Glucose Tolerance Diet

A glucose tolerance test is administered to determine whether a mother-to-be has developed gestational diabetes, a potential side effect of pregnancy that can cause the fetus to gain an abnormal amount of weight and, therefore, complicate delivery. The baby's shoulders may not develop properly, and he may have breathing problems. An overweight infant is also more likely to develop diabetes later in life. A pregnant woman should eat more carbohydrates than she typically does for three days before taking the test to prepare for blood glucose monitoring.

Initial Screening

• Take a glucose challenge screening 28 weeks or later into your pregnancy. This consists of having blood drawn an hour after drinking a sweet liquid provided by a doctor or laboratory. If the test reveals a high level of glucose in the blood, the more precise glucose tolerance test will be administered to verify gestational diabetes.

Glucose Tolerance Diet

• Eat at least an additional 150 grams of carbohydrates (about the amount in a slice or two of bread), in addition to the meals you normally eat, for three days before the test.

Types/Servings of Extra Carbohydrates

• Examples of additional carbohydrate servings, one of which can be eaten with each meal, include 2/3 cup of cooked rice, a cup of cooked noodles, 16 ounces of apple or orange juice, 8 tbsp. of raisins, two large apples or two small bananas, the Gentlebirth.org Web site explains. It’s important to maintain this extra-carbohydrate diet at regular intervals (during meals) throughout the three days before the test to prevent triggering a false-positive result for diabetes, the Women’s Healthcare of Illinois Web site advises.

Sample Menu

• Consider not just adding carbohydrates but following a specific menu over the three days before being tested to make sure you eat enough of both sugars and starches and the total recommended calories to prepare for the test. Women's Healthcare of Illinois suggests adding a snack to the three meals a day. The sample menu this source suggests reads as follows:

  Breakfast
  1 egg
  2 slices of toast
  1 cup of milk
  2 tsp. margarine
  1 cup orange juice

  Lunch
  Sandwich with 2 slices of bread and 2 ounces of meat
  1 large piece of fruit
  1 cup of milk
  Vegetable

  Dinner
  Meat, fish or poultry
  ½ cup of rice, noodles, pasta or potato
  1 slice of bread or ½ roll
  Salad or cooked vegetable
  1 cup of milk
  1 large piece of fruit

  Snack
  ½ sandwich with 1 ounce of meat
  1 large piece of fruit
  1 cup of milk