Does the ORDER You Eat Your Food Matter?? (Should Veggies Really Come First?)

Aloha my friends, and Happy Fitness-Tip Friday!

The answer is YES! While what you eat in the first place is definitely more important… research shows that the ORDER or sequence in which you eat it also has health-related ramifications!

That’s good news, because it means you can improve the quality and “healthiness” of your diet WITHOUT requiring any change at all in what you’re actually eating! Simply the ORDER that you do so.

If you were to take the very same meal but change the order that you at the various foods in, that sequencing would influence all of the following aspects of your health:

1. It plays a role in determining how much of your meal gets stored as adipose tissue (aka “fat”)
2. It significantly influences “postprandial” (aka after-meal) blood glucose and insulin levels
3. It increases or decreases secretion of the gut hormones that tell your brain if you’re hungry or full 
4. It influences triglyceride and free fatty acid levels
5. It changes how quickly your food is cleared from the stomach (and therefore how soon you feel hungry again)
6. It can significantly alter oxidative and inflammatory outcomes and risks, which in turn affect virtually all aspects of health

Those are pretty big deals!!

Luckily, virtually all the research studies that have been done in this area so far have come to the SAME conclusion regarding the optimal order in which to eat your food.

Take a look at the following pyramid charts developed by 3 different studies looking to optimize 3 different aspects of health

^{Pyramid #1) The ideal meal sequence for maximizing SATIETY and minimizing FAT storage}

 ^{Pyramid #2) The ideal meal sequence for optimizing the GLYCEMIC RESPONSE (i.e. glucose & insulin levels)}

^{Pyramid #3) The ideal meal sequence for minimizing INFLAMMATION}

There are a few small changes in the ideal meal order… but the “big picture” general order of the main food categories is the same!

1. Eat HIGH-FIBER foods first! (esp. vegetables)
2. Then HIGH-PROTEIN foods (along with oils & fats)
3. Then CARBS last! (with whole / complex carbs coming before simple / refined carbs

Doing so will optimize ALL of the 6 health parameters we identified up above!

It’s been confirmed. Eating your veggies first really does make a difference!

Application: When possible, sequence your meals with FIBER first, PROTEIN next, then CARBS last!

Relevant Research Article(s):
      1) Ordered Eating and Its Effects on Various Postprandial Health Markers: A Systematic Review

      2) The Metabolic Concept of Meal Sequence vs. Satiety: Glycemic and Oxidative Responses with Reference to Inflammation Risk, Protective Principles and Mediterranean Diet

Related Dr. Gains YouTube Video(s):       

      1) You’re Doing Protein WRONG! (12 HUGE Protein & Amino Acid Mistakes Limiting Your Gains) ~100 Studies