Moving (back) to the U.S.

[Justin Rawley]

We have a lot of people who come from Europe and Asia in this area, and many have noted various health issues that cropped up shortly after they arrived; these they generally attribute to diet. I've noticed that almost 6 weeks after returning from living for 7 months in Eastern Europe, I too may be experiencing some similar problems (even though I try to eat natural/organic foods that contain no pesticides, hormones, articifcial flavors/colors, etc). Has anyone on the forum experienced strange symptoms after moving to/returning to the U.S. after a long hiatus?

[Cole Dano]

What kind of symptoms?

[jl5555]

I have lived away from the US on several occasions for extended periods. The longest being 3 years in Japan close to Tokyo in the Kanto Plain. Returning full time to the US my body responded very positively. I don't know if it was the crowded living conditions there or the smog. The smog was particularly gross.

I also lived in France; both Paris and Lyon, for over a year and was perfectly fine returning back to the states.

[Justin Rawley]

Thanks jl5555 and Mr. Brady;

Mr. Brady, these are typical symptoms:

Weight gain,

hair loss,

water retention,

hormonal imbalances

I assumed all of these were attributable mainly to lifestyle/diet changes and hormones/pesticides/plastics in the food here.

My activity level hasn't changed much, but my diet was drastically different over there. I walked or rode the bike as my main means of transport there while these activities are mainly for training here. I usually don't eat processed meats here, but there, Kolbasa is a staple that's quite fatty and hard to avoid. In Belarus, I ate a lot of salted fish - they've generally got good sources of protein in their diet, good vegetables and great soups. Fried potato dishes such as draniki are also popular, but I avoided these for the most part and didn't eat sour cream.

For the last 6 weeks I was part of a program in Poland where the food was provided for us. It was quite fresh, well prepared and tasty, but not what I usually eat. We were generally served some kind of freshly made soup, then the main dish of pork, liver, chicken, or sometimes fish. Often, as per local custom, this was lightly fried, usually in sunflower oil. We got boiled potatoes, cabbage, beet and carrot salad everyday. Also, for the last 6 weeks of my stay, the milk we had was brought every morning straight from the cow - no processing of any sort. I didn't see any problems while I was there, only when I got back and resumed my normal diet. There were a few dietary supplements that I usually take here that were not available to me there, mainly calcium and copper, but the others I had no trouble finding.

General water retention is the specific problem I have seen and as far as I understand, it's usually related to some hormonal factor or too much beer drinking (since I don't drink beer, that can't be it ). There's also the possibility that the sudden drop in potassium intake from not eating potatoes everyday might be a contributing factor. I did not notice this problem last year on my return from 6 weeks in Poland.

[ASForum]

I went from FIT to BLOATED being in the US and eating 1/2 to 1/3rd the diet I used to in India.

[Cole Dano]

This is very interesting, i hope some of the guys who really know their nutrition chime in here. My stays have been to short to notice, and i just attribute everything to jet lag, being a poor traveler.

Ido has a very tuned diet and has been in the States for a while, i'd be curious to know if he has issues as well.

I'm sure this is a silly question but are you avoiding all the corn syrup and other corn additives that are in almost everything?

[Justin Rawley]

crashnburn: Thanks for the reply, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Mr. Brady: I always try to avoid the high fructose corn syrups used as sweeteners in junk snack foods and in sodas. Most of my food I buy comes from the "organic" Whole Foods Market for whatever that's worth.

As a rule, I try to stay away from:

Fast food of any sort

fried potatoes, potato chips, fried snack foods

Soda drinks

high fructose corn syrup (caffeine combined with highly refined sugars can be a major source of bloat for some people)

alcoholic beverages of any sort

monosodium glutamate (although there's free glutamate in other ingredients)

aspartame

sucralose

olestra

baking powder (with aluminum), lake dyes, and other aluminum containing substances

cheddar cheese (generally contains lot's of aluminum due to processing - as does soy)

trans-fats and partially hydrogenated oils

flax seeds, soy, and other phytoestrogenic compounds (here again, it's almost impossible to avoid soy altogether because it's in other things) I supplement with borage and fish oils to avoid the flax

I use olive oil to sautee, honey (or sometimes maple syrup) as a sweetener, or if a recipe calls for sugar, I use brown granulated. However, white sugar does get in the diet through store-bought goods. I eat lots of fruits (citrus and berry) and vegetables, especially the red and purple ones as well as spinach and collard greens and don't generally eat white grains or lots of meat. Beans, dark grains, nuts, fish, and sometimes chicken are the preferred protein sources, though I will supplement with whey protein after a workout and eat some of these supplemental whey smoothies or bars. However, when cycling long distances, I'll sometimes eat just about anything provided at the rest stops, though I do bring a lot of my own food with me to avoid some of the worst junk. Water and black coffee are what I ususally drink (sometimes I add cinnamon to the coffee) except on a long ride I try to have one bottle with water and the other with two sources of sugar. I do need some refined carbs when riding, especially when the distance are over 40 miles. In all, my diet isn't great and one of my projects is to revamp it entirely.

It's a very good possibility that materials leaching out from plastics could be a source of the problem. For this reason, I try to use only PBA free bottles or stainless steel ones.