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Eat Local, Not “Safe” is part of the 2026 Gut Goals Series.

Here’s what I’ve learned after 20+ years of gut healing: sometimes the best thing you can do for your gut is stop trying to control it.

I know, I know. That sounds completely backwards coming from someone who literally wrote the book on gut healing. But stick with me.

Eat Local, Not “Safe”: 3 Days of Eating in Vietnam

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The Vietnam Experiment

January found me in Vietnam [because apparently I plan my monthly gut experiments around international travel now], so I decided to do the January experiment around it.

What I had planned was to track for three full days and then share that with you.

But I have to be completely honest, I actually did this for the entire 14 days.

I wasn’t about to eat American food while in Vietnam because…..experience. [Therefore, you’re going to see much more than just 3 days below.]

No “safe” choices.

No worrying about gluten cross-contamination.

Or obsessing over ingredient lists.

No defaulting to plain rice and grilled chicken “just to be safe.”

Just real Vietnamese food, eaten the way Vietnamese people eat it.

And you know what happened?

Nothing.

Well, not nothing. A lot happened.

But my gut? Totally fine.

Why I Actually Did This

Let’s be clear about something. I didn’t do this to prove I’m “healed” or that you should throw caution to the wind with your gut health.

I did this because I wanted to prove something else entirely:

When you go on vacation, you should actually be able to vacation.

For years, I’ve watched people in the gut health community turn travel into a stress-inducing exercise in food fear.

They pack entire suitcases of “safe” foods, eat the same boring meals at every destination, and spend more time worrying about their next meal than enjoying where they are.

That’s not healing. It’s just a different kind of prison.

So I decided to test whether all that worry is necessary.

Spoiler alert: it’s not.

Restrictive Travel vs. Strategic Freedom

❌ The Old Way:

• Pack bags of “safe” foods
• Eat the same meals everywhere
• Constant food anxiety
• Miss local experiences

✅ The New Way:

• Strategic supplement support
• Manage stress, not just food
• Trust your gut’s resilience
• Actually enjoy your trip

The Four Secret Weapons [That Aren’t Actually Secret]

Before you think I just winged this whole thing, let me be clear.

I went into this experiment prepared.

Not with bags of gluten-free crackers and packets of food I deemed “safe,” but with strategy.

1] Strategic Supplementation

I brought three key supplements with me:

Digestive enzymes

I took Break Down with every meal. Because here’s the thing about Vietnamese food: it’s delicious and it’s often complex.

Lots of ingredients, lots of flavors, and my digestive system appreciated the extra support breaking it all down.

Gluten Away

Yes, I took Gluten Away even though I wasn’t specifically seeking out gluten.

But when you’re eating local street food and traditional dishes, you can’t always know every ingredient.

This was my insurance policy, not my permission slip to go crazy.

[BTW – Gluten Away was was not mentioned in the Traveler’s Diarrhea article because it didn’t make sense. But I did bring it, and it does make sense for these purposes.]

HCl (Hydrochloric Acid)

This was huge. The heat, the different eating schedule, the excitement of travel – all of it can impact stomach acid production.

Taking Increase Now ensured my stomach could properly break down all this new food.

[You can save 15% off the Break Down + Increase Now and 20% off the Gluten Away – both linked above – with code AGUTSYGIRL at checkout.]

2] The Gut-Brain Connection Everyone Forgets

Here’s what nobody talks about: worry is inflammatory.

When you’re stressed about every bite of food, your body literally shifts into a stress response. Your digestion slows down. Your gut barrier can become more permeable. And your immune system gets activated.

All the things you’re trying to avoid by eating “safe” foods? You’re actually creating them with your anxiety.

In Vietnam, I made a conscious decision not to worry. Not because I’m reckless, but because I understood that my mental state would impact my gut health just as much as my food choices.

Every time I felt that familiar flutter of food anxiety, I reminded myself: my gut has been through worse. My gut can handle this, and it is not as fragile as my fear wants me to believe.

