”Eat your Veggies First”

Culinary Strategies to Help Steady Blood Sugar

Monitoring your blood sugar is an important part of managing diabetes. The amount your blood sugar rises after a meal is called the glycemic response, and it’s influenced by the foods you eat together (Murillo et al., 2022).

The good news? Small changes to your meals can make a big difference.

Fiber – Your Blood Sugar’s Best Friend

Fill your plate with more fiber-rich foods. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate your body doesn’t digest, so it doesn’t directly raise blood sugar. Plus, it slows the impact of other carbs in your meal—especially if you’re eating something higher in carbs (Abutair et al., 2016).

Try adding:

• Legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils)

• Vegetables (broccoli, kale, cauliflower)

• Whole grains (oats, brown rice, quinoa)

• Nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, chia seeds)

Healthy Fats – Slow Things Down

Good fats help slow down how quickly food moves through your digestive system, which means carbs are absorbed more slowly (Bell et al., 2015). That’s why a pasta tossed in olive oil and fresh veggies can have less impact than plain pasta (Chiavaroli et al., 2021).

Protein – A Must at Every Meal

Protein helps keep you full, supports lean muscle, and slows the digestion of carbs (Ganon et al., 2003; Miao & Hamaker, 2021). It also helps your body release insulin—the hormone that manages blood sugar (Bozzetto et al., 2019).

Aim to include a protein source every time you eat.

Add a Splash of Vinegar or Lemon

A little acid, like vinegar or lemon juice, before or with a carb-heavy meal can help lessen blood sugar spikes (Shishehbor et al., 2017). Acetic acid slows digestive enzymes, meaning carbs take longer to break down (Santos et al., 2019).

Choose Less Ripe Fruit

The riper the fruit, the sweeter it is—because starches have turned into sugars. If you choose fruit that’s just slightly underripe, your body digests it more slowly, which means a gentler blood sugar rise (Hermansen et al., 1992).

Go for Less-Processed Grains & Fruits

The closer a food is to its natural form, the slower your body digests it—and the smaller the blood sugar impact. For example, steel-cut oats raise blood sugar less than oat flour (Mackie et al., 2017).

Cook Carbs Less

Cooking carbs “just until done” (like pasta al dente) or using less water when cooking rice can help lower their glycemic response (Wu et al., 2020). Overcooking lets starches fully gelatinize, making them quicker to digest.

Cool Before You Eat

When cooked carbs like rice, pasta, or potatoes are cooled for a day, their structure changes and becomes harder to digest (Raigond et al., 2014). The effect stays—even if you reheat them later.

Eat Carbs Last

One of the simplest, most effective tricks: eat your veggies, protein, and healthy fats first—then your carbs. This eating order can dramatically reduce blood sugar spikes (Nesti et al., 2019), especially when protein comes before carbs (Nishino et al., 2018).

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