Hi friends, family, and extended internet family!
I’ve spent over a week in Iceland and despite being off my usual foods, I’ve enjoyed the food more than I’ve been complaining about it. I’m usually that person on trips - pre-planning meals, scrutinizing the menu, soap-boxing the benefits of being gluten and dairy-free… generally being a pain-in-the-arse. But I was so excited to travel after a year of COVID restrictions that I threw all that went out the window. I had more sour dough rye bread, full-fat ice-cream, butter, and milk than I have had all last year combined.
And my body handled it like a champ!
I suspect that it was a combination of being on vacation with good people, immersive nature therapy, but also the counterbalancing effects of anti-inflammatory Omega-3’s from the wild-caught local fish and the grass-fed, free-roaming local lamb. All in all, Icelandic food has been a pleasantly wonderful - with the exception of this: there were very few leafy green vegetables.
A “Plateful”of Salad at Moss (1 star Michelin restaurant)
Being blanketed in darkness for 6 months out of the year, it makes sense that Iceland imports most of their vegetables. That meant, we had to scavenge to find even a simple plate of lettuce. Once for lunch, we stopped into a cafe that had a billboard of a yummy green salad outside, only to be disappointed with the answer, “Salad, what is that? Do you mean salad bread?” No joke.
On this low-fiber traditional Viking diet, I naturally had a poop-minded question, “Are Icelanders naturally more constipated eating this way, too?” After mulling it over, I came to the conclusion that, “No, not necessarily.”
Here’s why:
Nutritional experts used to believe that everyone needed the same proportions of macronutrients - protein, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber, but we know now that it really depends on your genetics and your gut microbiome. Just like how domesticated dogs adapted to a domesticated diet that was higher in carbohydrates (aka human food scraps), modern Icelanders have had generations to adapt to the traditional Viking diet. So while my Chinese-American Californian-adapted bowels may have been struggling with a a case of traveler’s constipation, my Icelandic counterparts may be as easy-going as their their free-roaming sheep.
Unfortunately, there are no meaningful studies to help me answer this question and I couldn’t work up the guts to ask enough strangers about their poop habits. So if you know any Icelanders, please feel free to pass on this inquiry.
Ultimately, I dealt with my bowel woes by taking 200mg Magnesium Glycinate twice daily until I was regular again, opting for lighter, leaner, greener, “beanier” meals when I felt too sluggish, and fasting until lunch when I didn't feel hungry for breakfast. Next time though, I'm packing fiber pills.
That’s it for now. If staying healthy while traveling and still being able to indulge is interesting to you, let me know and I’ll write a more extensive piece on that.
Thanks for reading! Have a thought on this issue, question, something you care to share? Replying directly to this email is the best way to get a hold of me. I read all of your responses!
Until next time - have a great life!
Maymie