What in US food supply causes weight gain and inflammation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:If you eat super processed foods then your experience is going to be bad. Stop doing that. Problem solved.

Nobody wants to do that. So they have on going weight problems.

Duh.

OP here. You probably missed this rest of the thread, but on the face of it my diet in the US is healthier than when I am in Europe.

Maybe eat more normal but not processed foods? Perhaps the “healthier” food you’re in eating isn’t actually healthier for you? Consider carbs and fat. There have been some interesting UK studies recently about the effects of protein on hormones for women. Maybe you’re eating more protein because of more restaurant meals in Europe?

If you’re truly losing weight and having less inflammation during a one or two week vacation then what you’re eating at home isn’t working for you!

OP. I think you probably missed a few posts, it has been a long thread. I go to Europe regularly for work and family. Sometimes I stay a week or two, sometimes a month or more at a time. When I’m there longer, I lose more. But even after a week, I notice the difference in stiffness and the feeling of being bloated when I return.

I did a comparison of what I eat from my food logs on p. 10 of this thread. My regular go-to meals in the US are things like salmon with veggies/rice, tofu stir fry with rice, grilled meats, hummus with pita/fresh veggies, etc. Sometimes homemade chilis with beans, ground turkey, and tomatoes. Another meal we make is a sesame chicken cabbage salad. We don’t eat at restaurants all that often, and almost never fast food. I mean it’s not perfect but I don’t think it’s that bad either.

In comparison I eat much more restaurant food in Europe. I definitely drink more. I have chocolate croissants at breakfast multiple times a week. I have to buy more processed food because I’m traveling. On the face of it, my diet in Europe is worse not better. But yet I feel better there.

PP who put the link to the micro plastics, thank you. That is fascinating. I also read the whole Twitter thread above that I linked and a lot of people have similar experiences. At least it’s not just me. It drives me crazy!

No, I didn’t miss any posts. What you’re saying is that you eat differently in Europe and lose weight while you’re there, right? Seems to me you need to eat more like you do in Europe here before assuming it’s something like…plastics. I know it seems like you shouldn’t be experiencing this in the US since you eat so healthy and no chocolate croissants. It seems like you should consider adopting more what you’ve been eating in Europe first.

I think you need to be more open to the fact that you ARE eating differently in Europe while you’re there.

OP here. Eating more like I do in Europe means more bread, more desserts, more alcohol, more restaurant food, and more heavy sauces. I can’t see that leading to feeling better in the US. But I suppose I could try that. God knows I’d rather add chocolate croissants to my diet than remove gluten.

So when you’re in Europe on vacation you’re a total glutton? Or are you eating normal meals and splurging a little bit?

OP. I would not say total glutton. But I don’t really watch what I eat. I don’t stuff myself though. So normal but not particularly watching? Definitely more alcohol, more croissants, and more gelato.

Perhaps your body needs more fat? Your diet in the US sounds rather low-fat to me.

[Anonymous]

OP you could do an experiment here. You could only eat European foods for 2 weeks to see. Also only drink water imported from France or whatever country you choose. You can even buy European butter.

[Anonymous]

Added sugar + refined grains. The combination causes weight gain, inflammation, etc. I mentioned this earlier- my DH lost *a lot* weight by solely cutting those two things and subbing with whole grains and fruits/veggies.
...and not just weight gain, it causes all kinds of issues. Seriously, talk with people who have cut it out of their diets entirely...they will tell you how much better they feel. I don't know what they do in Europe, but sugar is added in quantity to absolutely everything in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:-Our flour is highly processed.
-Our pasta is also highly processed, not made of the same durum wheat as Italian pasta.
-Our soil is extremely depleted of nutrients.
-There's hidden sugars in everything

+1

Also the unchecked pesticides are killing our gut bacteria and cause chronic inflammation.

This, this and this.

What can I do to help get my gut bacteria back?

[Anonymous]

Sugar (all forms of it) and sodium.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sugar (all forms of it) and sodium.

