FOOD NEWS
The Possible Reasons Restaurants Serve Bread Prior To The Main Meal
BY AUTUMN SWIERS
When the bread arrives before the meal at a restaurant, there's a clever reason why: to potentially increase your hunger rather than satiate it.
This is especially true if the bread basket features white bread made with unrefined flour, which can actually stimulate our appetites.
White bread is a high-glycemic food made of carbohydrates that are easily digested, spiking blood sugar levels and stimulating hunger and cravings.
These cravings lead you to indulge in entrees, and the blood sugar spike tends to crash in time for the end of the meal, making you much more likely to order a treat for dessert.
While free bread is a way to increase spending today, it was once the opposite, helping overwhelmed taverns to satiate customers before offering more work-intensive dishes.