QUESTION: I can not find any research on the issue of CHO intake in pregnancy! It’s all % and no gram recommendations. It’s looking like 50grams of CHO or lower is bad, but 75g to 100g of CHO in pregnancy may be the sweet spot those with pre-diabetes while pregnant and/or if they have gestational DM. Would you agree? Curious what you think. I have a pre-diabetic, elevated hbA1C mom wanting desperately to get pregnant. I manage her pre-diabetes through the insulin resistance diet (the one you gave me basically) — but she has a hard time following it (hence her elevated HbA1c). Do you know what the minimum amt of carbs required for a healthy pregnancy is? Is it safe to eat low carb while she is trying to have a baby and then what about during pregnancy? What about chromium?
ANSWER: I’d agree that 75 grams of good quality CHO is likely a safe and sustainable recommendation. Women have babies all the time after a pregnancy of eating almost nothing and being in ketosis as well, so I don’t think you can extrapolate that low CHO is always bad either. But as for safe recommendations 75G of complex CHO a day is safe.
In PG the safety of many trace elements depends on mom’s deficiency + need for the supplement. Many trace minerals will bio-accumulate in fetus due to lack of renal transport before birth.
