Adipokines, hormones produced by belly fat, control both sugar and fat metabolism, and are involved in insulin resistance, the hallmark of Type 2 and Gestational diabetes.
The hormones are thought to be a link between being overweight or obese, and the two conditions.
The two most studied adipokines are leptin and adiponectin.
Leptin is the starvation hormone...

• when its levels are high it tells the brain to turn off the appetite.
  
• when its levels become low, the body reacts as if it were starved making the appetite levels increase.
  This can lead to more fat and more adipokines.
  

Adiponectin helps fight insulin resistance.
When both hormones are present at normal levels, the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes can go down.
In January 2015, the medical journal Metabolism reported on a new study on adipokines and Gestational diabetes.
A study conducted at National Institutes of Health in Rockville, MD, United States and several other research centers in the US, could offer hope for early treatment to prevent the condition.
The scientists collected nine studies on adiponectin and eight studies on leptin, two types of adipokines, and their relationship to Gestational diabetes.
It was found the women who later developed Gestational diabetes had higher levels of adiponectin during their first and second three months of pregnancy than did women who did not develop the condition.
Leptin levels were lower in women who went on to develop Gestational diabetes.
From the results of the information collected, it was concluded more studies on pregnancy and adipokines is needed to learn exactly how their association works.
In 2014 the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, USA, reported as many as 9.
2 percent of pregnancies are complicated by the development of Gestational diabetes.
Like Type 2 diabetes, diabetes that starts during pregnancy is caused by resistance to insulin.
This can overfeed the fetus with sugar and lead to delivering an excessively large baby.
Overweight infants are at high risk for becoming overweight children and adults.
That puts them at high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.
Mothers who develop diabetes during their pregnancy are also at risk for developing full-blown Type 2 diabetes later in life.
At some point it might be possible to prevent Gestational diabetes, or even Type 2 diabetes, by balancing adipokines.
In the mean time...

• normalizing weight,
• eating plenty of fresh vegetables, and
• exercising for 25 minutes, five days a week

go a long way toward prevention.