Apart from diets and nutritional habits, researchers have come to the conclusion that the order in which we ingest food has serious influence on glucose and insulin levels. Eating protein and vegetables before carbs leads to lower post-meal glucose and insulin levels in obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
The study was performed by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and involved 111 people who were overweight and had type 2 diabetes treated with metformin. To establish the findings, the study subjects were given a typical Western diet meal, rich in vegetables, protein, carbohydrates and fat. After playing with the order in which food was ingested, researchers came to the conclusion that a certain order deeply affects body processes.
For the first part of the process, namely the first western meal researchers recorded blood glucose levels. Consequently, participants were instructed to eat carbs first, followed by protein, vegetables and fat. The glucose levels were then recorded 30, 60 and 120 minutes after the rich meal. The process went on with reversing the order of aliments and the conclusions offered a precious insight.
Researchers concluded that if study subjects eat carbs as last part of the meal, blood glucose levels can lower with up to 28, 9% after 30 minutes, 36, 7% after 60 minutes and 16, 8% after two hours. Insulin levels are also influenced by the order in which we choose to eat certain types of food and in the carbs case insulin levels were much lower when people had protein and vegetables first.
A previous study debated perfect timing for our meals, suggesting that it is not as important what we eat, but when we eat, so that our body can be fully optimized for assimilating all the nutrients and processing all the foods. Along with that, a certain order must also be respected, no matter what we choose to eat.
At least for patients suffering from diabetes, who are constantly exposed to risks of increased blood sugar, eating carbs after protein and vegetables is highly important. This leads to lowered post-meal glucose levels and a healthier lifestyle for diabetes sufferers.
So it is not that important to make a thorough selection and exclude certain aliments from our daily diets, but it is highly important to keep in mind that no matter what we eat or how much we like a certain type of food over another, the order in which food is eaten affects body processes. Veggies first and carbs after make the body steadier, stronger, faster and healthier.
