[travel] Unintentional elimination diet.

[mattbell]

In Asia I did everything the Lonely Planet guidebook told me not to do. I ate the fruit. I bought food from street vendors. I never got sick. In the Middle East, the available foods were completely different, and I still never got sick. Similarly, Egypt and Greece were just fine. In fact, in all of these countries I was better off digestion-wise than I was at home.

However, Eastern Europe has been a neverending stream of trouble. Why?

Things I ate in Eastern Europe that I didn't eat so much of during the first part of my trip.

- Sausage and other cured meats
- Dairy (though I had some in Greece as well), specifically cheese.
- Whole-wheat bread (and more bread in general).
- Chocolate
- Very salty entrees

I don't know if one of these is the culprit or if it's something else (eg types of fat used for cooking, specific pesticides used on crops, spices etc). I'll have to experiment more when I get home. I may look into that nutrition evaluation some friends of mine have done.