This Fitness Influencer Said You Should Stop Eating Texas Roadhouse’s Free Buns. The Reason Might Surprise You.
People *love* Texas Roadhouse rolls, so much so that a pair of friends sacrificed $5 of their remaining $18 in their bank account just to treat themselves to a dozen rolls.
The signature buns are made from scratch and served warm with the restaurant chain’s signature honey-cinnamon butter. (What other chain do you know that essentially serves dessert before the meal even begins?)
The buns are brought to your table for free shortly after you sit down. Cool, right? Wrong, says Brendan Oxford (@brendan.oxford5), a fitness influencer with 244,000 followers.
“Obviously, these buns are pretty good, so everyone’s going to eat them,” Oxford says.
But there’s a scientific reason (we fact-checked, and it’s legit) why starting your meal with carbs and sugar could backfire on you.
He explains that white bread, which is a simple carbohydrate that digests more quickly than a complex carbohydrate like sweet potato, is quickly broken down by your body and converted into sugar. One of these rolls, without the special butter, contains 24 grams of carbs, according to MyFoodDiary.
Sugar causes your blood sugar to spike, which triggers the production of insulin to help regulate your blood sugar. With this insulin released, your blood sugar drops, leading to cravings.
At a place like Texas Roadhouse, that can mean eating the buns, then potentially overeating your meal, then craving dessert.
“It sounds like a small thing, but that’s how you get into the vicious cycle of insulin resistance,” Oxford says. “And it’s that vicious cycle that leads to problems like a large waistline, type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, or even diabetic neuropathy.”
Oxford, who now speaks publicly about his fitness journey online, says learning the method has helped him improve his health and lose weight without having to count calories.
@brendan.oxford5 ♬ original sound – Brendan Oxford
However, as the Daily Dot has previously reported, there may be other reasons why restaurants give out free bread, other than just making you want to eat more. Here are some of those reasons.
To keep you calm
Chances are, when you arrive at a restaurant, you’re already hungry. Even if you place your order right away, it’ll likely take anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes for your food to arrive. If you don’t have anything to munch on, this can quickly lead to irritation and hunger. Having something to eat can help prevent these feelings. It can even give the wait staff and kitchen a longer grace period if they’re running late.
Hopes for reciprocity
Receiving something “free” makes people feel good, so they may be inclined to order more or buy a more expensive item.
Historical roots
According to Food Republic, free bread may have originated in taverns long ago. Early restaurants encouraged customers to gorge on bread to avoid having to buy so many expensive ingredients (mainly meat) for the main course.
People in the comments section had mixed reactions to Oxford’s information sharing.
“We can’t be friends anymore. Lol. These rolls are so good. And BAD,” read the top comment.
“Not me. I’m drunk and can’t eat my food,” one person said.
“But seriously, you taught me a lot, and I’m seeing progress again after a 6 month plateau,” shared another.
“This is why I always skip the reels,” wrote one commenter.
The Daily Dot reached out to Oxford for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message as well as Texas Roadhouse via email.
