The order you eat your food in changes your blood sugar

This week's Mille Microhabit has nothing added, nothing taken away, just reshuffles the order you eat things in... and the payoff is bigger than the effort.

We all know the perfect bite. The sandwich with the exact right filling-to-bread ratio, the roti wrapped around just enough of your favourite sabzi, the rice and dal that make the hardest day a little better… It’s when everything goes together perfectly, and that’s half the pleasure of eating. So here’s the good news up front: nobody’s asking you to give that up.

The idea this week is only about sequence. On any plate, start with the protein and the vegetables, and let the rice or roti follow a few bites later. The meal you were planning to eat remains unchanged; all that changes is what reaches your stomach first.

Two things happen when you do it. The protein and fibre slow the rate at which the carbohydrates break down into glucose, so the same meal gives you a much gentler blood sugar rise rather than a sharp peak and a dip following it (you might know this feeling as ‘the afternoon slump’ or ‘why I reach for a sugary drink around 3pm’).

Because protein takes the edge off your hunger early, you tend to arrive at the bread/roti/rice in a more measured fashion, instead of loading up while you’re still ravenous and eating faster than your body’s satiety response, aka when it sends you a little message saying, ‘hey, I’m full!’

You don’t have to eat less, count anything, or swap a single item on your plate… It’s the rare change that costs nothing and takes nothing away!

This week’s microhabit: on any plate, a few bites of protein and veg before the starch joins in. Just a small reshuffle of the order. You’ll still get your perfect bite… You just make it the second or third one.

1,000 Ways to Live Well is a Mille publication. Mille is a modern nutrition brand built around everyday rituals, starting with protein that doesn’t ask you to compromise on taste. millesupergrain.com