When it comes to eating out we all like the free bread, right? Or the chips and salsa that our favorite Mexican food place lavishes us with as soon as we sit down.
However, it seems like a self-defeating practice. After all, why give a customer a bunch of carbs to munch on right when you want them at their hungriest? Well, that bread might be filling you up but it’s also doing something else—stimulating your appetite for more food.
TikToker and diet coach Cowgirl Crystal (@cowgirl.crystal) took to her account recently to discuss the phenomenon, known as a “glucose spike.” The video now has over 661,700 views and counting.
“It’s not because they want you to fill up on their free stuff,” Crystal tells her viewers. “It is because you will spend more money.”
“Here’s how,” she says. “When you’re looking at that menu, you’re eating the bread or the chips; biologically what happens when you eat that bread or those chips? Your glucose spikes.”
How the glucose spike works
According to Diabetes Food Hub, “The higher your blood sugar rises, the louder … cravings and hunger pangs might become.” Because “the brain relies on a second-by-second delivery of sugar for fuel” a sudden spike—by eating complex carbs like bread, for example—can end up making you hungrier.
“So you order the food, and they bring you more bread and more chips,” Crystal continues. “And then they bring you the dessert menu.”
Crystal recommends filling up on fiber first. “Get some veggies, some zucchini, or some fried pickles.” She calls those food items “a better start.”
@cowgirl.crystal 7-5 why do restaurants serve bread or chips first?
♬ original sound – Cowgirl.Crystal
Viewers feel immune
However, her advice didn’t resonate with all of her viewers.
“Maybe that’s their intent, but that doesn’t happen to me. The bread or chips never impacts my degree of hunger,” user @oleblueyes0 wrote.
“I get full by the time they come out with my dinner,” another viewer commented.
Another TikToker contended that he was “not buying it.” “I get full on chips. can barely eat my meal. No way am I getting dessert,” he shared.
Crystal responded, “You’re so fortunate. Many are not as self-aware as you are and continue to overeat.”
The Daily Dot has previously reported on how the free bread basket contributes to making your glucose spike. According to viral poster @sweetfiber, “a glucose spike is going to make you hungrier, crave more, and have a hard time resisting foods. So, while it feels like they’re being generous, they are actually winning.”
Yahoo! Finance notes that a “blood sugar spike also tends to crash in time for the dessert course, making you that much more likely to order a treat at the end of your meal,” supporting Crystal’s claims.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Crystal via TikTok messenger and comment for further statement.
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