Does Eating Your Food In A Certain Order Increase Fat Loss o

louie377

Q: I was just wondering if you've ever heard that eating your macronutrients in a certain order has an impact on how you burn calories? A trainer at my gym told me this and I was wondering if there is any validity to it. He said that you should start with your vegetables and fruits, then go to proteins, and end with starchy or other carbs. I'm interested to hear if there have been any studies or research on this.


In the research, guess what I found? There is evidence that the order in which you eat certain types of food CAN affect your fat loss and composition results. But it's not for the reasons that some people suggest.

Dietetics research has looked at whether putting certain types of food first in a meal, or even before a meal - which is called "pre-loading" - would influence appetite and or food intake (a) at that meal and (b) at subsequent meals.

What they found is that putting certain types of foods first, most notably high fiber, low-calorie, high-satiety (more filling) foods such as fibrous vegetables and certain high fiber fruits, would decrease food intake during the rest of the meal.

For example, a Brazilian study found that eating an apple before meals was associated with weight loss, so that might be an explanation of the same mechanism: eating a whole fruit before a meal might reduce caloric intake during the meal.

A similar study a few years ago said that eating a low calorie, bulky salad before dinner could also reduce calorie intake during the dinner.

As for lean protein, there are reams of research proving quite conclusively that protein is the most satiating of all the macronutrients.

Do you remember what your mom told you when you were a kid? "Don't eat that candy bar before dinner - you'll spoil your appetite." Well, it appears that same idea can be used in reverse! You could "spoil" your appetite for junk food, or dessert, or too much starch, or too much of anything, by eating certain healthy, filling foods before a meal as well (or, first in the meal).

If you can eat foods first in the meal that fill you up quickly, then you'll usually eat less of what's remaining in the meal and be less likely to go back for seconds on the calorie-dense starches, sugars and fats. Dessert may not even be on your mind.

Another point to think about is the "displacement" that occurs if the above phenomenon holds true. If you eat less as the meal goes on because what you ate first affects your fullness and appetite, then it stands to reason that what you eat first should also consist of the macronutrients and micronutrients you need the most.

Out of all the macronutrients you eat on a muscle building and fat burning nutrition plan, it's most important to make sure you have your protein needs covered. If you load up on pasta or bread first, and then have no room left for lean protein, you've just knocked your macronutrient intake for the day out of whack haven't you?

This has some very practical applications and I think it applies especially at restaurants when you may not be sure of how many calories are in the food.

For starters, if you're controlling calories for fat loss, you've GOT TO push away that bread basket that the waiter brings first to the table. Tell him or her to "TAKE IT AWAY! Instead, order a lean protein appetizer like shrimp or have a garden salad and get a light / low cal dressing or get the dressing on the side so you control how much goes in your salad.

During your meal, there's no reason you have to let your potato sit there and get cold while you scarf down your steamed vegetables and chicken or fish (lean protein) first, but do keep in mind that the starchy carbs (potatoes, bread, pasta etc) are more calorie dense, so if in doubt, spend more time first on lean protein and veggies and leave a little of the starchy carbs on your plate until the end and gauge how full you feel before eating it.

In conclusion, it's very important to point out that if you match your meals calorie for calorie, macronutrient for macronutrient then it will make no difference whatsoever to your fat loss what order you eat each food in. However, the order in which you eat your food could influence how many calories you eat.

With that said, your trainer's advice has some merit to it... as long as he didn't claim the reason was something weird, like "eating vegetables first makes you burn more fat," or something like that. There's no "diet voodoo" going on here, just calories in versus calories out, management of appetite and prioritization of nutrient intake.

colochel

Thanks for posting this... it's nice to read something I hadn't thought of before.