Eat This Before Every Meal

Starting your meal this way helps slow digestion and reduce post-meal blood sugar spikes

Nicole Pajer,

AARP

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Published September 26, 2025

Caitlin Bensel

You made yourself dinner and are about to sit down to a nice meal of grilled chicken, a baked potato and some roasted broccoli. You pick up your fork to dig into that big buttery potato. But wait! You’d be doing yourself a much bigger favor if you swapped that first bite for some broccoli instead.

Yes, eating healthy is about what’s on your plate. But you can take things even further in the good-for-you department if you pay attention to the order in which you eat your food.

The CliffsNotes version? Eat your non-starchy vegetables first — such as Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, greens, peppers, eggplant, broccoli and cucumbers. Move on to protein — or eat it alongside the vegetables. Then, save the carbs and more starchy veggies, like potatoes, corn, green peas and winter squashes, for last.

Here’s a deeper look at why this veggies-first approach is beneficial and some tips on how to implement it in your daily meals.

1. It reduces your post-meal blood sugar

When you eat, your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose, causing your blood sugar to rise. Eating foods high in carbs on an empty stomach can cause your blood sugar to spike even more.

Frequent blood sugar spikes can increase your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes — and for those who already have diabetes, they can lead to severe complications like ketoacidosis (diabetic coma), a serious condition in which the body produces dangerous levels of acids called ketones. Non-starchy vegetables are rich in fiber, which slows down your digestion, so when eaten first, they help keep your blood sugar more stable.

Dr. Alpana Shukla, director of clinical research at the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, has conducted several studies on the benefits of the vegetables-first approach to eating. And even she was shocked when, in one of her studies, her team found that eating vegetables and protein before carbohydrates reduced post-meal blood sugar by roughly half in people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.

“This is the kind of effect you might expect from taking a medication for diabetes treatment,” Shukla says.

2. It helps you prioritize more nutrient-dense food

“Vegetables are good sources of fiber, vitamins and minerals, as well as countless naturally occurring phytonutrients — think antioxidants,” says Sandra Zhang, a registered dietitian nutritionist at the Frances Stern Nutrition Center at Tufts Medical Center.

So if you’re comparing a cup of white rice with a cup of sautéed spinach, the spinach is going to give you much more of a nutritional bang for your buck. Spinach is loaded with things like vitamin K, folate, vitamin A, iron, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, fiber, phosphorus and zinc, while white rice is mostly starch and contains significantly less micronutrients.

3. It’s an easy hack for hitting your daily vegetable goals

Filling up on bread? You’re less likely to make it to that side of broccoli. But taking the opposite approach can work wonders for your dietary needs. Adults should aim for two to 3½ cups of vegetables per day. But some research shows that only 1 in 10 Americans are actually meeting these guidelines.

Starting your meals with vegetables is a great way to ensure you’re hitting your daily goals, says Shukla. The goal is to eat some first before getting too full of the other things on your plate.

4. It’s a great strategy for weight loss/management

Have you ever eaten a muffin for breakfast and found yourself still hungry afterward? That’s because carbohydrates, when eaten, are quickly broken down into glucose, which can spike blood sugar. But if you were to eat an egg and avocado first, you’d likely not have as much of an appetite for the muffin.

That’s because protein and fiber slow down digestion and trigger satiety hormones. This, says Shukla, signals to your brain that you’re full and can help keep you from reaching for extra calories beyond what your body needs during a meal.

5. It can help you to eat more mindfully

Many of us shovel in food in front of the TV or eat while multitasking. But slowing down and focusing on the taste, texture and smell of your food has many benefits. Eating with more intention can help you tune in to when you feel full, helping you to refrain from overeating and pay more attention to chewing your food, which can also help your body to better process food.

An easy way to do this? “Put your fork down between bites,” says Dr. Leonard Pianko, a cardiologist with Aventura Cardiovascular Center in Aventura, Florida. And start with the veggies!

You’ll have to put in a lot more effort to properly eat a piece of chewy kale versus scarfing down a granola bar, which many can attest to inhaling on the go.

“It takes a while to eat those veggies, which should be the largest portion on your plate,” says Leah Amar, a registered dietitian in Hollywood, Florida. “You get involved with it. It requires concentration, whether it’s a salad that’s crunchy or a vegetable like asparagus that needs to be cut into smaller pieces.”

How to do it

Ready to give this starting your meals with vegetables thing a try? Here are some ways to sneak in those veggies first:

Think carbs last

In some studies that touted the benefits of a veggies-first approach, experts focused on eating vegetables with protein together, while others took a vegetables, then protein, then carbohydrates approach. Both can work, says Shukla.

The big takeaway is to save the rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and butternut squash for last. And remember to treat those starchy vegetables as carbs. A real-world example? If you have a frittata, which has veggies in it, then have a piece of toast afterward, says Shukla.

Start with a salad

An oldie but goodie. But eating a salad, which is filled with fibrous leafy greens and healthy fats like olive oil, is an easy way to get the job done. You can even eat it before the main meal comes out.

One nice thing that Shukla and her husband do to sneak in their vegetables at the beginning of their dinner: They sit down after work to watch the news together with a salad. Then they move to the table, where they eat the rest of their meal.

Munch on some vegetables while cooking

Snack on some raw veggies and dip, or sautéed vegetables, while you’re making dinner. You could even have a bowl of vegetable soup. Then you can sit down and dive into the pasta without guilt.

Order vegetables as appetizers

Many restaurants offer fancy roasted Brussels sprouts, steamed artichokes or tahini cauliflower on the menu as an appetizer. Say yes to this and no to the nachos and you’ve already snuck in some vegetables before the main meal has even arrived.

Plate your food in your favor

If the dish is mixed — say, a beef and vegetable stir-fry on top of rice — you’re more likely to eat everything together instead of performing the tedious task of picking out the vegetables first. But you can set up your plate for better success.

“Try to portion-control for the starchy component when making or serving the dish,” says Zhang. For example, she suggests adding just a tiny amount of rice on your plate and topping it with a more heaping amount of veggies and protein. That way, if you’re going to eat it all together, you’ll be getting more veggies and protein and less carbs per bite.

Find a good recipe

Remember how much you hated the Brussels sprouts your grandmother served when you were growing up? That’s because they were plain and boiled. Find a variation on veggies, like Parmesan Brussels sprouts or Kung Pao Brussels sprouts, to get yourself excited to eat your vegetables.

Start with a smoothie

Want to eat a muffin for breakfast? “Put your protein and your veggies in a smoothie and drink that first,” says Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic. She’ll toss everything — from leafy greens to cucumbers, carrots, beets and cauliflower — into hers. You can even sneak in lettuce, she says.

Don’t take an all-or-nothing approach

You ate some green beans, then some fish, but you cannot resist those Parmesan roasted potatoes sitting on your plate. You haven’t failed your mission, and you don’t need to throw it out the window. Gradually build the habit without overthinking order for every bite, Shukla recommends.

If you take a few bites of vegetables and protein and then head straight to the carbs, that’s OK. Bring yourself back to the veggies when you think about it, she says, and you’ll still reap some of the benefits.

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