This 2019 study demonstrates how eating some protein and or fat before your carbohydrate reduces the speed at which glucose goes into the blood stream after a meal. For example, eating either fish, chicken or vegetables before rice reduced the glucose peak by 50% and delayed it by 30-60 minutes when compared with eating the same meal all mixed together.
Eating the fat and protein first, delays the time it takes for the food to move through the intestines.
If glucose peaks more slowly and gently, this leads to longer lasting energy, ability to go longer between meals and less glucose dips which can lead to cravings and hunger.
Impact of Nutrient Type and Sequence on Glucose Tolerance: Physiological Insights and Therapeutic Implications. Nesti et al 2019. Frontiers of Endocrinology.
