A study in a 2022 issue of the journal Nutrients found that when people with type 2 diabetes adopted a habit of eating vegetables before starchy carbohydrates, as recommended by dietitians, they had a significant improvement in their blood sugar control, specifically their hemoglobin A1C levels (which measure average blood sugar over the previous three months), after five years. Another study in a 2024 issue of BMC Nutrition found that older adults with diabetes who made a habit of eating vegetables first had greater functionality—meaning, a greater ease in their daily living habits, intellectual activities, and social abilities—than those who ate other foods first or didn’t follow an order for eating foods.
“I think everybody could benefit from this, from those in diapers to adults,” says Joan Salge Blake, a clinical professor of nutrition at Boston University and host of the nutrition and health podcast Spot On! “Eating high-fiber vegetables first makes so much sense because it will ensure that you get them in—most Americans are not getting enough vegetables in their diet.”
The perks of nutrient sequencing
Mark Alan Effinger, 63, discovered the benefits of nutrient sequencing firsthand. Even though he doesn’t have diabetes or pre-diabetes, he began wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) in late 2023, to help him figure out how to optimize his blood sugar levels to perform better at work and in his workouts.
“When I started using the CGM and was eating normally, I was absolutely gob-smacked by the frequency, height, and duration of my blood glucose spikes,” says Effinger, a serial entrepreneur and product developer based in Burlington, Iowa.
So he started tinkering with his eating habits and found that starting a meal with fiber and a glass of water, followed by protein and ending with starchy carbs—was “a game-changer” in managing his blood glucose levels. “By working through my plate in that order,” he says, “I also have little to no meal-induced discomfort and no more post-meal fatigue or food comas.”
