Sugar cravings,and insulin resistance HELP

[gingergrltea]

OMG.I have IR,and the pcos.I have followed a strict Paleo diet the past few years.Well this pregnancy if I eat meat or anything with protien I get SICK.I am stuck with nausea or pucking.I only want carbs toast,soft pretzels,soup,saltines,hashbrowns,potatos,some fried foods,and I LOVE Frozen FRUIT or chinese food (so bad) any kind of icey,or red velvet cake.This needs to stop.I am worried.I don't want to use splenda.Can I use stevia?What do I do to control this.I think I might buy Rice protien powder Monday.What  do I do.Darn cravings.My last pregnancy I wanted meat and fruit I ate healthy this one is diffrent.Plus this is my first time having nausea in a pregnnacy.

[msmiranda]

I've always been of the school of thought that when you are sick, you have to eat whatever you can stand, no matter what it is or how not ideal.  However, you don't want to develop GD in the first trimester if you can help it, and if you do, you need to make sure it is controlled, if not by diet (which is obviously hard right now), then using appropriate medications.  At the risk of sounding like a broken record (re previous thread to which I responded), metformin could be of great help to you right now if you aren't already taking it.  I am 23 weeks and starting around 18-20 weeks I could tell that my tolerance for carbs was becoming compromised, and taking my blood sugar after a couple of reasonable but not low-carb meals (e.g. 2 slices of pizza and a salad) confirmed it.  I started taking metformin (1500 mg) and now my blood sugars are perfect, even on the low side.  I can even eat french fries and still be under 120 at 2 hours!  That probably won't be true in 10 weeks, but for now I am enjoying it.  So it could help you be able to eat the carbs you are craving right now and keep your blood sugar at reasonable levels.  It would be useful to know how your blood sugar is doing right now before you start, just to have a baseline and to make sure your sugars need to be brought down. 

Re what to eat when you don't want meat or veggies, some fruits are lower carb than others -- strawberries and some melons are particularly good (though I  know they are not in season at the moment).  Balancing out your carbs with a protein is also important for keeping blood sugar stable.  I like to balance out fruit with cottage cheese, which is high protein and very low carb.  (Not everyone likes cottage cheese though).  Or regular cheese.  But you're right, a paleo diet is TOUGH when you're sick. 

ETA: Chinese food can be okay as long as you don't eat any rice and avoid breaded meats.

[SGVaughn]

I have issues with pcos and insulin resistance and know what paleo is!

I will second looking into metformin as a definite possibility and second the idea that dealing with being sick in pregnancy sometime you just have to go with the flow here and eat what you can tolerate but have you considered things like whey protein isolate and really sticking to legumes for a protein source? I tolerate eggs really well and maybe you don't but this is how I survived a lower carb diet in the first trimester along with a really good quality whey(sugar free and still kicked carb/sugar cravings!) You can go right back to a strick paleo diet as soon as you start to feel better and are more tolerant of it.

I really disagree with a lot of the information about carbs and fruits that floats around...when checking my own sugars I don't notice big problems with fruit ..this obviously may not be true for you, but it may be an area you want to re-evaluate temporarily (you may be craving folic acid).

Research the effects of cinnamon on blood sugar as well...there are some really interesting studies on it that have held true for me. I actually went off metformin in favor if cinnamon...with endo guidance :)

[reelgeek]

I generally keep my diet around 50 or less on the glycemic index point scale and that works out so that you can eat some carbs.

You can always combine foods to lower the sugar spike level too, like the ladies have suggested above. Sourdough bread is within my limit (yeast to sugar ratio) and if you put butter or other fats and some protein with it to modify the levels then it should be fine. I also was fairly sick in the beginning of my pregnancy and had to eat a lot of crackers/breads, which were the only things I could keep down. There are plenty of crackers that have nuts in them which lowers the GI index. Also, if you can eat some cheese with them, that also helps. I found that almonds were really helpful during that time and I picked up Herb Lore nausea relief tinture which enabled me to eat normal foods again. http://herblore.com/service/index.php?pg=info_nausea_relief

I second the fruits with cottage cheese. I've been eating berries/bananas with cottage cheese for breakfast every morning and all my blood sugar results have been normal to low. Sourdough English muffins with butter and cinnamon is a good combo that should work out for your cravings.

Good luck!

[physmom]

In general I don't eat sugar so maybe some of my suggestions will help.  I cook with blue agave, honey, and maple sugar.  I've found that blue agave seems to cause the least amount of cravings afterwards (and I've heard that its good for lose that are worried about a blood sugar spike but I'd suggest you check up on it first before you try since I've never done much research on it for those who are insulin resistant).  I have a really, really good cheesecake recipe with it if you want (I guess that's really not compatible with the paleo diet but I tend to think pregnancy goes beyond the bounds of what you normally eat especially during the first trimester!) just PM if you're interested.  I use blue agave in most things (cookies etc).  I also really like sweet potatoes with  just some butter and cinnamon. 

Another great thing is just a smoothie with fruit (add some frozen berries and at least one or two ripe bananas).  We also make whole wheat pancakes with either blueberries or apples+cinnamon in them and then cream cheese or peanut butter on them instead of syrup.  Another good thing is simply apples and sugar-free peanut butter. 

Anyways, good luck!

[EnchantedMamma]

Pair complex carbs with protein (oatmeal w/a tad of brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans/nuts).

Add cinnamon when appropriate (helps w/sugar metabolism or something like that, and also makes things taste sweeter).

Have herbal tea if that helps, with maybe just a sprinkle of sugar/sweetener. Peppermint tea doesn't need much sugar or honey.

