A new study suggests the order in which you eat your food could affect how sharply your blood sugar rises afterward — but the research so far is in mice, not people, and experts say it’s no quick fix.
The study, published in October in the journal Diabetes, found that mice given olive oil 15 minutes before glucose had a smaller early spike in blood sugar than mice given glucose first or glucose alone. The same effect showed up in mice with type 2 diabetes and severe insulin deficiency. Researchers also tested other dietary fats and got similar results, suggesting the effect isn’t unique to olive oil.
Corresponding author Dr. Daisuke Yabe of Kyoto University said the timing of nutrients appears to matter to the body’s chemistry.
“Our findings suggest that the order in which nutrients reach the gut can engage a coordinated hormone-nerve response that changes how quickly the stomach delivers glucose to the intestine,” Yabe said in a statement.
When fat went in before sugar, the mice’s stomachs released food into the intestine more slowly, and blood sugar rose less sharply at first. The researchers also found that eating fat first triggered early increases in two hormones, glucagon and GLP-1. Glucagon is normally associated with raising blood sugar, but the study found the two hormones appear to work together to limit the glucose spike.
Yabe said the appeal of this kind of research is that it points to a change in habit rather than a restrictive diet. “Meal-sequencing is appealing because it merely changes how a meal is eaten rather than requiring people to avoid entire food groups,” he said. The researchers said more study is needed to test meal sequencing directly in humans.
Don’t start chugging olive oil
Huma Chaudhry, a Chicago-based registered dietitian and founder of Dose of Nutrition, told Fox News Digital the study adds to a growing body of research on food order and blood sugar — but cautioned against reading too much into mouse data.
“We can’t assume the same results would occur in humans,” Chaudhry said. She noted the mice in the study were fasted overnight and given olive oil and glucose separately, 15 minutes apart — a setup very different from how people actually eat a meal.
Prior human research has suggested eating vegetables or protein before carbohydrates may help moderate blood sugar after meals, though Chaudhry said more research is needed specifically on olive oil.
“The takeaway isn’t that everyone should start drinking olive oil before a meal,” Chaudhry said, adding there’s “no need to treat it like a supplement or quick fix.”
Instead, she said the bigger lesson is about building meals that naturally combine healthy fats, protein, fiber and carbohydrates. She suggested practical examples: a leafy green salad dressed with olive oil before pasta, or eggs paired with toast at breakfast. Food sequencing doesn’t require a strict time gap between courses, she said — at dinner, someone could eat a salad dressed in olive oil first, then move on to chicken and pasta together.
“Food order may influence blood sugar alongside the overall quality and balance of our meals,” Chaudhry said.
