Mercedes Duran stares at herself in the mirror. Her face is red and covered with new blemishes she tries not to pick at. Her hair is thinning, slowly falling out of her head.
Duran is a 17-year-old from Barcelona, Spain, studying abroad for a year in Charlotte, Michigan. She attends Charlotte High School and lives with a host family.
“I’m studying in America just because I watch a lot of movies, so I just wanted to live the experience,” Duran said.
Duran said that her favorite American food is Wendy’s. She likes that you can get a lot of food for very cheap prices. But Duran has noticed many negative changes in her body since living abroad.
“I’ve had a lot of physical changes and appetite with the food here. What I feel the most is that food is not as fresh and my body definitely does not like that,” Duran said.
In the nine months that she has lived in Michigan, Duran suddenly developed severe acne, which she never had at home. She noticed her hair thinning and falling out.
Duran said that she eats more fast food in America, but overall, her diet has generally stayed the same and consists of all the recommended nutrients like fruits, vegetables, meat, and whole grains.
In a side-by-side comparison of American McDonald’s French fries and McDonald’s French fries in the U.K., American fries have seven more ingredients. These include canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor, sodium pyrophosphate, and they are fried in a vegetable oil blend with citric acid and dimethylpolysiloxane.
According to the University of British Columbia, dimethylpolysiloxane is a type of silicone. It is used in shampoos, skincare, lubricants, and most commonly, Silly Putty. McDonald’s said that they use it in their frying oil to prevent it from boiling over and injuring their crew members. But dimethylpolysiloxane is not used at McDonald’s in the U.K., so there must be another way to stop the oil from splashing.
The European Union banned the use of dimethylpolysiloxane, except for use in supplement tablets, in 2012, according to Access to European Union Law, an official website of the European Union. It is legal in the United States.
Study abroad is the time to immerse yourself in the culture around you, to learn, and experience new things. If students are forced to worry about their health because of the food they eat, they are distracted and are not educating themselves or living their new lifestyle in an authentic way. I have firsthand experience with this from when I studied in Spain.
I stared at the waiter with my jaw wide open in utter disbelief. My hands grew hot and sticky while my leg quivered. I could not believe that the restaurant in Barcelona, Spain that I fell in love with, had made such a catastrophic error.
I had been battling a gluten sensitivity for over five years, the diagnosis coming after an entire year of debilitating and agonizing stomach pain after every single time I ate. My parents didn’t believe me at first, but when we traveled together one weekend, they finally noticed that I immediately needed a bathroom and to lie down after every meal. I endured many medical tests and tried several extreme diets to cut out any potential triggers. Gluten always created the worst, most exacerbated form of my symptoms.
My doctors now believe that this sensitivity is an unfortunate symptom of my chronic autoimmune disease, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). POTS is a nervous system issue that affects all the body’s autonomic functions, including digestion.
When I’ve accidentally eaten gluten since my gluten sensitivity diagnosis, my whole body shuts down, replicating flu symptoms. I lie in bed completely incapacitated, bedridden for days. If I so much as lift a finger, all the pain, nausea, and dizziness send a striking wave across my body to hit me all over again with my discomfort.
When my Spanish waiter informed me that they did not carry gluten free bread in the restaurant, I felt petrified. I ate three pieces of toast with my scrambled eggs a few days prior, meaning I ate gluten. Terror settled in as I awaited a horrific ending to my amazing trip.
According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and triticale, which is a cross between wheat and rye. Gluten helps foods maintain their shape, acting as a thickening agent to hold food together.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that leads to damage in the small intestine, also according to this foundation. The only known treatment is following a gluten free diet.
A gluten sensitivity, also known as a non-celiac gluten sensitivity, is someone who gets sick after eating gluten, without an allergic reaction, according to the Cleveland Clinic. These symptoms can include, but are not limited to, fatigue, nausea, stomach pain, headache, or bloating. About six percent of the total population has a gluten sensitivity, while about one percent of the total population has celiac disease.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “the exact causes of gluten intolerance aren’t well understood.” It’s possible that the carbohydrates are not absorbed properly so they stay in the gut to ferment. Another possible cause of a gluten intolerance is the dysfunction of the lining of the small intestine which may allow the wrong bacteria into the blood or liver, causing inflammation.
Sitting in that restaurant, I quickly realized that I had not experienced any stomach pain, nausea, immobility, hot flashes, rashes, or any other sign that I had eaten something that I was not supposed to, like I’d experienced at home for over five years. Shocked and puzzled, I embarked on a personal experiment to try as much gluten as I could for the rest of my study abroad experience in Spain. Luckily, the food is shockingly different there, and created amazing results for me.
