The food ORDER matters

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Maria Menucci

Have you noticed that 2-3 hours after eating a high carb meal you feel hungry again? Or even worse, after meals you might actually feel weak, sleepy, or dizzy, shaky and with headaches: this reaction is called reactive hypoglycemia. It occurs due to a rapid absorption of carbohydrates followed by an insulin spike. Insulin will bring the glucose down and that’s when you feel hungry again, or if the response is exaggerated you’ll feel more than just hungry and you might experience the symptoms described above.

hypoglycemia 2

Can we do something about it? Sure we can: Avoid REFINED CARBOHYDRATES (simple starches and refined sugars). But since that can be difficult sometimes, there is a simple trick that can reduce the negative impact of the refined carbs in our bodies. A recent study showed that eating vegetables and proteins before carbohydrates, reduces the glucose spike and attenuates the insulin response. This can contribute to preventing prediabetes and the progression of insulin resistance. It looks something like this:

To put it in simple words: eat your veggies (roasted, grilled, boiled, raw, in salads or soup, guacamole…) and your proteins (chicken, fish, meat, eggs, nuts, seeds, legumes, dairy…) BEFORE your carbs (grains, potatoes, corn, fruits…).

And here is a BONUS: you might not even be so hungry afterwards and that can help to lower your carb intake overall! 🙂

Try it in your next meal! and the next one and the next one… and it will soon become a new healthy habit!