Eating bread before a meal has a high calorie content and can lead to overeating the subsequent dishes, so it's best not to consume too much. / Photo = Clipart Korea
In some restaurants, bread is served before the ordered dishes arrive. There is a concern that if you start eating bread before the meal, you might get full easily and not be able to eat much of the main dish. What is the reason for serving bread before the meal?
Pre-meal bread cleans the palate, helping you to fully enjoy the taste of the main dish. The tongue is covered with multiple taste buds, each containing up to 100 taste receptors. When taste buds recognize food flavor molecules and send signals to the brain, we perceive the taste. However, if remnants of previously eaten food remain on the tongue, they can interfere with the proper recognition of new taste molecules, such as altering how taste receptors bind to them. Pre-meal bread is provided to ensure that taste receptors can accurately recognize the flavor molecules of the next dish. Besides starchy foods like bread or crackers, items like lemon or sparkling water also serve this purpose.
However, bread before meals is high in calories. At the steak specialty restaurant Texas Roadhouse, unlimited rolls served with cinnamon butter are provided before the meal. One cinnamon butter roll contains 227 kcal, with 28g of carbohydrates and 8g of fat. At the casual dining restaurant Outback Steakhouse, Bushman bread is offered unlimited and free of charge before the meal. One Bushman bread contains 232 kcal, with 44g of carbohydrates and 4g of fat. Eating just one piece of bread is equivalent to consuming a bowl of rice in terms of calories.
Pre-meal bread can cause you to eat more of the following foods. Bread is mainly a starchy lump made of carbohydrates. When consumed, it rapidly raises blood sugar levels, causing excessive insulin secretion. When insulin surges, blood sugar quickly drops again, leading to feelings of hunger. This disrupts appetite control and increases the risk of overeating the main dish. According to a study at a mental health clinic in the United States, pre-meal appetizers affect the brain and make it difficult for people to control their appetite. If you want to regulate your intake properly, it is better not to eat pre-meal bread or to eat only one piece.
Pre-meal bread cleans the palate, helping you to fully enjoy the taste of the main dish. The tongue is covered with multiple taste buds, each containing up to 100 taste receptors. When taste buds recognize food flavor molecules and send signals to the brain, we perceive the taste. However, if remnants of previously eaten food remain on the tongue, they can interfere with the proper recognition of new taste molecules, such as altering how taste receptors bind to them. Pre-meal bread is provided to ensure that taste receptors can accurately recognize the flavor molecules of the next dish. Besides starchy foods like bread or crackers, items like lemon or sparkling water also serve this purpose.
However, bread before meals is high in calories. At the steak specialty restaurant Texas Roadhouse, unlimited rolls served with cinnamon butter are provided before the meal. One cinnamon butter roll contains 227 kcal, with 28g of carbohydrates and 8g of fat. At the casual dining restaurant Outback Steakhouse, Bushman bread is offered unlimited and free of charge before the meal. One Bushman bread contains 232 kcal, with 44g of carbohydrates and 4g of fat. Eating just one piece of bread is equivalent to consuming a bowl of rice in terms of calories.
Pre-meal bread can cause you to eat more of the following foods. Bread is mainly a starchy lump made of carbohydrates. When consumed, it rapidly raises blood sugar levels, causing excessive insulin secretion. When insulin surges, blood sugar quickly drops again, leading to feelings of hunger. This disrupts appetite control and increases the risk of overeating the main dish. According to a study at a mental health clinic in the United States, pre-meal appetizers affect the brain and make it difficult for people to control their appetite. If you want to regulate your intake properly, it is better not to eat pre-meal bread or to eat only one piece.
