Trial of Diet in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Metabolic Consequences to Mother and Offspring

The rapidly rising risk of gestational diabetes pregnant women demands that an effective diet strategy be developed due to the high risk of fetal overgrowth, which places the newborn at increased risk for childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome. The aims of this randomized clinical trial are to compare the effects of an 8-wk isocaloric higher complex carbohydrate/lower fat diet vs. a conventional lower carbohydrate (higher fat) diet on glycemic and lipid profiles, maternal insulin resistance, placenta nutrient transporters, the maternal microbiome, neonatal intrahepatic fat, and neonatal total adiposity (primary outcome). The investigators will then follow the infants for 1-yr and measure maternal breast milk and infant microbiome composition to observe if they impact net fat mass gain differently in infants exposed to one diet vs. the other. Identifying a diet for gestational diabetes mellitus women that can effectively alter maternal/fetal metabolism is critical to reducing short- and long-term metabolic risk in this growing cohort of mothers and infants and has the potential to be applicable to overweight/obese pregnant women.