Don't think sodium is the problem. Look at Asian countries, their dishes contain sauces (primarily made up of soy sauce or fish sauce). Think Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam. Those sauces have insane sodium levels. Sodium 879 mg for 1 tbsp of soy sauce. Not a lot of weight gain in those countries despite high amounts of white rice or white/rice noodles; lots of the population eat a cup or two of white rice every meal.

Sugar is a problem, no doubt. But white rice is similar to sugar to your body.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This entire thread is full of pseudoscience. Please go back to goop.

What exactly on this thread is "pseudoscience"? You said it, so explain yourself.

There's no evidence that GMOs cause obesity. None.
Americans don't drink more alcohol than other countries.
Our soil is depleted of nutrients? Evidence? Connection to Obesity?
Evidence that processed food causes obesity? Proof?
Pesticides cause inflammation and thus obesity? Proof?

I'll give you that eating lots of sugar probably has som impact. The rest of these reasons are garbage.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss/
https://grist.org/food/gut-punch-monsanto-could-be-destroying-your-microbiome/
https://www.iarc.who.int/news-events/consumption-of-ultra-processed-foods-associated-with-weight-gain-and-obesity-in-adults-a-multi-national-cohort-study/#:~:text=A%20new%20study%20by%20scientists,with%20significantly%20higher%205%2Dyear

None of this is even particularly new information. Where do you get your news that all of this is shocking and reads false? Because you got REALLY BIG MAD about how untrue this is. . . and you are wrong.

The first link posted is specifically about vitamins in food — D,B, C, etc. No clear link to obesity.

The second links to a study about tadpoles. Again, no obesity link.

The third is a study of obesity IN EUROPE, which doesn’t support the notion that OP gets thinner when traveling to Europe.

I thing GMOs are dangerous if they allow farmers to dump more roundup on fields. I think soil depletion is bad. I think gut bacteria is important and little understood.

But spewing vague stuff about GMOs and obesity with no clear link between the topic at hand and the cited sources is really fuzzy thinking and makes people who understand science and care about the environment seem foolish.

This reminds me of the people who buy organic strawberries at Whole Foods, thinking they are doing a good thing despite the small mountain of petrochemicals required to transport those strawberries from South American and the enormous plastic container they are packed in.

Be better.

[Anonymous]

People that are already thin in the US aren’t suddenly dropping 10 lbs on their 2 week European vacation. Stop blaming all other sources except you for your weight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GMOs
Addiction to alcohol and sugar

Not OP - it's not alcohol. I just got back from France and drank a lot of wine each day. I ate whatever I wanted and still lost a few pounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People that are already thin in the US aren’t suddenly dropping 10 lbs on their 2 week European vacation. Stop blaming all other sources except you for your weight

You can’t read?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This entire thread is full of pseudoscience. Please go back to goop.

What exactly on this thread is "pseudoscience"? You said it, so explain yourself.

There's no evidence that GMOs cause obesity. None.
Americans don't drink more alcohol than other countries.
Our soil is depleted of nutrients? Evidence? Connection to Obesity?
Evidence that processed food causes obesity? Proof?
Pesticides cause inflammation and thus obesity? Proof?

I'll give you that eating lots of sugar probably has som impact. The rest of these reasons are garbage.

There is no evidence, but read Salt Sugar Fat. Food companies do all of their own research or fund research. I am a person who always loses weight. I don't eat a lot of sugar or carbs. I drink more in Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People that are already thin in the US aren’t suddenly dropping 10 lbs on their 2 week European vacation. Stop blaming all other sources except you for your weight

I don't drop 10 pounds, I don't need to, but I notice that I drop 1 or 2 pounds and I eat like crazy.

[Anonymous]

Seed oils

Lots of research on this

[Anonymous]

+1 on this, the same thing happens to me when I go to Europe or India. My body does change every single time and clothes fit better despite eating and drinking more.

[Anonymous]

Everyone loses weight on vacations that include not being sedentary. You sleep better, walk more, don’t snack as much, enjoy your meals rather than eating fast etc.

There isn’t a secret fat ingredient in US food. It’s the busy lifestyle that is at the same time very sedentary.