Is eating salad before protein better?

Bill Rimell

Aug 31, 2024 — 2 min read

Recently a friend told me that their uncle told them that eating salad before protein was better. So instead of taking this as fact I turned to the research... and they were right – although I don't think this is something that most people should really be concerned about. But there were some interesting findings so read on if that interests you.

Findings

Because salads contain lots of fibre they can increase satiety early on in the meal so you eat a bit less and therefore can help in reducing overall calorie intake.

The fibre also helps slow down the digestion and absorption of food which can lead to a more gradual rise in blood sugar levels which allows you to maintain more stable energy levels throughout the day.

Eating salad before also helps maintain more stable energy levels because of delayed gastric emptying (the time it takes for food to leave the stomach) which helps maintain steady blood glucose levels.

Also, certain fat-soluble vitamins (like A, D, E and K) from vegetables may be better absorbed if consumed with a meal containing fats or oils. So if you eat salad first the fats can come in later to help absorption although the fats should simultaneously be in the small intestine with the vitamins for the most efficient absorption so this is not optimal. A strategy to maximise nutrient absorption, therefore, would be to add healthy fats to the salad such as olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds or cheese. However, it's more of an optimisation so from a practical standpoint this isn't something you should really be worrying about having a huge impact as if fat-rich foods are consumed shortly after this still allows for some overlap in the small intestine.

Interestingly, similar to this point, black pepper increases curcumin absorption by about 2,000% which means you can have much smaller doses (i.e. like doses in turmeric) and get the same benefits as a larger dose.

Conclusion

There were essentially three points:

Salad makes you more full at the start of your meal -> you eat less overall -> good for losing weight
Salad has lots of fibre -> fibre slows down digestion -> more energy for longer
Fat-soluble vitamins from vegetables are better absorbed if consumed with fats -> include healthy fats in your salad to have optimal vitamin absorption
(not a full point but interesting nevertheless) Psychological impact of eating salad at the start of your meal -> you feel healthier / identify more as being a healthy person -> promotes healthier eating behaviours

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