-to-be. I am pregnant with our 4th, 2nd with gestational diabetes. For the last baby, my doctor okayed me to have what I wanted at my shower, within reason (I had a chocolate fountain with fruits!). Her doctor may be willing to do the same for a one-time event. Or the doctor may just have her inject more insulin to counter-act the extra carbs.
If her doctor is not willing, then the eggs, cheese, meat, veggie diet with a few carbs available (crackers, low-carb tortillas, etc). She is supposed to have some, just not too many at one time.
If she is new to diabetes, she may be so confused, she may not know what is going to be okay and what isn't - it is frustrating...even when you do know what you can and cannot eat!

Consider asking your friend about this - she may want to have a menu for her friends that is broader than what she is limited to, as long as there is some food for her to eat as well.

I would sit down with her and plan the menu based on what she can eat and then have some of the items you want to serve, also. My brother is a diabetic and at family dinners, we have what he can eat along with foods that everyone likes, too. There are lots of diabetic cookbooks that can give you some dessert alternatives. Just because fruits are healthy , they do contain high amounts of sugar.

You could do something like a "bar" ( example taco bar) where everyone makes their own so they can have the choice what to put on their meal based on what they are allowed or not.

when i had gestational diabetes I was told lots of protien and cheese items. lots of veggies. any crackers or bread make it whole wheat. use asparteme instead of sugar. aspartame doent have a nasty after taste like most diabetic sugars. I personally cant tell the diffrence. make all cheese and stuff make it 2% for all dairy. you can make like tuna wraps with wheat tortillas or whatever. go to all recipe.com and find a diabetic punch.

I like Jen's ideas. I was gestational, but not insulin was able to control with diet. Veggie great idea. You can also get sugar free cookies or even other desserts - fruit is another option.

Ask her what would work well for her. I had GD and the only sugar okay-ed by my doctor was one piece of cake at my baby shower. I had dreams and longing for that one piece of cake. To this day it was the best tasting cake of my life.

I'm not sure about an entire menu besides the normal vegies, etc. I will tell you this...the best sugar-free candy out there....mmmm sugar free reeses peanut butter cups. You can find a huge selection of sugar free candy at walmart. They started making york pepermint patties, hershey kisses, but my fav's the peanut butter cups. You could also do a frozen/cold parfait with sugar free jello and light whipped cream. My parents were both insulin dependant, and I ate whatever they made, lots of it was low sugar and I never paid attention cause it didnt taste different. A lot of the cookies/pie's didn't taste right though lol. Good luck and have fun!

I cater a ton of parties and currently have gestational diabetes as well.

If you want to stick with brunch, I would try crust-less mini quiches. It's super easy, just use your favorite quiche recipe (minus crust) and pour into well-greased muffin cups (no liners!). Bake at same temp, but watch'em they obviously cook faster. High protein, low carb...yummo.

Serve these with a yummy green salad with vinaigrette or traditional veggie tray, a nice cheese platter, and mini yogurt and berry parfaits.

If you are working with a bakery ask them if the can do sugar-free petite-fours. If not arrange a tray of assorted sugar-free Russell Stovers candies (Walmart).

Good luck!

The very best solution would be to run the menu past the Mom-to-be. She knows what she can and cannot have PLUS she knows what her "trigger foods" are that she may want to avoid. When I had Gestational Diabetes my doctor sent me to a dietitian that taught me HOW to eat for my condition. She taught me about portion control and foods that could trigger a sugar spike. However, you friend is having to take insulin, so there could be some other issues. Many woman who are forced to go on insulin go into denial about their condition. They adopt an attitude that they can eat whatever they want and then just make it all better with a shot of insulin. Not true, and very dangerous. So ask your friend about the menu and help her to avoid her "trigger foods."

talk to her - they will probably send her to meet with a nutritionist. They sent me to do that and she gave me a list of what i could have and how many carbs i could have at each meal. the carbs get converted to sugar. i think it is ok to have things she cant eat or eat a lot of (for the others) as long as there are things she can eat there too. that is what we did at all my showers. we had lots of cheeses, veggies and proteins. you can also do small cake balls instead of a huge cake. there used to be a place in richardson called sugarless delight on campbell and they had all diabetic friendly foods.