3] The Climate Factor Nobody Considers

Let’s talk about something fascinating that happened to my body in Vietnam: it adapted.

It was hot there. Like, actually hot and super humid.

And you know what your body wants to do in extreme heat? Eat lighter, more water-rich foods. Consume more fermented things. Drink more liquids.

Which is exactly what Vietnamese cuisine offers.

This isn’t a coincidence.

Traditional cuisines develop based on what the body needs in that climate.

Vietnamese food in January in Vietnam hit differently than it would have in southern Minnesota in January [where I’m usually freezing my butt off].

The fresh herbs, the light broths, the abundance of vegetables – my body wasn’t just tolerating this food, it was craving it. Because it made sense for where I was and what my body needed.

This is seasonality and locality in action.

And it’s something we completely ignore when we eat the same “safe” foods regardless of where we are or what season we’re in.

4] The America Problem

Here’s an uncomfortable truth I need to share: American food is uniquely inflammatory.

It’s not just that we have more processed foods [though we definitely do].

It’s that even our “whole foods” are different.

Our meat comes from animals raised differently.

The produce is grown in depleted soil and picked before it’s ripe.

Food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it reaches our plates.

And our regulations allow additives and processes that other countries ban.

When people say they can “eat anything” when they travel but feel terrible at home, this is often why.

It’s not that foreign food is inherently safer – it’s that American food is uniquely problematic.

In Vietnam, I was eating food that was:

• Prepared fresh that day [often that hour]
• Made with ingredients grown locally
• Cooked using traditional methods
• Free from the additives we don’t even question anymore in the US

This matters more than we want to admit.

What I Actually Ate

You asked for specifics, so here they are.

Because I decided to do this for the full 14 days [vs 3 that I had planned], I’m going to share a buffet – sometimes quite literally – of what I ate.

These are the actual foods + meals I consumed during the experiment.

Pho

Of course I ate allll the Pho. This one of the most popular dishes in Vietnam. And what I noticed was that they don’t just eat it for lunch and dinner. They eat it for every single meal.

I can’t tell you the amount of times I’d walk by a restaurant or little stand at 5am, only to find people sitting outside eating this incredible dish.

TBH, though, I eat this a lot in America as well, as my aunt makes the best Pho.

Katuk

One day, I spent quite some time perusing the street food market.

Honestly? I was looking for Moringa. I didn’t find it, but found a green that looked similar.

I used my Google Image Search to find out what it was called and learned it was Katuk.

Katuk (Sauropus androgynus) is a tropical leafy green vegetable native to Southeast Asia, particularly popular in Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Thai cuisines.

Often called “sweet leaf” or “star gooseberry,” katuk is a perennial shrub that produces tender, nutrient-dense leaves with a slightly sweet, grassy flavor reminiscent of peas or fresh beans.

The leaves are exceptionally rich in protein (for a leafy green), vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, making them a nutritional powerhouse traditionally used both as food and medicine.

In Vietnam, you’ll commonly find katuk in soups, stir-fries, and as a fresh herb accompaniment to meals, while it’s also valued in traditional medicine for supporting lactation in nursing mothers and as a general nutritive tonic.

The leaves are typically eaten cooked rather than raw, as cooking neutralizes certain compounds and makes the nutrients more bioavailable.

Making Katuk

So I had my aunt make it up for me. And it was super simple.

She washed it, then removed the stems. She then steamed it and put it with broth.

And I ate the entire bunch….in one sitting.

Coffee

Since I’m obsessed with coffee, Vietnam is the 2nd largest coffee producer in the world (after Brazil), and they have the most unique coffees, I drank allllll the java while in Vietnam.

I didn’t worry about calories or sugar (because there are a lot in some of their traditional coffees). Instead, I just enjoyed what was served in the country.

