Eating your food in a particular order can manage blood sugar. How?
In new research, food sequencing was highlighted as a way to better manage blood sugar levels. Simple changes in food order can reduce glucose spikes and improve overall health.
In short
- Food sequencing means eating vegetables, then protein, and carbs final
- This order reduces post -blood sugar spikes
- Protein and fat slow down digestion and improve insulin reaction
We are all using it to mix on our plates – complicated with dal rice, folded to vegetables, a doll of curd on the side, and a crushed dad at the top. How Indian food has always been: comfort, hearty, and chaotic with joy.
But emerging science shows that the order in which we eat our food can affect our health more, especially when it comes to management of blood sugar.
We need to manage our blood sugar as it gives energy to our body. But too much sugar in the blood can hurt our heart, eyes and kidneys. It can make us feel tired or sick. Keeping it balanced helps us to stay strong, feel good and avoid health problems later.
What is food sequencing?
Food sequencing, or the practice of eating food in a specific order, is getting equally traction between health experts and affected.
This idea is simple: eat vegetables first, protein and fat next, and save carbohydrates for the final. This, researchers say, small glucose spikes and metabolic health can improve.
“Food sequencing is a dietary strategy that involves consuming food components – such as vegetables, protein, fats and carbohydrates – to optimize blood sugar control, in a specific order,” Surya Mother and Child Super Specialty Hospital, Clinical Dietist of Cune tell.
“It improves insulin reaction and metabolic health, when protein, fat and fiber -containing vegetables are eaten first, by slowing down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates,” she says.
Last month, actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu shared on Instagram that his glucose monitor first ate his vegetables, followed by protein, and then, compared to carbs -, when he used to eat the same food without any sequence, his glucose monitor saw much less sugar spikes. She is not alone.
French biochemist Jesse inch, known as “glucose goddess”, often talks about “clothes”-before eating fiber-rich vegies make a protective layer in the intestines, making the absorption of sugar slowed down.
how it works
The order of this food has a domino effect on digestion. When protein and fat are eaten before carbs, they empty the gastric, which means that the food leaves the stomach more slowly.
Carbohydrates then gradually trickle in the bloodstream instead of all spiking, which reduces demand on insulin and reduces stress on the pancreas.
“It also triggers Incretin hormones such as GLP-1, which increases insulin secretion in a glucose-dependent manner and suppresses glucagon,” Diwadkar says. Over time, it can help reduce insulin resistance and support long-term blood sugar stability, especially for people with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.
It’s not just about blood sugar
Beyond the management of sugar levels, food sequencing offers other allowances: better digestion, low inflammation, stable energy levels, low crawings, and potentially easy weight management. This is just a very long list to change your bite order.
Diwadkar provides a desi-friendly guide for sequencing:
Start with non-starchf vegetables like cucumber, tomato, carrots and beats like ladyfingers, lauki, eyelid, or salad.
Follow with protein and good fats: Think lentils, cheese, legumes, eggs, grilled chicken, yogurt, buttermilk, or nuts and seeds.
Finish with carbs such as roti, nachni bhakri, jovar, or dalia.
Looks great, but is it practical?
Here is rubbing: Traditional Indian is designed for food mixture. Think about lentils, rice, vegetable-bread, or khichdi. Telling someone to eat salads, then lentils, and bread to save the end, may look strange, well. Add busy working and family food to the mixture, and sequencing may look like an unrealistic health hack.
Diwadkar agrees that it is not always easy, but insists that small twics can go a long way. “While Indian food often involves mixing vegetables, pulses and rice together, mindful sequencing with some simple changes is still possible.
Start your food with a salad or step veg. Even in khichdi or casserole, raise the part of vegetables and lentils than rice, “she says.” The goal is not to follow strict rules, but to make small, practical changes that suit your routine. ,
Food sequencing is not a magical treatment, especially if your overall diet is more in processed foods and sugars. But as part of an arbitrary eating practice, it can be a surprisingly effective tool for better blood sugar control, digestion and even mood.