MAIN STUDY: Low Glycaemic Index (GI) Diet in the Management of GDM SUB-STUDY: The Breast Milk Sub-Study

Summary

MAIN STUDY: Low glycaemic index (GI) diets are recommended by the Canadian Diabetes Association for treating type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), but the role of GI in the management of gestational diabetes(GDM)is not yet clear. The main purpose of this study is to determine the effect of a low GI diet on blood sugar control in women with GDM. The effect of a low GI diet on maternal oxidative stress, pregnancy and delivery outcomes and markers of risk for diabetes after birth in both the mother and baby will also be assessed. SUB-STUDY: The main purpose of the sub-study is to determine if the breast milk (BM) of women with GDM consuming a low GI diet will have a higher antioxidant capacity than the BM of women receiving a medium-high GI diet (control/standard care). The effect of a low glycaemic index diet on maternal dietary intake of specific nutrient-antioxidants (i.e. vitamin C, E, and beta-carotene) (prenatal and postpartum) and concentration of vitamin C, E, and beta-carotene in participants' transitional and mature BM will also be assessed. The ORAC (Oxygen radical absorbance capacity) assay will be used to assess overall antioxidant capacity. The antioxidant capacity of BM in women with GDM will also be compared with that of women without GDM.

Hypotheses:

MAIN: The use of low-GI foods in the management of GDM reduces postprandial BG and oxidative stress; thereby reducing maternal and infant perinatal complications.

SUB-STUDY: Breast milk (BM) of women with GDM consuming a low GI diet will have higher BM antioxidant than women receiving the medium to high GI diet. BM of women with GDM will have lower antioxidant capacity than that of women without GDM.

Conditions

• Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Interventions

OTHER

Standard Care

Standard dietary advice for women with GDM with special emphasis on use of high fiber or whole grain carbohydrate foods with a medium to high GI. What's on Your Plate? and 3-dimensional food models will be used to teach servings size and meal planning. This groups will be provided with food substitution lists (key-foods method) composed of medium to high GI foods.

OTHER

Low GI diet

Nutrition education according to standard care similar to the control group with supplementary GI-education. GI-education will be taught using the "Stop-Light-Method". This groups will be provided with food substitution lists (key-foods method) composed of low-GI carbohydrate-containing food. The GI-education tool(s) will build on standard care education where patients are taught which food groups contain carbohydrate.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Canadian Diabetes Association

  collaborator OTHER

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research (CFDR)

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Toronto

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Thomas MS Wolever, MD, PhD · University of Toronto/ St Michael's Hospital

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-10-31

Primary Completion

2015-09-30

Completion

2015-09-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations