Food comes in many forms from home-cooked meals to processed junk food – and some options are healthier than others. Regardless of its form, food supplies our body with the macronutrients it needs to produce energy. Without the sustenance that diet offers, your cells could eventually run out of energy and your life would cease to exist. We eat to stay alive but, just as importantly, to stay vitally alive – not just exist. It matters how much you eat as well. Hopefully, you adjust our food intake to help with weight control.
It’s clear that both the quality and quantity of the food you eat impacts your weight. But what about the order in which you eat your food? That “meal sequencing,” the sequence in which you eat macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat, and protein), plays a role in weight control is an intriguing one. This idea has even spawned a new area of study. Does it matter what you eat first and in what order you consume your macronutrients?
The Three Macronutrients – Carbohydrates, Fat, and Protein
You probably know that your body derives energy from three macronutrients – fat, carbohydrates, and protein. Carbohydrates and fat are the main energy sources your body uses to make energy, although, during periods of starvation or long periods of exercise, it can use protein to make glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis. However, your body uses protein for other reasons – for muscle repair, to make antibodies, enzymes, hormones, and more. For a balanced diet, you need all three of these macronutrients.
What about meal sequencing – the order in which you eat these macronutrients? According to a small, pilot study published in the journal Diabetes Care, the order in which you consume carbohydrates and protein affects the blood sugar response you get from a meal.
In this study, researchers gave 11 people with type 2 diabetes a meal that contained carbohydrates, protein, and vegetables after they had undergone a 12-hour fast. The only difference was the order in which they ate the macronutrients. One group consumed the carbohydrates first, a meal consisting of orange juice and ciabatta bread. This was followed by a meal of protein and vegetables (grilled chicken, salad, and steamed broccoli). In the second group, the sequence was reversed, protein and veggies were served first followed by carbs. They then switched the order of the meals a week later and repeated the experiment. Afterward, the researchers checked blood sugar and insulin levels at 30, 60, and 90 minutes after the meal.
The results? When the participants ate protein and vegetables prior to eating carbohydrates, their blood sugar was significantly lower at all time intervals. In fact, at the 1-hour mark, their blood sugar response was 37% lower. Plus, the participants who ate protein and veggies first released less insulin – a good thing from a health standpoint. Excessive insulin encourages your body to store fat and is linked with inflammation.
One shortcoming of the study is the participants waited 15 minutes after eating the protein/veggies before consuming the carbs. It’s not clear whether the results would have been the same had they not waited. Plus, the participants in the study were type 2 diabetics. Would the same results hold for healthy people without diabetes?
How Meal Composition Impacts Blood Sugar Response
Not only the order but the composition of what you eat impacts the glucose response to a meal. When you consume carbohydrates, it’s best to team them with protein and a source of fat to lower the rise in glucose you get. Based on one study, protein has more of an impact on the glycemic response than fat, although fat, too, curbs the rise in blood sugar. The reason fat reduces the glycemic response is it slows the rate at which food leaves the stomach, thereby allowing slower absorption. In addition, one study showed that adding whey protein reduces the rise in blood sugar you get when you eat a meal rich in high-glycemic carbs. So, when you munch on a cookie, you can lower the blood sugar response by eating it with a whey protein shake.
Another way to reduce the glucose response to a meal is to replace high-glycemic carbohydrates, like pastries, white potatoes, white rice, and foods made with white flour, with high-fiber carbohydrates, like whole grains, non-starchy vegetables, and low-glycemic fruits, like berries. Since your digestive tract doesn’t break down fiber, it doesn’t impact blood sugar. However, foods that contain fiber will still cause a rise in blood sugar since they contain other non-fiber carbohydrates, but the fiber itself won’t cause a rise in glucose.
Why Should You Care about the Blood Sugar Response to a Meal?
If you’re not diabetic, you might not be concerned about how a meal impacts your blood glucose level – but you should be. After-meal glucose surges trigger inflammation and damage at a cellular level. Plus, when your glucose spikes, so does your insulin level and this makes it easier to store fat. Unfortunately, more than a third of the American population is pre-diabetic, meaning they have an abnormal blood sugar response, and many don’t know it. In fact, you can be pre-diabetic without experiencing symptoms and many people are completely unaware. Pre-diabetes is truly a silent epidemic. Taming those post-meal glucose and insulin spikes can help you avoid future problems, like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The Bottom Line
The best way to tame glucose spikes is to eat fiber-rich, whole foods carbs along with a source of protein and a healthy fat. When you DO eat high-glycemic carbs, consume them with protein and fiber rather than as a standalone. Also, make sure you’re eating a diet that contains a full array of micronutrients as well. Some research suggests that a diet higher in magnesium may improve insulin sensitivity and, in turn, blood sugar control. Include plenty of magnesium-rich foods in your diet.
What you eat matters and, the order in which you eat the macronutrients in your diet may impact your blood sugar too. However, the best way to improve your metabolic health and avoid blood sugar problems is to eat a diet of whole, unprocessed foods without added sugar.
References:
Diabetes Care 2015 Jul; 38(7): e98-e99. http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/dc15-0429.
Care2.com. “Carbs or Protein First? Study Shows Food Order Matters”
J. Nutr. October 2006 vol. 136 no. 10 2506-2511.
Diabetes Care 2015 Jul; 38(7): e98-e99. http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/dc15-0429.
Am J Clin Nutr July 2005 vol. 82 no. 1 69-75.
Diabetes Care 2003 Apr; 26(4): 1147-1152. http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/diacare.26.4.1147.
J. Nutr. March 1, 2013. vol. 143 no. 3 345-353.
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