Vegetable-First Meal Sequence Suppresses Postprandial Glycaemic Excursions and Variability in Young Women With High-Risk Phenotype for Early-Onset Type 2 Diabetes: A 4-Arm Randomized Crossover Trial With Continuous Glucose Monitoring.
Minji Choi, Soyoon Lee, Eujean Bang et al.
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In 30 seconds
This randomized crossover trial assessed whether meal order affects glucose profiles in 33 healthy Korean women, using continuous glucose monitoring after three days of repeated interventions. Participants consumed isocaloric meals with vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates in different sequences, together, or without a meal-time limit. Compared with the other conditions, vegetables-first (VPC) reduced early postprandial glucose measures, produced lower peak glucose and delayed time-to-peak versus carbohydrates-first (CPV), and had the highest time in range. VPC also reduced mean amplitude of glycaemic excursion versus all other conditions (p < 0.05).
Key findings
- VPC reduced glucose incremental area under the curve for 0-1 h and 0-2 h and mean glucose for 0-1 h versus CPV, TGR, and NTL (p < 0.05).
- Peak glucose was lower and time-to-peak delayed with VPC versus CPV (p < 0.0001).
- Time in range was highest with VPC, and mean amplitude of glycaemic excursion was lower than with all other sequences (p < 0.05).
Why it matters
Meal order was associated with differences in postprandial glucose profiles in healthy young women, including lower excursions and variability with vegetables-first eating. These findings add evidence that meal sequencing may be relevant to glycaemic management, while the study’s short-term measurements do not establish effects on diabetes prevention or longer-term metabolic outcomes.
What to keep in mind
The study involved 33 healthy Korean women and assessed glucose profiles over 3 h after meals during short, repeated interventions; it did not report long-term clinical outcomes.