Here are some cool things to know about coffee in Vietnam:

1. Vietnamese iced coffee (cà phê sữa đá) uses sweetened condensed milk, a legacy from French colonial times when fresh milk was scarce
2. Traditional Vietnamese coffee is brewed using a small metal drip filter called a phin [and yes I bought my own phin to bring back home!]
3. The coffee brewing process is intentionally slow – taking 4-5 minutes per cup
4. “Egg coffee” (cà phê trứng), invented in Hanoi in the 1940s, whips egg yolks with sugar and coffee to create a creamy, dessert-like drink

I had a goal of drinking from 14 different coffee shops in 14 days. I achieved that and then some!

My FAVORITE coffees were:

1. Salt Coffee
2. Egg Coffee
3. Vietnamese Coffee
4. Coconut Coffee

AND, we brought a ton of it home with us…..because yes, it’s that good.

How to Make Vietnamese Coffee at Home

Try This at Home: Vietnamese Iced Coffee

You knew I’d add this element.

What you need:

• Vietnamese phin filter (I brought mine home, but THIS one looks just like it!)
• Medium-dark roast coffee (preferably Vietnamese Robusta)
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Ice

Instructions:

1. Add 2-3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk to a glass
2. Place phin over glass, add 2-3 tablespoons coffee grounds
3. Pour small amount of hot water to bloom (30 seconds)
4. Fill phin with hot water, cover, let drip (4-5 minutes)
5. Stir, add ice, enjoy

Fruit

They eat a lot of fruit in Vietnam.

My favorite were the Pomelo’s, which are basically grapefruit — but sweeter than.

When we had huge meals with my aunt’s family, dessert was always fruit. Plates upon plates of various fruits.

Nha Hang Ngon

Nha Hang Ngon isn’t a food, but instead a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Not only was it a super interesting aesthetic on the inside, but the food was so good!

I opted for a fresh juice [one of the best and freshest I’ve ever had!], and an assorted stir-fried vegetable with beef meal.

Breakfast

I’m always curious about what other countries eat for breakfast.

While they do have things like avocado, toast, and eggs, they also have things like:

• Vietnamese pancakes + Steamed Rice pancakes
• Pho
• Fruit
• Meat, eggs, and rice

I had it all.

The Vietnamese pancakes were probably my favorite. You can see a picture of it below — looks like an omelet.

“Healthy Vegan”

On my last night in Vietnam, I went to a “Healthy Vegan” restaurant to grab food.

And my gosh was it incredible.

I tried several things, just to get the full experience.

They were all good, but the lettuce wraps were probably my favorite.

And also, I ordered a Jasmine Kombucha and it might have been the best kombucha I’ve ever had. I WISH I had the secret to making booch like that.

I’m not Vegan by any stretch of the imagination, but wanted to try it there.

Worth it.

Dessert

Yes, yes I did have all the desserts.

Now, some of their traditional desserts are not for me. They have a lot of jelly-like desserts, which I could NOT stomach. But I had at least a bite so that I knew for sure!

But the coconut ice cream served in a real coconut bowl was incredible!

And the Vietnamese donuts were a blend of Churro meets Mini Donut. Absolutely divine!

When we went to the Mekong Delta, there was Coconut “candy” galore. And I tried every morsel I could.

Buffet-style + Larger Meals

Honestly? I found that there were several times when we ate larger meals.

One reason I love this is that I’m able to eat an incredibly vast array of foods.

And if you know me, you know I love diversity. The gut microbiome loves diversity.

So I went with it.

Miscellaneous

There are so many other things I ate while in Vietnam.

I wanted to point out 3:

1. Yucca – I was so excited to be able to eat fresh yucca at the Củ Chi Tunnels [by the way, that experience of being there was second to none!]
2. Fresh Coconut Water – I’d get one of these as often as possible. So cold, refreshing, and delicious
3. Vietnamese Pizza — I did NOT get a picture of it, but it might have been my FAVORITE thing I ate while there. It was straight from a street vendor in Hoi An.