A study conducted by Wheat Quality and Carbohydrate Research at North Dakota State University found that Hard Red Winter wheat is “a specialty wheat grown primarily in the Northern Plains of the United States.” It has a high protein of about 10 to 13 percent. This is the most popular type of wheat grown in America, and the cheapest.
Hard Red Winter Wheat can be stored longer and is often used as a blending wheat to increase gluten strength in a batch of flour. Adding this specific wheat to lower protein flours can improve the dough handling, like in breads and general-purpose flour, as well mixing characteristics and water absorption, according to North Dakota State University.
Most wheat grown in Europe is soft spring wheat, which has a lower protein content. Additionally, most European wheat is white wheat, according to Health Digest. White wheat has fewer carbohydrates, less gluten protein, and a shorter shelf life.
The first glutenous food that I ate on purpose was pancakes because it is one of the hardest gluten-free foods to make taste good. The gritty, flat gluten-free pancakes taste like when you accidentally get sand in your mouth after a long day at the beach. The syrup and other toppings do nothing to help it.
Sitting outside a small sweets shop, I was quickly blinded by the camera flashes; my friends truly embodied a paparazzi clan. Loaded with chocolate chips and smothered in a Nutella-like chocolate drizzle, I took my first bite as my friends anxiously waited for my reaction, after months of peer pressuring me to do this experiment. My eyes lit up big. The pancakes were delicious. Fluffy, doughy, and perfectly cooked. I decided that any suffering that may come was worth it in that moment. Surprisingly, I never felt sick.
Another way that wheat differs in America and Europe is because of the growing process. For example, according to Health Digest, many American farmers use an herbicide called glyphosate. In fact, it is the most widely used herbicide in the United States, as it is a main ingredient in Roundup.
Glyphosate residue in food kills both disease-causing bacteria and beneficial stomach bacteria in the human body. By destroying the balance of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and genes in the body, this herbicide hinders the body’s ability to digest.
Many countries around the world are banning glyphosate. In Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, and Spain prohibit the use of glyphosate, according to biodx.co. Greece, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom are on the same path, but have yet to legally ban the use of this herbicide.
My friends and I walked down to the old town plaza in Caceres, Spain to one of our favorite cafes. The cobblestone felt loose and slippery down the narrow pathway of shops and restaurants, full of people. La casa del goloso has colorful seating in the back alley, but you have to fight to get a table. This café offered gluten free options, but I was determined to taste their most famous creation.
We each ordered a chocolate chip monster cookie. Filled with melted chocolate on the inside, it felt like a warm lava cake. The chocolate oozed all over my hands and lips, dripping and crumbling with every bite. I devoured the whole thing.
These delicious baked goods are all made with flour, but the fortification processes of wheat in the United States and Europe differ, which contributes to American flours causing digestive problems. In the United States, according to the National Library of Medicine, bread enrichment started in 1941 with the addition of six beneficial nutrients, including iron.
Fortification is not mandatory. However, if a bag of flour, for example, is labeled as enriched, it is required to meet certain standards of added nutrients.
The National Institutes of Health states that “reduced iron powders (H-reduced or atomized) have been the most widely used to fortify cereal flours.” But research from the World Health Organization says that electrolytic iron powder is the only iron powder recommended for food fortification. The National Institutes of Health says that “it [electrolytic iron powder] is assumed to be 50 percent as well absorbed.”
If a bag of flour is enriched with iron, it is harder for anybody to digest it. This means that any products that were made with this flour will also be harder for the body to process, especially those who already have digestion issues.
During the last weekend of my study abroad experience, my friends and I rallied, determined to have the best night out yet. The goal was to party, ending the night with churros when the cafes opened around 7 am. We gathered everyone from our program and met at a local bar before heading to the clubs.
About halfway through the night, we made our way to the second club of the evening, conveniently located next to a grungy, hole-in-the-wall, open all-night, cash only pizza place. The barbeque chicken pizza was one of the best pieces of pizza I have ever had. The crispy onions, juicy chicken, and thoroughly melted cheese took my breath away and supplied me with enough energy to make it to more clubs. And then, churros.
I ordered churros with hot chocolate, which in Spain is a cup of pure melted chocolate. The hexagonal treat had a hole all the way through the middle, perfect for when I dipped the churro in the chocolate. After one bite, I immediately knew what the hype was all about. The four of us who lasted all night sat there devouring the crunchy, yet gooey, hot deliciousness.
