This is a scientific literature review about nutritional therapy in gestational diabetes mellitus, without date restriction and using the SciELO, PubMed and Medline databases. The results of this review show that nutritional intervention is an important tool for managing gestational diabetes mellitus, and potentially benefits the mother's and fetal health. Nutritional status assessment of the mother should include anthropometric, dietary, biochemical, clinical and functional indicators. In this way, dietary assessment should be thorough, paying attention to the number and kind of meals, and the food groups present. The distribution of macronutrients in relation to the total energy intake per day should be 45-65% carbohydrates, 15-20% proteins and 20-35% lipids. The allowed sweeteners are acesulfame K, aspartame, neotame, saccharin and sucralose. Physical activity should also be included in the strategy to treat diabetes mellitus but the impact of physical activity on neonatal complications still requires minute testing. In addition, some studies have associated nutritional counseling skill with greater adherence to dietary recommendations. Several measures should be taken to ensure successful management of gestational diabetes mellitus, including participation of an inter and multidisciplinary team, early prenatal care with opportune nutritional care, and guaranteed quality care during pregnancy.
Prenatal care; Diabetes, gestational; Pregnant; Nutrition