And if you need a dessert, I would go with some super fatty/satiating so that you don't crave more. For example, a super fudgy brownie would probably make you satisfied whereas Sweet Tarts... well, I don't know about you but I typically eat them 1/2 box at a time, lol. Just can't stop.

Good luck! I have blood sugar issues too and crave carbs like crazy this time around :(

[lifeguard]

Have you been testing your blood sugar levels at all. Higher readings generally do correspond with more cravings for sugar. If you can get your levels down & consistent that really should help with the cravings.

I found with my last pregnancy that my body could handle "sugar" better at certain times of days than others. Contrary to the majority I could NOT have fruit in the morning but my body seemed to be ok with it in the afternoons.

I am currently doing a carb rotation diet (started a couple months ago) which has eliminated sugar, dairy & all simple carbs. Despite this & metformin I am seeing that my blood sugars are already higher than I would like & so early in the pregnancy so I suspect we will have to change the medication to get it under stricter control. I was hoping not to go down this road this time but sometimes we don't have as much control over our bodies as we would like.

[happy2bamama]

There is a supplement company that's wonderful (Dr. Christiane Northrup is part of it) and they have shakes and energy bars that are all certified low-glycemic.  I don't know if you like any of that stuff, but if you wanted to make a smoothie and use their shake powder as a base, that might be a good choice.  Or even have some of the bars on hand (and they taste REALLY good - and are gluten free too - the peanut butter chocolate one is amazing).  This company is great and all the soy in their products is GMO-free.  Here is a link to the food products on their site...

http://shop.usana.com/shop/cart/Categories?parentCat=1

It's the nutrition bars and the "Nutrimeal" that I'm talking about.  As an aside, their supplements are FANTASTIC and have been rated #1 in third part testing that's done every year.  I take them and noticed an immediate difference.  My midwife recommends them to all her patients (as does Dr. Northrup) and they are not only the highest quality supplement you can get, but they are easy on the stomach.  Kind of like a really expensive tequila :)  My friend who's in her first trimester said that she notices that she feels a ton better when she takes them.  And they have fish oil too that is 100% mercury free (and doesn't taste fishy either).  Okay, now I'm rambling, but I wanted to tell you about the low-glycemic stuff!

[SGVaughn]

soy and pcos are a no-go

you mentioned paleo..and sugar/carb cravings

I belong to a huge fitness group/site. Im a gym rat and actually mod on another board ...I get no kickbakcs from this comapny but I do know the owner personally. not advertising just throwin it out there

not exactly paleo but you'll hit your target macros with some whey

check this out, the cinnabun flavor really does taste exactly like cinnabun

if you look over its nutritional label I think you'll be pleased

http://www.needtobuildmuscle.com/store/Whey-To-Build-Muscle-p30.html,1

[javilu]

is the reason why soy + pcos are a "no-go" mostly related to the fact that many women with pcos are estrogen dominant?  would this necessarily be an issue during pregnancy, since levels of both estrogen and progesterone rise naturally as the pregnancy progresses and she obviously isn't trying to ovulate these days?  i'm just curious.  not interested in a debate over soy in general, just wondering if the logic for this particular population avoiding soy holds up during pregnancy and if so, why.

[SGVaughn]

good point about estrogen being higher in pregnancy anyway...maybe it wouldnt apply then, I dont know....I'll see what I can find on that cuz now Im curious

but yes, the estrogen dominance issue is why its normally a problem.... with pcos soy (and chicken skin?? I was told to avoid it by the endo) should be avoided ..soy is actually not too fantastic for most of the population because of this but for pcos its particularly bad because the excess estrogen converts to testosterone

I actually tested within the range of a normal adolescent boy for testosterone when I was on a high soy diet years ago but I really don't know what happens during pregnancy...food for thought, no pun

[javilu]

i'm curious, too.  let us know what you find out!

(food for thought...ha!)

[lifeguard]

In regards to substituting sugar for alternatives (ie. honey, agave, maple, etc.) your body does NOT see a difference when it comes to insulin response. Sugar is sugar so if it's problematic for you all sources needed to be limited regardless of how natural they are.

[MamaChef]

What about xylitol as a sugar sub?  Youll need to build up slowly because it can cause intestinal issues..

[reelgeek]

Originally Posted by lifeguard 

In regards to substituting sugar for alternatives (ie. honey, agave, maple, etc.) your body does NOT see a difference when it comes to insulin response. Sugar is sugar so if it's problematic for you all sources needed to be limited regardless of how natural they are.

This site lists out the actual GI index for sugar and substitutes, so depending on your response level and what your body lets you eat, you can see the different effects. Also, not all maple syrup is created equal. Lighter maple has less sugar, most of the crap you get in the states is way over processed and dark.

http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/blog/healthy-sugar-alternatives.php

[physmom]

Originally Posted by reelgeek 

This site lists out the actual GI index for sugar and substitutes, so depending on your response level and what your body lets you eat, you can see the different effects. Also, not all maple syrup is created equal. Lighter maple has less sugar, most of the crap you get in the states is way over processed and dark.

http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/blog/healthy-sugar-alternatives.php

I've seen a similar websites and have to agree at least with my own personal sugar cravings.  Blue agave is the best (for me) hands down, then real maple syrup, then honey in that order.  If I eat sugar I get bad cravings.  Granted I don't have an insulin resistance issue but I'm someone who has watched what she eats to loose weight and experimented quite a bit with this in order to still enjoy sweets but not to get hungry/cravings afterwards.  I found sugar was a HUGE trigger for me and once I cut it out of my life completely I was significantly less hungry than before.