When you go to a formal restaurant, they often bring bread called 'pre-meal bread' and balsamic vinegar.

Why do restaurants serve bread and balsamic vinegar before meals, and how does pre-meal bread affect health?

 

 

◇Pre-meal bread to cleanse the palate and fully enjoy the taste

 

Pre-meal bread serves as a 'taste cleanser' to ensure guests can fully enjoy the flavor of the main dish.

There are several taste buds on our tongue, each containing up to 100 taste receptors clustered together.

When taste buds recognize the flavor molecules of food and send signals to the brain, we perceive taste.

 

If the components of the food previously eaten remain on the tongue, the taste molecules of the next food will

It becomes difficult to perceive proper taste as the form that binds to the taste receptors changes and is affected.

 

Certain foods act as cleansers that help taste receptors better recognize flavor molecules of the next food.

Typically, there are starchy foods like sam-sam crackers or bread, as well as lemons and carbonated water.

◇Pre-meal bread, raises appetite due to high glycemic index

 

However, eating bread on an empty stomach before a meal can cause a rapid increase in blood sugar.

The glycemic index is a measure of how much blood sugar levels rise after consuming a food.

▲Blood sugar index below 55 indicates low glycemic index foods ▲55~69 indicates medium glycemic index foods

Foods with a blood sugar index of 70 or higher are classified as high blood sugar index foods.

 

The glycemic index of white bread and morning bread served before meals is 92 to 95, which falls into the high glycemic index category.

Eating high glycemic index foods on an empty stomach can suddenly increase your appetite.

 

After eating bread, insulin is rapidly secreted, and once glucose processing is complete, blood sugar levels drop.

The brain perceives this situation as a sudden energy deficiency.

Therefore, it secretes the hunger-promoting hormone ghrelin, keeping the person in a constantly hungry state.

 

 

Controlling blood sugar levels elevated by balsamic vinegar and bread

 

So, is there no way to alleviate the rise in blood sugar caused by bread before a meal? Balsamic vinegar is the answer.

Because it helps to some extent in preventing a rapid increase in blood sugar levels when balsamic vinegar is consumed with carbohydrates.

 

Balsamico means "fragrant" in Italian, referring to its pleasant aroma and rich flavor.

It refers to high-quality grape vinegar. Vinegar is one of the foods that slowly move through the small intestine.

 

Because absorption into the body occurs more slowly, post-meal blood sugar levels also rise gradually.

Vinegar contains a component called acetic acid, which helps break down lactic acid and relieve fatigue.

 

It is a component that helps with weight control by breaking down fat.

 

It also helps in the production of stress-relief hormones.

Balsamic vinegar also helps alleviate high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia, and increases calcium absorption, making it beneficial for osteoporosis.