10 reasons to avoid excess sugar during pregnancy

If you’re pregnant and trying to eat well you’ll no doubt often be told to keep levels of refined sugar quite low, this is because it’s suggested women avoid too much sugar during pregnancy.

With this in mind our healthy recipes and meals are packed with the nutrients you need for you and your baby during this special time.

In our current society eating a high sugar diet during pregnancy is really common, in fact, studies show women think pregnancy gives them a free pass to eat whatever they feel like.

However, this can have serious consequences for mothers and their babies, and when we talk sugar, we are not just talking about the white powdered stuff, we are talking about most of your white foods such as bread, pasta, cakes, biscuits, and ice cream.

This also includes all of the high GI foods such as flavored drinks, soda, alcohol, candy, jam, jelly, sauce and breakfast cereals. You get the idea!

10 scientifically researched reasons to avoid excess sugar during pregnancy:

1. A higher sugar consumption is linked to a higher pregnancy weight gain.

2. Too much sugar increases glucose and insulin levels. So yes, eating excess sugar does contribute to gestational diabetes.

3. It can contribute to the development of a fatty liver.

4. The birth weight of your baby may be smaller.

5. By eating a diet high in sugar during pregnancy, we are programming our child’s genes to be a higher risk for metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.

6. Eating high sugar diets alters our children’s blood vessel structure and places them more at risk for heart diseases. These risk factors are found to be present in our children as early as age 7!

7. Eating a diet high in added sugars increases the risk of pre-eclampsia.

8. Drinking both artificially-sweetened and standard soda increases the risk of pre-term delivery.

9. Prenatal and pregnancy consumption of sugar has been linked to having obese children.

10. You increase your likelihood of having nausea and/or vomiting if you eat a diet high in carbohydrates and added sugars.

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