Louwen Diet: Losing Weight During Pregnancy
The Louwen Diet is a form of nutrition for pregnant women shortly before birth. We will tell you what’s behind it.
Louwen Diet: What’s behind it?
- The Louwen diet is not a classic diet for losing weight. It is explicitly designed for women who are pregnant and is intended to reduce the pain of childbirth.
- The diet is based on the renunciation of certain carbohydrates in the diet from the 32nd week of pregnancy, i.e. six weeks before the birth.
Louwen Diet: The role of the glycemic index
- Simple carbohydrates, which put a heavy strain on your insulin level, contain a high glycemic index. This index indicates how strongly a food affects your blood sugar level.
- A high value means that a lot of insulin is secreted and more sugar is in the blood. An unhealthy diet leads to overweight and diabetes.
Louwen Diet: Focus on complex carbohydrates
The aim of the Louwen diet is not to lose weight. This would not be beneficial shortly before giving birth (except in cases of severe overweight). Rather, the aim is to rely on complex carbohydrates when eating, which, due to their low glycemic index, release hardly any insulin and therefore also little sugar into the blood.
Louwen Diet: Effects on birth
In the weeks before the birth, the body releases the hormone prostaglandin more strongly. Prostaglandin controls the reactions to inflammation and pain and also gives good information about the onset of labour. In addition, the hormone promotes the maturation of the cervix.
If you now release too much insulin in your body, prostaglandin is hindered in its effect because both use the same receptors.
Louwen Diet: Allowed Carbohydrates
- Pulses
- Beans
- Peas
- Lenses
- Chickpeas
- Natural rice
- Milk products
- Fruit (apples, oranges, pears)
- Wild rice
- Nuts
Louwen Diet: Avoid these carbohydrates in the diet before birth
- Potatoes
- Pasta
- Bread
- Fruit (watermelon, pineapple, papaya, dates)
- Honey
- Refined sugar
- Cake
- General White flour products
If you don’t want to pay attention to nutrition just before birth, take a look at the Logi method.