Can I eat cherries if I have gestational diabetes?

Written by Xu Dong Dong
Endocrinology
Updated on July 02, 2025
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Pregnant women with diabetes can eat cherries, as cherries have a relatively low sugar content and glycemic index. However, they should not be consumed in large quantities; rather, they should be eaten in small amounts multiple times throughout the day, preferably between meals. Blood sugar levels should be monitored after consumption. The blood sugar control targets during pregnancy, without experiencing hypoglycemia, are a fasting blood sugar level below 5.3 mmol/L and a post-meal blood sugar level below 6.7 mmol/L. Pregnant women can opt for fruits with a lower glycemic index, such as apples, pears, grapefruits, cherries, oranges, peaches, etc.

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Gestational diabetes blood glucose monitoring

Gestational diabetes refers to individuals who were not diabetic before pregnancy but develop high blood sugar levels due to increased insulin resistance caused by elevated hormone secretion during pregnancy. These patients also need to monitor their blood sugar, typically checking fasting blood sugar, post-meal blood sugar, and bedtime blood sugar to maintain it within a target range, such as keeping fasting levels at 5.60 and post-meal levels below 7.8 to avoid hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia and minimize the risk of low blood sugar. If the blood sugar level exceeds 10 or even higher, such patients may require medication treatment. If the increase is mild, through diet and exercise interventions, blood sugar can generally be controlled within the normal range.

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Written by Liang Yin
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How is gestational diabetes treated?

The treatment of gestational diabetes includes dietary therapy, exercise therapy, and insulin therapy. For dietary therapy, we mainly control the total calorie intake and supplement with elements such as calcium, iron, folic acid, and various vitamins; in exercise therapy, we aim to control the speed of weight gain, improve the peripheral tissues' utilization of glucose, and improve the lipid profile. For patients whose blood glucose levels do not meet the standards after two weeks of diet and exercise therapy, we initiate insulin therapy. The goal of insulin therapy is to control fasting blood glucose below 5.3 and postprandial blood glucose below 6.7. The methods of insulin therapy include twice daily injections, multiple daily injections, or the use of an insulin pump.

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Written by Zhao Dan
Orthopedics
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What is gestational diabetes?

The group of people who were diagnosed with diabetes before pregnancy is called gestational concurrent diabetes. Those who were not diagnosed with diabetes before pregnancy, but were diagnosed after becoming pregnant, are referred to as having gestational diabetes. Eighty percent of women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, while twenty percent have gestational concurrent diabetes.

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Written by Chen Xie
Endocrinology
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Gestational diabetes blood sugar standards

The diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes involve a pregnant woman undergoing a 75-gram glucose test at any time during pregnancy to measure fasting blood glucose, blood glucose one hour after consuming glucose, and blood glucose two hours after consuming glucose. The thresholds are: fasting blood glucose equal to or greater than 5.1 mmol/L, blood glucose one hour after glucose intake equal to or greater than 10.0 mmol/L, and blood glucose two hours after glucose intake equal to or greater than 8.5 mmol/L. Diagnosis of gestational diabetes can be made if blood glucose levels exceed these standards at any of the three time points. In China, pregnant women typically undergo the 75-gram glucose test between the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy. Women at high risk for gestational diabetes are advised to undergo the 75-gram glucose test early.

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Is it necessary to always control diet after gestational diabetes?

Women with gestational diabetes should pay attention to diet control and physical exercise even if their blood sugar levels return to normal, and manage their diet and exercise as if they have diabetes. Women with gestational diabetes indicate poor pancreatic function, and generally more than half will develop diabetes after 20 years. Therefore, women with gestational diabetes should maintain long-term blood sugar control after childbirth, control their diet for a long time, avoid excessive consumption of fruits and sweets, and enhance physical exercise, including being active for at least half an hour after meals.