Someone on TikTok, a Ms. Cowgirl.Crystal, has posited the theory that restaurants serve that complimentary bowl of bread or chips when you sit down, not out of the goodness of their hearts, but as a sneaky ploy to make you hungrier while perusing the menu. She backed up her claim by broadly referencing the science behind indulging in carbs: a blood sugar spike that causes hunger. Then commenters waded in, saying, “Science, Schmience!,” along with anecdotal evidence of the free food either not affecting hunger levels at all, or filling them up so they order less. Thankfully, People Mag consulted a dietitian to get to the bottom of this (basket):
A viral video claiming that restaurants offer free bread and chips to stimulate cravings and prompt customers to order more off the menu has people divided.
TikToker Cowgirl.Crystal begins the clip asking, “Have you ever wondered why restaurants give you a bowl of bread or chips before your dinner?”
“It’s not because they want you to fill up on their free stuff,” she asserts. “When you sit down, they hand you the menu. They hand you a bowl of bread or some chips and salsa or something, and it’s not because they’re being generous. It is because you will spend more money.”
The video has been viewed more than 700,000 times since Crystal posted it on July 5.
“When you’re looking at that menu, you’re eating the bread or the chips,” she continues. “Biologically what happens when you eat that bread or those chips, your glucose spikes so you get really hungry. So you order the food, then they bring you more bread and more chips. And then they bring you the dessert menu.”
She concludes that diners’ best bet is to “fill up on fiber first.”
“Get some veggies, some zucchini, or some fried pickles are a better start,” she advises. “Even though they’ve got the breading, you’re getting some fiber.”
Many commenters on the video weren’t convinced that a complimentary bread basket leads them to order more.
“Maybe that’s their intent, but that doesn’t happen to me,” wrote one TikTok user. “The bread or chips never impacts my degree of hunger.”
“I must be opposite, I fill up and don’t order as much,” another commenter shared, while a third person wrote, “Nope! Bread makes me full.”
PEOPLE asked Stephanie Schiff, a registered dietitian at Northwell Health, to weigh in on the debate.
“It’s hard to say if eateries do this deliberately,” Schiff says. “But whether they do or not, certain things happen when you start a meal with bread or tortilla chips and sometimes eat almost mindlessly.”
She explains that bread and chips are examples of simple, or refined carbohydrates, which are quickly digested and broken down into simple sugar.
“That sugar is dumped into our bloodstream,” she says. “It causes a sharp, quick spike in your blood sugar.”
“You also get a surge of insulin, the hormone that helps control your blood sugar,” she continues. “Insulin can increase your hunger and you may find yourself increasing your food intake. Often, we keep reaching for carby or sugary food because it releases happy hormones such as serotonin and dopamine. And that makes us feel better — at least for the short term.”
Not to brag, but I’m in the camp of those fine people who can gorge on the basket of free carbs and still eat a full meal, thankyouverymuch. It takes training, for sure, but the stamina builds if you put in the hours (as I have). The dietitian did confirm Cowgirl.Crystal’s suggestion that filling up first on fiber and veggies is a healthier start to your meal, if that is your goal. Of course, no one on behalf of restaurants is copping to this allegation as their ulterior motivation. Personally, I think restaurants only do it because they feel they have to. Free anything is anathema to their business models. The next wave of TikTok videos I’m expecting will be on restaurants no longer offering the freebies anymore at all. It’s already happening, people! I went to dinner with my mother at an upscale Italian place recently; our pasta entrees each had luscious sauces that we wanted to mop up with some bread, but when we informed our waiter that we still hadn’t gotten a basket (that we saw at every other table), the response was, “Did you order one?” So we paid for it, because the white wine vongole sauce demanded it! But yeah, I say enjoy the free bread and chips while we can, cause their days are numbered.
7-5 why do restaurants serve bread or chips first?
♬ original sound – Cowgirl.Crystal
photos credit: Mineragua Sparkling Water on Unsplash, Valeriya and Kaya Artss on Pexels