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Order Matters: How to Flatten the Glucose Curve

In the pursuit of good health, we make choices about what we eat every day. But did you know that the order in which we eat our food can also have a dramatic effect on how our bodies function? Eating foods in a specific order can boost our energy, help us lose weight and reduce inflammation. So, what’s the magic formula? 

While we should focus on eating a balanced diet at each meal, the general rule of thumb when choosing the order in which we eat is to start with fiber, eat proteins and fats second, starches and sugars last. 

1. Fiber
2. Protein and fats
3. Starches and sugars

In addition, consider these tips:

• Fiber first: high-fiber, low-calorie foods with high water content will fill you up and limit the craving for sugar. Fruits, vegetables and soups are great examples of high-fiber, low calorie foods with high water content. 
• Foods like nuts and beans have soluble fiber, which slow digestion. 
• Eat plant-based protein (tofu, nuts, legumes such as lentils or chickpeas) to increase your fiber intake and help you feel fuller sooner. 
• Save high-fat, starchy foods (breads with butter or cheese, fried or roasted potatoes) and sugary foods (cookies, cakes, sugary cereals) for last as they negatively affect heart health and don’t satisfy hunger or nutritional needs. 
• Don’t worry about the amount of time between eating foods; it’s the order in which they are eaten that counts.

“As a habit, it is best to start your meal with a salad, vegetable-based soup or fruit, and try to fill half your plate with fruits and/or vegetables, one-quarter of your plate with lean protein, and one-quarter of your plate with starchy vegetables or grains, with a preference to whole grains,” explains Melaine Hendershott, MS, RDN, CSO, a dietitian at Shaw Cancer Center.

In Glucose Revolution, author Jessie Inchauspé compares the stomach to a sink and the small intestine to the pipe below the sink. “Anything you eat lands in your sink, then flows through to your pipe, where it is broken down and absorbed into your bloodstream,” she explains. 

When eaten first, starches and sugars move from the “sink” (stomach) into the “pipe” (small intestine) quickly and break down into glucose molecules in the bloodstream, causing a glucose spike. “The more carbs you eat and the quicker you eat them, the more forcefully the load of glucose appears–the bigger the glucose spike,” explains Inchauspé.

Conversely, when we consume fiber first, it goes through the digestive system slowly and unchanged. Fiber does not break down into glucose, and it actually reduces the process in which the body breaks other foods into glucose molecules. This prevents glucose spikes, or rapid increases in blood sugar. Spikes in blood sugar cause what we know as a “sugar rush,” followed by the inevitable and all-too-familiar “sugar crash,” leaving us feeling tired and craving something more satisfying to eat. Repeated glucose spikes, also known as sugar dysregulation, can cause heart, kidney and eyesight problems, as well as nerve issues like neuropathy, a loss of feeling in the fingers and toes. On the other hand, balancing blood sugar can positively impact energy levels, emotions, cognitive function and so much more. 

Foods containing fat also slow the process of gastric emptying, thereby flattening glucose curves. “If you eat the items of a meal containing starch, fiber, sugar, protein and fat in a specific order, you reduce your overall glucose spike by 73 percent, as well as your insulin spike by 48 percent,” says Inchauspé. 

If you don’t believe that order matters, try it out! At your next meal, start with sweets and starches, then eat your protein of choice, fats and finish with fiber. Notice how it makes you feel. Then, at a later meal, eat in the recommended order: fiber first, protein and fats second, then starch and sugars last. You might find you don’t even want the starch and sugars because you are satisfied and full from the first few ingredients.