What in US food supply causes weight gain and inflammation?

[Anonymous]

Agree about the gross pizza here in the US. I am never tempted to eat it. I only eat pizza in Europe, especially France. When I order it there, I am not inclined to put paper towels on the pizza and absorb off the grease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Germany for over a year and came home 5 lbs heavier (on a tall frame so basically the same). I don't think there's a lick of truth to this, no matter how often people say it.

Agree. It isn’t what’s in the food, it is the actually food people are choosing to eat. The US is the birth place of processed food, fast food, convenience foods. They are EVERYWHERE. And those food companies have marketed them hard for decades as a brilliant shortcut because people are soooo busy you don’t possibly have time to cook, and even if you did, you surly have better things to do than cook. People in the US have been brain washed to believe they don’t have time to make their own meals and thinking it is more expensive to cook/prepare your own cook. And now that everyone is used to eating crap, they love it, think it tastes better, and like the minimal effort.

If you live in the US, you don’t have to eat like that. Eating real whole food can be simple and cheap. But people in the US just don’t to.

OP here. I thought that was it at first, which is why I started food logging and tracking. I am now sure that this is not what is going on here for me. When I am in Europe I eat at a lot more restaurants. I cook homemade meals from scratch here. I also unquestionably eat more in Europe. I now have multiple trips where I’ve logged food and it is clear I eat more (and more restaurant food) when in Europe.

It also doesn’t explain the stiffness and achiness.

Restaurants in Europe are likely to be cooking from scratch. Restaurants in US mostly use shortcuts, processed crap, and Gordon/Sysco garbage. Unless you are eating at farm to table type US establishments, except your restaurant food to be poor quality.

And are you really surprised pizza in Italy is better quality than your US Little Cesar garbage? C’mon. You can find handmade pizza in the US too though. Stop eating and low quality places in the US.

[Anonymous]

Fructose is outlawed in many European countries, while it is pervasive here due to corn lobbyists. It is in EVERYTHING in your cupboard and in your fridge including breads, jams, dressings, etc as cheap replacement to real sugar. You are eating pounds of it weekly and it is ruining your gut and causing inflammation and weight gain. In America, avoid ALL processed foods.

[Anonymous]

Bread and pasta in the US make me feel very gross and bloated. Bread in Europe and the Middle East do not. I know it’s the flour not the baking process because I bake my own bread. Something is wrong with our flour.

[Anonymous]

Agree it’s the chemicals and processed food. Just look at the ingredients on almost any food product in the U.S.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bread and pasta in the US make me feel very gross and bloated. Bread in Europe and the Middle East do not. I know it’s the flour not the baking process because I bake my own bread. Something is wrong with our flour.

OP here. Interesting. I was just texting with a friend of mine who has celiac disease. She told me that she can eat bread in Europe even though she has celiac. But eating it here makes her very sick.

She thinks there is something wrong with US wheat and flour as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Germany for over a year and came home 5 lbs heavier (on a tall frame so basically the same). I don't think there's a lick of truth to this, no matter how often people say it.

Agree. It isn’t what’s in the food, it is the actually food people are choosing to eat. The US is the birth place of processed food, fast food, convenience foods. They are EVERYWHERE. And those food companies have marketed them hard for decades as a brilliant shortcut because people are soooo busy you don’t possibly have time to cook, and even if you did, you surly have better things to do than cook. People in the US have been brain washed to believe they don’t have time to make their own meals and thinking it is more expensive to cook/prepare your own cook. And now that everyone is used to eating crap, they love it, think it tastes better, and like the minimal effort.

If you live in the US, you don’t have to eat like that. Eating real whole food can be simple and cheap. But people in the US just don’t to.

OP here. I thought that was it at first, which is why I started food logging and tracking. I am now sure that this is not what is going on here for me. When I am in Europe I eat at a lot more restaurants. I cook homemade meals from scratch here. I also unquestionably eat more in Europe. I now have multiple trips where I’ve logged food and it is clear I eat more (and more restaurant food) when in Europe.

It also doesn’t explain the stiffness and achiness.

Restaurants in Europe are likely to be cooking from scratch. Restaurants in US mostly use shortcuts, processed crap, and Gordon/Sysco garbage. Unless you are eating at farm to table type US establishments, except your restaurant food to be poor quality.

And are you really surprised pizza in Italy is better quality than your US Little Cesar garbage? C’mon. You can find handmade pizza in the US too though. Stop eating and low quality places in the US.

OP here. I’m not sure how often I need to repeat what I’ve said several times, but again: I don’t eat very often at restaurants in the US. I’ve never had Little Caesar pizza in my life. As I’ve said several times now, I nearly always home cook from scratch when in the US. I shop for ingredients at Whole Foods and farmers markets. I eat in restaurants in Europe. I eat more food in Europe. And yet, I lose weight effortlessly in Europe and I don’t have the bloating and stiffness I get every time I return to the US.

[Anonymous]

There’s probably something to the gut biome thing but I can’t believe your gut flora would change over a couple weeks in Europe.
Also, Europeans eat somewhat different food — more fermented food (especially central and Eastern Europe), more dark meat, more organ meat, diifferent variety of vegetables, etc.

[Anonymous]

Processed garbage. Constant snacking. Sugary drinks. Sedentary lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

My son is a type I diabetic with a continuous glucose monitor. It's sugar and fat content in the same foods. He needed virtually no insulin to eat a croissant in Morocco compared to a big spike and a second fat spike later here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is a type I diabetic with a continuous glucose monitor. It's sugar and fat content in the same foods. He needed virtually no insulin to eat a croissant in Morocco compared to a big spike and a second fat spike later here.

That is really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Maybe the water helps your gut biome? Does OP drink tap?

[Anonymous]

OP - i agree with you -there's something in the food or packaging or something here. I'm already thin but still typically lose 5 lbs if I go to Europe for a week or so. I don't eat a ton of processed foods but some - bread, crackers, ice cream, cereal, etc.

[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

This except I’m not knowledgeable about the soil issue.

I used to think the fervor about non gmo but as stupid but honestly now I think there may be something to it. And I agree we have more added sugars.

I also always lose weight in Europe. And stuff like pizza that makes me feel gross and bloated here doesn’t do the same here.

OP here. The pizza thing is noticeable for me. When I am there, I eat the Italian-style personal pizza, where you get one personal pizza. That’s a huge amount of pizza! I usually leave a slice or two, and can’t finish, but still, it’s a lot. Here, I feel gross and bloated after just one slice, and I rarely eat pizza as a result. I can’t help but wonder if there is something different in the pizza ingredients.

I am sensitive to malted barley flour. I can eat barley no problem, so it must be the malt process. It is in almost all white flours and pizza doughs I have come across since I became aware of my issue. If I eat it, I'm miserable. I want to go to Europe and see if it's in theirs too.

[Anonymous]

What % organic foods do you eat here? And non-GMO?

Many pesticides and chemicals — and plastics for packaging, I believe — that are ok in US are forbidden other places.

I eat more than my siblings, but eat almost 100% organic foods when at home. They rarely buy organic. They gain much, much easier and faster than I do. They also buy low-fat foods and more processed and/or packaged foods (eg, cut veg in a plastic bag that can be boiled or microwaved).