Gaining Weight And Stomach Issues As Au Pair in America

It happens without really realizing it. You come to the US and after a couple of weeks or months you will see it on the scale or even feel it when you are not able to button your jeans anymore. That’s why most Au Pairs transition to yoga pants at all times. Just kidding. But wearing yoga pants all day is a thing here.

But why does it happen? It’s not that you eat way more than usual. Yes, you might be eating other foods since your host family is providing maybe other grocery’s than you are use too but overall you are confused why you are gaining weight or even start to get stomach issues that you never had before, like bloating.

I started talking to my host family about it and other locals and more and more I got answers like “Our food is poison”, “That’s because they make money with us being sick”, “gluten is not the same”, “the big industries control our food”.

First I wasn’t paying much attention or even really questioned it, until my stomach issues started and the bloating become unbearable for me. I started my health journey. The goal: becoming the healthiest and fittest version of myself and I learned some interesting facts along the way about the food in America.

“The food is poison”

In other Countries, especially Europe our food is controlled more strict than the US. In America the food is controlled by the FDA (Food &Drug Administration) and they give rules on what ingredients are allowed to be used in food. Problem is that the FDA is almost half payed and funded (45%) by the companies making the food. That raises the question if the FDA allows more cheaper and dangerous ingredients to please the company’s they are paid from. There are more than 100 toxins that are allowed to be used in food in the US but are banned in other countries since they are causing health issues.

Here are some foods that are banned in other countries

Mountain Dew

This soft drink contains brominated vegetable oil (BVO) as an emulsifier and this is banned in Japan and Europe. This toxin can build up in your body and can potentially lead to memory loss, skin issues and nerve problems.

Skittles

Don’t we all love them? But they contain food dyes like Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Red 40. These dyes are known to have adverse effects on young children. They are banned in Europe and need to have a warning label if used. Norway and Austria banned them completely.

Lucky Charms

These cereals are colored similar to the skittles with food dyes that are banned in other countries.

Ritz Crackers

They are very popular cracker brand in America but they use partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, which is a trans fat that is currently banned in countries like Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark.

There are a lot of brand/foods that seem to be the same as in your home country, for example Heinz ketchup. But if you check the back of the ingredient list you will see that the US Heinz ketchup has a way longer list then the European one. Americans like their food sweeter and so they adjusted to that but also include cheaper ingredients no matter if they bring health issue to the consumer but as long as it’s still allowed in the US. So even if you try to eat the exact same things you might up with gaining weight or stomach issues.

Why do they do that?

There is this theory that not only the big company’s make money by using cheaper ingredients that may cause health issues for their profit, but also that same or other big companies make money with the healthcare system. We all know that if you get to the doctor in America you pay a lot and some companies are also profiting off of that. So being sick, makes them more money than if people are healthy.

“Gluten isn’t the same”

I’m a pasta lover. In Germany I was living by myself and I was eating pasta almost every single night, because it’s cheap, easy and simply delicious. If I would do that here my body would look different. But why is that? First I was just avoiding carbs overall until I realized that’s not the problem. Someone mentioned that gluten isn’t the same and that a lot of gluten intolerant Americans are able to eat gluten in Europe and even lose weight. Sounds like made up until I did the research.

The American wheat is higher in gluten than in Europe. All just by the land it’s growing on. The European wheat is softer and contains less gluten. In addition the food in America is more processed and they is not the variety of wheat you have in Europe. This causes that our body is more likely to not tolerate the gluten as well. So we gain weight by eating the same amount or even get bloated.

Dairy is another food category that can cause your stomach issues. Since I reduced the amount of dairy and gluten in my diet I experience almost no bloating anymore.

What to do?

Now that you know all of that you ask yourself surely what now? About 100 toxins you can’t even pronounce, gluten and dairy? What the heck should you eat?

Here is my opinion: It’s fine. Unless you experience serious discomfort don’t worry about it. You are just living here for one or two years. Nothing will make you that sick for that time. I’m well aware of some foods that have mentioned toxins in it and still I eat them once in a while. This is more about the experience, what are a couple pounds extra? Buy a bigger pair of yoga pants and just enjoy yourself. Don’t stress so much about your body size. Some of us don’t have full control about the groceries that they get in the house. If you are really want to avoid those than you can have a talk with your Host parents how to do your groceries.

There are apps that can help you find concerning ingredients by scanning the barcode, and then you can decide if you want to eat them. One of them is called “BobbyApproved”.

I hope this can help you to make some good choices but not to forget the overall fun on the experience. This is not meant to scare you just more something to inform you so you can be more aware. For me personally I was eating at every single fast food chain to try out there food and I regret nothing. But for me it’s different because now I choose to live here and these are food always available for me.

Go and make your time magical. Eat those skittles.

Your online Au Pair bestie,

Michelle