Why is Asian food appearing to cause me such digestive issues?

[Ecrire]

I am Asian, born and bred - and have quite literally been weaned on to curries. I have lived in the UK for some 17 years now - and am unsure if that's somehow caused my digestive plumbing to re-adjust? For example - life as a19 year old involved routine home food multi course curry meal, centred on rice and fish. Life as a 40 year old in the UK rarely sees home made curries. This is for context.

I am experiencing these inexplicable digestive issues with my most beloved two cuisines - Chinese/other Asian, followed by Indian. The day after an Indian or other Asian takeaway/restaurant I am inevitably -

1. Somehow gaining 4 lbs overnight
2. Stomach distended
3. Very significant bloating/discomfort
4. Feeling thoroughly parched and drinking loads

I am getting so very miserable because - 1) These two cuisines are my absolute favourite for the rare occasions of going out/eating out and 2) they derail any attempt to lose weight by 4 lbs overnight and it takes 3 days or so to get back.

What I am also failing to understand is how is someone born and raised in that cuisine/culture for 20 years - have apparently developed these bizarre issues? Or is it the case that home food as I knew it back home is not what is served in a restaurant here, and contains some ingredient I am having this sort of reaction to?

I researched it and it comes up with FODMAP and avoiding onion and garlic which makes me want to weep as onion, garlic and chillies are pretty much the reason I eat! Herbs, and "mild" things dont do it for me.

Or perhaps it could be MSG? But would it randomly cause such strong overnight weight gains every time I eat this sort of food?

Thanks all - I think I am 99% certain now that it is a combination of 1) the MSG, 2) the amount and nature of oil that is causing a very specific reaction.

I cannot entire eliminate my two favourite choices of cuisines for going out with friends/DH - so I will try to work out what I can reasonably do to mitigate these effects on the occasion that we eat out at/from these places.

Very strangely - when we travel back to country of origin for annual holiday for 3 weeks a year - these issues do not occur and yet we eat out lots on holiday with various folks back home.

It specifically seems to be particular to the Western Chinese restaurant/curry-house.

As i said above - mybe drinking more water, herbal tea, some kind of digestive supplement etc.

Suggestions welcome :)

Perhaps as an experiment try ordering dry options from the menu, eg marinaded fish, meat or veg, with plain rice or bread rather than fried rice.

Try eating some potassium rich food afterwards (like banana, avocado, coconut water). It helps get rid of water retention caused by salt.

Surely in this day and age you can ask for a list of ingredients, particularly from your favourite places? Perhaps take a look at those and start comparing. Ask them what type of fat they use for cooking as well and perhaps you'll start to see a pattern?

You could also try a less restrictive version of restricted eating - eg in our family it's normal to try a bit of everything but if that's what you do, perhaps for a while try to stick to one or two dishes, to see if you can pin down if it's a specific one? Or stick with tomato based ones today and then try the creamy ones another time. And avoid the sides/extras while you're tryign to figure it out? Poppadoms and prawn crackers could be part of the problem.

Similarly, have you noticed, whiel you're eating, if there's any impact, even if it's quite subtle ie you find you feel particularly full after a particular type of dish? It's also quite common for food combinations to be an issue - eg you can eat the naan bread just fine normally or you can eat the creamy curry just fine, but perhaps not together (eg I can't eat carbs with steak except, possibly, a bit of bread in small amounts. It's weird, but I've learnt just to NOT order chips).

Also, what about drinks? I love a beer with a curry but while I can get away with that at home when I make a homemade curry, the extra richness of a curry when I'm out means that if I have more than one very small beer, I'll feel very bloated. Mostly now I don't bother with the beer at all anymore - at home or out.