We’re all told breakfast is the most important meal of the day
A doctor advised against eating carbohydrates on an empty stomach, noting that this small change could have a significant impact on your health. She explained that adjusting the order in which you eat can support better blood sugar control – and help you avoid certain conditions.
Doctor Loana Andrade Pelayo said: “In this example, you can see that rice, which is the carbohydrate, was eaten first, followed by protein and vegetables, resulting in a high spike. And when the order changes to eating vegetables first, then protein, and finally the carbohydrate, the graph shows how the curve flattens”, reports lavanguardia.
“What we really want to do is manage insulin secretion,” she added. This means we need to ensure the order in which we eat food is beneficial as doing so can help our bodies to work better, and become an effective tool for preventing type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance.
Research back up her claims with one study noting that breakfast usually causes the biggest spike in blood sugar after eating for people with type 2 diabetes.
Therefore, a low-carb, high-fat breakfast helps reduce blood sugar spikes after eating. This simple change may also lower overall blood sugar levels throughout the day and improve blood sugar stability, the study notes.
Published in Nature, another study shows eating carbs on an empty stomach causes lactic acid levels to rise quickly. A total of 15 participants took an oral glucose test after fasting for 12 hours, consuming 75 grams of glucose in water.
Results showed lactic acid levels began to rise within just five minutes, while blood glucose levels started to increase around 30 minutes later. The study demonstrates consuming carbs on an empty stomach leads to the conversion of glucose into lactic acid in the intestines, which is then absorbed into the bloodstream.
If you consume carbs on an empty stomach, with you more likely to be doing this at breakfast time, it could result in lactic acidosis. As reported by Doctor, this “is a form of metabolic acidosis due to the inadequate clearance of lactic acid from the blood.”
The experts note that the following complications could arise from lactic acidosis:
- The major problem is the increasing myocardial suppression that occurs with decreasing blood pH. A vicious cycle of lactic acidosis, further hypoperfusion and multiorgan failure may lead to death.
- There is an increased risk of a variety of cardiac arrhythmias.