feeling "heavy" when eating outside?
Posted by Heidi3 on May 28, 2008 · Member since Sep 2007 · 15 posts
Hi all!
first time writing here. I am Hadas, I'm 28 and come from Israel (right now leaving in Germany). I am between Vegeterian to a vegan. I cook only vegan.
I have this weird (or not) phenomenom , when I eat outside, in a resturant or at the Uni I feel not good after the meal. I feel heavy and tired. when I cook for myself at home I feel light also after the meal. that's also when I eat things with cheese, so it's not (only) that. I wonder if anyone know this phenomenen. I really can't enjoy eating outside because of that.
would like to hear if anyone else has this thing!
Thanx,
Hadas
I have experienced the same thing. Maybe the things you buy at restaurants or "the uni" have more fat in them than the foods you cook at home. Cheese is a high fat food but if you eat it at home with veggies and other low fat foods, it balances out. Maybe you should keep a food diary for a while. Write down what you ate, where and when you ate it and how it made you feel later. You might be able to figure out what foods are doing it.
Peace
Hi Tintexas,
Thanx. good to know that I am not alone in this :) I'm not sure fat is the key I can think of very fat things I ate sometimes which didn't make me feel this way. but there's no doubt I eat more vegan at home, and also if I eat some cheese, much of the food in that meal will be vegan.
The thing with the diary is great, unfortuatly I am very bad in such things (keeping track of things).
Hadas
I agree with the restaurant foods having more fat in them. Oftentimes, you don't even realize the fat is there. Also, you may just eat more food when you are away from home. I've noticed I do this too. Restaurant portions are always so big!
Hi Hidas,
I am the same as you. I've been a vegetarian for 16 years & have been leaning more towards vegan for the past year. I only cook vegan at home. If we go out to eat in a non-veg restaurant, I usually leave feeling like crap - I'll feel nauseous or bloated. I think it's from the ridiculous amounts of oil they use in food. Also, I usually end up getting some sort of cheese in my meal & I don't think my body tolerates it very well anymore.
thanx for the answers!
would like to hear more opinion, it's a mistery to me that I will be happy to solve 8)
Hi Hidas...welcome! :)
I often don't feel quite right after eating out as well and much prefer to cook my own food. I think many times, even though we may be ordering something "healthy," there may be a diffrence in additives or preservatives...more oil, salt, etc. I have found that most restaurants can't answer questions about their own food, which is puzzling to me! I agree with the idea of a food diary. I think that may help you pinpoint the problem.
yeah, i gotta agree with the others about that hidden fat and salt in restaurant foods. It adds flavor. They may add extra sugarto things also. All ofthese ingredients can make you feel fuller or too stuffed as it takes longer to digest.
Even in otherwise healthy pasta or vegtable sautes...there can be *alot* of added oil. Tomato sauce can have some extra sugar and oil to them as well.
And yeah, like Lisa said...portion sizes are huge!
What kind of foods are you eating out?
Whenever I have travelled to the States I have gotten ill from the amount of salt in food. Most of my friends/family eat mostly processed junk, in the home or out, and the salt factor in processed food is of course well-known. I would find myself getting swollen with edema, lethargic and stupid...and then I'd run for the cranberry juice or similar to flush my system. THEN I'd spend about 24 hrs running to the bathroom for a pee!
The person who put me onto this idea was an osteopath who had known me since forever; I was accompanying a relative to the office for a prescription and he asked how I was. I complained of feeling "stupid", putting it down to jetlag, when suddenly he looked sharply at my face and snapped, "Take off your wedding ring." I was so swollen, I couldn't. He said my system wasn't used to so much salt (I hardly use any in cooking, and seldom use processed foods) and I was on my way to what he called "sodium poisoning" which I guess affects the brain first.
Hey ! Happy to see I got some more replays.
coming to think about it, I usually have this feelings in "big" restaurants. no matter how good they are suppose to be. the weird thing, only I feel this difference.
I was eating at the University in a small restaurant that not too many people come there, a vegan dish and it made me feel light. I have another guess, maybe it's the artificul ingridents that they add to add flavor that I don't do at home. a mistery :)
Lucid anna - i try to eat more vegan but many times it doesn't work. usually when I eat a salad outside, I don't get this feeling.
thanx for the story Yabbitgirl, amazing and interesting!!
Hadas
abrimmer makes a very good point about hidden additives and preservatives. Many restaurants use color fixitives (retention agents) to give them the appearance of being fresher than they are. This might be especially true where vegetables are concerned since fresh veggies have a relatively short shelf life/high spoilage rate. I have a very bad reaction to these enhancers. I have actually called a couple of restaurants after having gotten sick and questioned them very specifically about their additives (one did confirmed their use). And color fixatives aren't the only thing they add. Here is a list of food additives from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_food_additives
abrimmer makes a very good point about hidden additives and preservatives. Many restaurants use color fixitives (retention agents) to give them the appearance of being fresher than they are.
:o :o :o :o
Now THAT I didn't know!