Hey,
If you've been to Europe, or you know someone who has, you've probably heard this story.
Two weeks in Italy or France. Fresh bread every morning. Pasta at lunch. Cheese, wine, gelato at night.
And then they come home and say the same thing:
"I ate more than I do at home, and my stomach felt better than it has in years."
A week back in the US, the bloating is back.
I've heard some version of this so many times that I went looking for the answer. Here's what I found, and what I did about it. ☕
SO WHAT'S GOING ON?
Here's my honest take: it's not one thing. It's a few things stacked together.
1. You walk. A lot.
On vacation you walk to breakfast, walk to the museum, walk to dinner. Even a short walk after a meal helps food move along, and on a trip you do it without thinking.
2. Meals are slower and smaller.
You sit down. You eat at a table, not in the car. Portions are often smaller, and dinner can take two hours. Your gut gets time to do its job.
3. You're not stressed.
Your gut and your brain talk to each other all day. No inbox, no traffic, no rushing, and digestion often calms down too.
4. The food itself is different.
This is the part most people feel, and it's the part I want to talk about.
More meals are cooked fresh, and fewer come out of a bag. And the rules on what can go into food are different.
A few examples:
🇪🇺 Titanium dioxide, a whitener used in some candy and frostings, hasn't been allowed in European food since 2022. It's still allowed in the US.
🍞 Potassium bromate, used in some US breads to help the dough rise, isn't allowed in Europe.
🏷️ In Europe, every additive on a label has to come with its job title, like "thickener" or "sweetener," so you know why it's there.
⚠️ European sweets that are high in sugar alcohols have to carry a warning: "excessive consumption may produce laxative effects." In the US, the label usually won't tell you.
Can anyone promise that one ingredient is why your stomach felt better in Rome? No.
But of the four things above, the food is the one you bring home with you every week.
THE PROBLEM
Back home, in a US grocery store, you're on your own.
The print is tiny, and the lists are long.
The same ingredient can hide under three or four different names.
The label won't tell you if something is banned or restricted in Europe.
And it definitely won't tell you if it's likely to bother your gut.
Nobody has time to research every product in the cereal aisle. I know I don't.
WHAT I'VE BEEN BUILDING
So for the last few weeks, I've been building something to do that reading for you.
It's called Unjunk AI. It's not ready yet, so there's no link today. But I want you to help shape it before it is.
Here's what it does so far. You scan a barcode in the store, and it shows you:
🇪🇺 The Europe check: whether anything in it is banned in European food, needs a warning label there, or is restricted
🌿 For your gut: answer a few quick questions about your gut (bloating, reflux, constipation, loose stools or lactose), and it points out the ingredients that may bother you, plus the other names they hide under
🔄 Better swaps: options in the same aisle with a cleaner label
Your gut answers stay on your phone. And it doesn't tell you what to eat. It just shows you what's in the package, so you can make the call.
NOW I NEED YOU
You're the people this is for, so you get to decide what it does next.
Which one would you use the most?
If you picked "something else," tell me in the box. Or just hit reply and finish this sentence:
"When I'm standing in the grocery aisle, I wish I knew..."
I read every reply. The most common answers go into the app first.
And one more:
Want to try it before everyone else?
If you say yes, you'll be the first to get it when it's ready.
THE FREE EXPERIMENT
Bring a little bit of Europe home this week. No passport needed.
1. Take a 10-minute walk after dinner.
2. Eat one meal a day sitting down, slowly, with your phone in another room.
3. Flip over one packaged food you eat often and find one ingredient you can't explain. Look up just that one.
Then notice how your belly feels by the weekend. Hit reply and tell me. I'd love to know.
THREE THINGS I'D POST FROM THIS ISSUE
POST 01
Why does your stomach feel better in Europe? You walk more, eat slower, stress less, and the rules on what goes into food are different.
POST 02
In Europe, every additive on a label has to say what job it's doing. In the US, you're on your own.
POST 03
You can't move to Italy. But you can take a walk after dinner and read one label.
ONE LAST THING
Unjunk AI exists because of conversations with you: the polls, the replies, the "I put it back if I can't pronounce it" notes.
So this is your app as much as mine. Tell me what you want it to do.
I'll see you next week.
Wilson From Nature The Cure 🌿
P.S. When Unjunk AI is ready, you'll hear about it here first. If you voted "yes" above, you'll get it before anyone else.
