My Honest Review of the N9 Diet During Pregnancy - With a Dash of Morning Sickness

Being pregnant is a wild ride, and it's not just about the baby - it's also about discovering a whole new set of health issues. I was lucky, I didn't have too many problems, but before getting the immunoglobulin shot, I had to take a bunch of tests, and one of them showed that my blood sugar levels were at 6.3 mmol/L. I was really surprised by the results, especially since I had a glucose tolerance test just three weeks prior and everything was normal. Plus, I'm not a fan of sweets, and I didn't have any weight issues during pregnancy either. But the fact that my test results were bad really upset me.

So, what's this therapeutic diet N9 all about?

N9 is a low-carb diet. It's prescribed for people with mild to moderate diabetes, especially those who don't take insulin or take it in small doses (20-30 units).

My doctor, who was monitoring my condition, prescribed me the N9 diet and gave me a handout with a list of foods to avoid and limit.

As you can see, the list of foods on the N9 diet is pretty limited. And cutting out sugar cold turkey was a real shock for me, since I have a weird guilty pleasure - I love drinking strong, sweet black tea and snacking on fried, salty sunflower seeds. That was the only thing I found hard to give up. Otherwise, I was already eating like a diabetic, especially during pregnancy. The smell of cooked meat made me queasy, and I couldn't even boil a soup because the smell of cooked meat reminded me of, well, you know. After eating fried food, I felt physically ill. So, I had to stick to steaming veggies, boiling grains, and eating them with mushrooms.

To be honest, it's weird that my sugar levels went up and I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes right away.

My diet

I'm the type of person who can eat the same thing every day, but with this diet, that wouldn't work because some foods can only be eaten 1-2 times a day, while others can only be eaten 1-2 times a week. So, I had to add some variety to my diet. And yeah, if I used to eat only twice a day because everything made me queasy, I had to eat 5-6 times a day on this diet.

Side dishes

Carbs, grains, and potatoes could be eaten 1 time a day. I usually boiled oats for breakfast, had pasta or boiled potatoes for lunch, and sometimes made a salad because all veggies were allowed, except for potatoes. You could eat them without any restrictions.

Pickles and cucumbers were my husband's favorite)

I could only have eggs once a week.

First courses

I didn't have any restrictions on meat, as long as it wasn't fried. But to be honest, I got sick of meat, so I made vegetarian soups. My favorite was definitely borscht with fresh herbs and low-fat sour cream. I didn't add any potatoes to it.

Then I fell in love with Georgian ajapsandali (also without potatoes), which, by the way, the whole family loved. But I had to force myself to eat the broccoli and carrot soup.

I didn't want to cook separately for my husband and myself, so for two weeks, we all followed the N9 diet plan. My kid even liked it, but I still made him chicken soup with noodles every now and then. My husband would sometimes bring home shawarma for dinner.

Fruits and vegetables

Vegetables were unlimited, so I made salads for dinner.

In the morning, I would load up on fruits, which were limited in quantity. Bananas and grapes were off-limits, though.

I mostly added berries and fruits to my oatmeal for breakfast and smoothies.

Since it was fall, the stores were filled with watermelons and melons. I looked it up and found out that people with high blood sugar can have 300 grams of watermelon per day, but only one slice of melon per day. At least that's something.

I could have added mango to my diet too.

Dairy and fermented products

If you take a closer look at the product table, you'll notice that dairy products are off-limits. And right next to it, it says you can drink milk in unlimited quantities. A typo, maybe?

I'm not a fan of milk, so I decided to cook my oats with regular water for a bit. As for fermented products and hard cheeses, I was allowed to have those, but only without added sugar.

Baked goods

When it comes to baked goods, there are restrictions again. You can have no more than three slices of bread per day, regardless of whether it's white or whole wheat. I usually made myself sandwiches with butter and cheese for breakfast.

Lavash with tomatoes and cheesePasta was also allowed once a day. And of course, all sorts of sweet pastries, cakes, and pies were off-limits.

Drinks

Milk, sweet juices, and sweet kefir, soda, tea/coffee with sugar - all of that's a no-go. Vegetable juices and unsweetened drinks are okay.

Personally, I drank tea with lemon without sugar, and black coffee without anything, just couldn't stand the bitterness. Sometimes, I'd have kefir as a snack.

Results

After two weeks on this diet, I retook my analysis, and this time, they were back to normal. I was over the moon, but then I started wondering, do I have to eat like this forever? My doctor said that since my analysis is back to normal, I can gradually go back to my regular diet, just without overdoing it on the sweets.

What I noticed, though, is that I didn't lose any weight on this diet. My condition was the same as it was before. But honestly, I wasn't even worried about it.

Conclusion

I'm not a fan of sweets to begin with, but this 'Table N9' diet was still a challenge for me, especially during pregnancy when I'm craving nuts and pickles all the time. It's hard to imagine how people with diabetes have to live their lives, surrounded by so many temptations...

But on the other hand, this diet does help lower your blood sugar levels, and that's the most important thing.