I used to always tell people that one of my fears was that I would get drunk and chow down on something with gluten. That night, I did it on purpose, and I never got sick.
Gluten is not the only common American allergen handled differently in Europe. Lactose creates different reactions as well.
Patrick Linehan, a junior at Kalamazoo College, battles a lactose intolerance and has for about six years. After he eats dairy, he experiences severe stomach pain, bloating, and constipation for about 48 hours. Linehan’s mom, dad, and sister all have a lactose intolerance too.
Lactose is the sugar in milk, according to the Mayo Clinic. The reason for a lactose intolerance, also called lactose malabsorption, is having too little of an enzyme called lactase in your small intestine. Lactase breaks down lactose in the stomach by turning it into two simple sugars, glucose and galactose. These sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestinal lining.
However, “if you’re lactase deficient, lactose in your food moves into the colon instead of being processed and absorbed,” according to Mayo Clinic. Lactose intolerance is usually harmless to the body although it creates uncomfortable symptoms.
Linehan lived in Athens, Greece for four months during his college study abroad program. While living abroad, he ate dairy and never had any symptoms.
The big bowl of fresh Greek yogurt, almost the whole family size container, sat on the table in front of him. One spoonful of fresh honey and one spoonful of homemade jam were placed on top of the yogurt, all bought from a small, locally sourced produce market around the corner from his apartment.
“Joy. Just absolute splendor,” Linehan said about his first time eating his new staple breakfast. “I tend to experience culture through food, normally when I’m traveling, so being able to partake is nice.”
Linehan experienced little to no symptoms of his lactose intolerance. This is partly due to the pasteurization differences between the United States and the rest of the world.
The most common type of milk pasteurization in the United States is called High Temperature Short Time (HTST), according to the International Dairy Foods Association. This process uses “metal plates and hot water to raise milk temperatures to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit for not less than 15 seconds, followed by rapid cooling.” HTST is the cheapest and fastest way to sterilize milk.
Ultra High Temperature (UHT) is the most common form of milk pasteurization in Europe. According to the International Dairy Foods Association, UHT involves heating the milk using commercial sterile equipment and filling it into completely airtight packaging. There is no set time or temperature for this type of pasteurization because that information is determined by the type of equipment and products being used. This process results in the milk being shelf stable, only needing refrigeration after it’s been opened.
Upon returning to the United States, Linehan says his symptoms have gotten worse. He is now experiencing sharp stomach pains, different than his discomfort before studying abroad. Linehan does not completely avoid eating dairy but knows he will face the consequences.
“If there’s pizza, I’mma eat the pizza. If there’s a cheeseburger, I’mma eat the cheeseburger. If there’s a big bowl of ice cream, I’mma eat the ice cream. Can’t stop, won’t stop, tastes so good,” Linehan said. “And then I hurt, severely, 24 hours later. Then I’m in severe pain. It’s been bad lately.”
Linehan’s pain could be in part be due to the different milk protein he consumed in Europe. Casein is a protein in cow’s milk and has three types: alfa, kappa, and beta. Beta casein is 30 percent of the total protein content in milk, according to Guernsey Butter.
There are two variants of the beta casein, called A1 and A2. “The A2 variant is the ancestral form of the gene and in the past few thousand years, a natural genetic mutation occurred in some European dairy herds that changed the beta casein they produced,” according to Guernsey Butter. This type of milk is known as “safe” milk.
A1 milk is most common in the United States because it comes from black and white cows that are used for their size, demeanor, and milk production. It is different from A2 milk because one of the amino acids is histidine, instead of proline, which is harder for the human body to digest. According to the National Library of Medicine, “beta-casein A1 milk is associated as a risk factor for type-1 diabetes, coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, sudden infant death syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, etc.”
Duran loves her life in America but is eager to get home to Spain. She said that she misses the food, especially Iberian ham.
Duran hopes to improve her health upon her return. She said that she knows of friends who have returned home and nourished their bodies back to their normal health. Duran hopes that her body follows this path.
Fundamental differences between the American and European food systems create health issues and confusion for many people. I ate so many new foods during my time abroad and wondered if my body reacted to gluten as if it was a new substance. That is clearly not the case. As I get back into the routine of my normal life in the United States, I am eager yet terrified to see how my body reacts to our foods and to see if I can eat gluten again.
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