Scientists have found that it’s not just the types of foods you eat that affect your health and metabolism, but the order in which you eat them as well. A large body of research has found that eating high-fiber vegetables, protein, or fat first, and refined carbohydrates like rice, bread, or pasta last, can help regulate blood sugar levels and stimulate the release of hormones that help you feel fuller. Some early studies suggest that it may even help you lose weight.
This strategy is called sequencing, or food sequencing, and it’s the opposite of traditional eating. It suggests that reaching for a basket of bread or chips at the end of a meal is better than eating these high-fiber, low-carb foods at the beginning of a meal.
1. Eat nuts before your main meal.
Try eating about 20 grams (less than a handful) of almonds before eating bread or pastries. Almonds are rich in fiber and healthy fats. Doing so can help reduce body fat, especially visceral fat, which is harmful. In addition, eating almonds before meals can help improve blood sugar levels in pre-diabetic patients.
2. Salad with olive oil
If you’re planning to eat a refined carbohydrate for lunch or dinner (like pasta or a turkey sandwich), try having a salad before your main course. Salads are high in heart-healthy fats and fibre, which can slow digestion, improve blood sugar levels and make you feel fuller longer. “You’ll probably eat less pasta because you’ll feel less hungry,” says Professor Trico.
3. Eat vegetables and protein first .
A small study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition found that when participants ate a diet containing chicken, vegetables, and white rice, they had higher levels of hormones that make you feel full and saw a slower, less rapid rise in โปรโมชั่น ufabet blood sugar levels than when they ate the foods all together or in different sequences.
4. Limit your consumption of foods with a high glycemic index.
“You don’t have to give up French fries, white bread, French fries or mashed potatoes entirely,” says Mario Krutz, a former clinical researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and founder of Nourished by Science, a website that promotes evidence-based nutrition to prevent chronic disease. “But these foods shouldn’t be part of your daily diet, because most of them don’t provide much nutritional value.
5. Don’t eat empty carbohydrates .
Empty carbohydrates are simple carbohydrates eaten with little or no fat, protein or fiber. Examples include toast with jam, krackery or chips, or high-sugar cereal with low-fat milk. Because these foods are absorbed and digested quickly, they cause your blood sugar levels to spike and crash, creating a cycle of hunger and cravings. Ideally, you want to pair them with healthy fats, protein and fiber. You can do this by spreading peanut butter on toast.
Christiane Jeyakumar Henry, a professor of biochemistry at the National University of Singapore, said the strategy of eating vegetables before refined carbohydrates could be particularly useful in countries with high diabetes rates, particularly those where rice is a staple food. “For every diabetic person in the world, two or three more are going to become diabetic if they don’t control their blood sugar levels,” he said.
Crutz cautions that the “carb-for-dessert” strategy isn’t always ideal, but most people can pair simple carbohydrates with healthy fats, protein or fiber. “You can’t get too obsessed with it, because if you do, you’re cutting out carbohydrates altogether,” Crutz says. “The key is to find a way to modify your meal a little bit so that it’s still culturally acceptable, while also reducing the level of empty carbohydrates. I think for most people, that’s the best way to go.