Why you should always avoid the free bread at a restaurant

Free bread can feel like a real bonus when eating out at a restaurant – but there’s a very specific reason that it is offered to guests, and it may put some people off.

As explained by health and wellness TikToker Denise Tueller, picking at bread before a meal actually makes you hungrier and more likely to order large meals.

Her clip about the canny restaurant practice has been viewed more than a million times and details the impact that the foodstuff has on glucose levels.

The video is captioned: “Here's why restaurants give you a bowl of chips or bread before your meals.”

Tueller explained in the clip: “It's not because they want you to fill up on the free stuff, and they're not being generous. This is actually a way for them to take more money.”

“When you sit down at a restaurant, not only are they handing you a menu, but they're also handing you the bread bowl,” the TikToker went on to say.

“When you start indulging in the bread, it causes your blood glucose level to spike, which makes you hungrier.”

She added: “They know that a glucose spike is going to make you hungrier, crave more, and have a hard time resisting foods.”

Finally, she said: “So while it feels like they are being generous, they are actually winning.

“You order more food, they bring you some more bread, and then offer you a dessert that's nearly impossible to resist.”

So, you can look at it two ways – it’s either bad that restaurants are getting you to buy more without you realising, or it’s a way to enjoy a pre-meal snack and eat even more delicious food when you’re out for a meal.

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