The sinister truth behind Texas Roadhouse's iconic rolls
Texas Roadhouses's rolls are an American institution — but health influencers claim to have exposed their dark side.
Brendan Oxford, who has 245,000 followers, warned the pre-dinner bites are a gimmick to make you order more food.
That is eating highly-processed, sugary bread can make your blood-glucose levels spike and then dip quickly, making some people feel hungrier after eating them.
The video has been viewed by more than 386,000 people, but the theory is hardly new.
Health and food influencer, Brendan Oxford warned his followers to stay away from Texas Roadhouse's bread rolls. He warned that they're simple carbs that make you order more food
A series of TikTok videos shared earlier this year has offered similar warnings for people to stop eating bread.
The tactic is one used by many restaurants that could be used as a way to stimulate the diner's appetite or could simply be a historical custom.
Bread before dinner has been a tradition for hundreds of years when taverns would use a bread basket as an inexpensive way to help guests fill up more quickly.
Texas Roadhouse has said that its rolls are baked fresh every five minutes to offer diners an unlimited amount paired with its special cinnamon butter.
Just one roll contains 227 calories, eight grams of fat and 28 grams of carbohydrates, which may not seem like much, but the numbers add up when you have two or more.
While the butter, made mostly of fat, should counter act the insulin spike, diners typically consumer more bread than the spread.
Oxford explained in a TikTok video that the Texas Roadhouse rolls are simple carbs that turn to sugar in your body, which raises your body's blood sugar levels.
'When your blood sugar goes up, your body secrets insulin to bring it back down,' Oxford continued, noting that a main task of insulin is to regulate blood sugar.
That is true for diabetic patients, specifically those with type 1 who need insulin shots to regulate their glucose levels.
When you consume carbs, such as bread, your body breaks them down into sugar, which moves into the bloodstream and increases levels.
Andy Daly, a nutritional specialist at Omni health and wellness center, echoed Oxford's claims, telling Women&Home: 'Eating bread, particularly refined white bread, can lead to a surge in insulin which followed by a crash can make you feel hungry again sooner.
'It may also disrupt your appetite regulation, potentially leading to overeating during the main meal.'
Texas Roadhouse's bread rolls (pictured) turn to sugar in your body and when this goes up, your body's insulin levels go up to try to regulate it and bring it back down
However, Daly suggested that swapping out any white bread for multi-grain could avoid a supercharged appetite.
Oxford continued to explain that once you eat rolls before your meal, your body continues to crave more carbohydrates and leads you to ordering desert even after feasting on a Prime Rib and two side dishes.
But it's not the case for everyone, as some people commented on Oxford's video saying they have no problem ignoring the dessert menu at the end of their meal.
Daniel Amen, an American doctor who runs a mental health clinic, also shared that pre-meal items affect the brain and make it harder for people to control their urges.
Amen claimed that consuming bread releases serotonin into the brain, making you feel happier and calmer.
The chemical eventually drops, leaving people searching for that high - and they do so by filling their stomachs.
All white bread can act in this way and has been linked to becoming habit-forming and borderline addictive.
A 2013 study revealed that eating white bread stimulates the regions of the brain that are involved in reward and craving, which 'is also linked to substance abuse and dependence,' the study's lead author Dr David Ludwig told The Sourdough School.
Research published in the journal Appetite found that people who ate white bread consumed 500 more calories at their next meal.
It's important to note that everything in moderation is okay, according to Julie Jones, a professor emeritus of food and nutrition at St. Catherine University.
'Carbs aren't the enemy,' she told The Washington Post, adding: 'Overconsumption, of anything, is the enemy.'
So next time you sit down at Texas Roadhouse, you might want to firmly ignore and decline the dessert menu or avoid the bread basket altogether.
