Don't want glucose spike especially after meals? Then it's best to eat your carbs last.
This is the suggestion from researchers of Weill Cornell Medical College. The study, which is now published in the recent issue of Diabetes Care, reveals how the order of eating one's food can have a strong impact on the control and treatment of type 2 diabetes.
Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 develops as a metabolic disorder. It is characterized by the abnormal production of insulin by the pancreas and resistance of the body to the hormone. These then lead to a higher level of glucose in the blood.
Scientists explained while type 2 may be controlled by medicines, it's also important that the patient exercises proper diet, including being more conscious on how much and what type of carbohydrate they have been eating. Carbs, where a huge amount of sugar can be extracted, can cause glucose spikes or hyperglycemia. A person with such condition may experience blurry vision, fatigue, difficulty in concentration, excessive thirst, headache, and elevated blood sugar during tests.
In the order of meals, they highly recommend chowing on the proteins and vegetables first before you dig in to the carbohydrates to reduce insulin levels post meals.
For the study, they worked with 11 patients who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, are morbidly obese, and are currently taking a medication to regulate glucose. They then ate a typical Western meal consisting of fat, protein, vegetable, and carb twice on different days with at least a week apart.
Before they officially began the test, the researchers performed a fasting blood sugar on the volunteers. They were then instructed to eat their meals, starting with carbs and followed 15 minutes by protein then vegetables. The last one was fat. Their glucose levels were then measured in different minute intervals. The following week, they ate the same meals, with carbohydrates last and only 15 minutes after the others had been eaten.
During their analyses of the glucose levels, they discovered that glucose levels are lower by as much as 29% when they eat carbs last.