What This Taught Me About “Gut Healing”

Here’s what this experiment reinforced for me:

Healing is never forever.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll keep saying it. The supplements I took? The mindfulness I practiced? That’s not a temporary thing. That’s simply a lever I have available to me.

Sometimes I need it, sometimes I don’t. But having it doesn’t mean I’m not healed – it means I’m empowered.

Fear is its own trigger.

The gut-brain connection is real. The meals I ate without worry digested better than the “safe” meals I’ve eaten while anxious.

Your mental state matters as much as your meal choices.

Context is everything.

The same foods impact your body differently based on how they’re prepared, where you’re eating them, what your stress level is, and what else is happening in your body.

This is why rigid food rules so often fail.

[Is how we eat as important as what we eat? <- read it]

Your gut is more resilient than you think.

Years of eating disorders and gut dysfunction taught me to see my gut as fragile.

It’s not really. In fact, it’s adaptive, intelligent, and capable of handling way more than we give it credit for.

The Bigger Picture

This experiment wasn’t just about eating Vietnamese food.

It was about testing whether all the work I’ve done on my gut over the past two decades has actually given me food freedom.

And it has.

Not because I can now “eat anything without consequences” – that’s not real and anyone promising you that is lying.

But because I can eat freely while using the tools I have, listening to my body, and not letting fear run the show.

This is what I want for you too.

Not recklessness. Not restriction. Just freedom.

Because I remember what it’s like to be so afraid of food that you can’t enjoy a single meal.

I remember turning down dinner invitations, skipping experiences, living small because your gut felt so fragile.

That’s not living. And after 20+ years of this work, I can tell you: your gut can handle more than your fear wants you to believe.

**And here’s the truth: you don’t need to go to Vietnam to start experiencing food freedom.**

You can start right now, right where you are, by understanding which foods truly serve you and which restrictions are just fear in disguise.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you eat local food with gut issues?
Yes, with the right approach. Strategic supplementation, stress management, and trusting your gut’s resilience can allow you to enjoy local cuisine even with digestive sensitivities. The key is preparation, not restriction.

What supplements should I take when traveling?
I recommend three core supplements: digestive enzymes (like Break Down) with every meal, Gluten Away for questionable foods, and HCl (like Increase Now) for protein-heavy meals. These support your natural digestion without requiring you to avoid all local foods.

How does stress affect gut health while traveling?
Stress triggers an inflammatory response that can slow digestion, compromise your gut barrier, and activate your immune system. Often, the anxiety about food causes more digestive issues than the food itself.

Is Vietnamese food good for gut health?
Vietnamese cuisine is naturally gut-supportive, featuring fresh herbs, light broths, fermented foods, and vegetables. The food is prepared fresh daily with local ingredients and traditional cooking methods, avoiding many of the inflammatory additives common in American processed foods.

Your Turn

I’m not suggesting you hop on a plane to Vietnam and eat everything in sight [though it was the trip of a lifetime!].

But I am suggesting you examine your relationship with “safe” foods.

Ask yourself:

• Am I avoiding foods out of actual necessity or habitual fear?
• Have I tested whether I still need all these restrictions?
• Is my anxiety about food causing more problems than the food itself?
• Am I missing out on life experiences because of rigid food rules?

Sometimes the most healing thing you can do for your gut is trust it enough to let it surprise you.

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Want to follow along with all 12 monthly experiments? Check out the full 2026 Gut Goals framework here.

Moving forward, you’ll also be able to find all experiments under the EXPERIMENTS tag.

Need the supplements I used? You’ll find them at Gutbyo[me] + Just Thrive Health [remember, save on all with code AGUTSYGIRL at checkout]

Questions about this experiment? Drop them below. I’m reading and responding to every single one. Which experiment should I do in February?!

Xox,

SKH

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This article is part of my 2026 Gut Goals Monthly Experiments, where I’m testing different approaches to gut health throughout the year. Each month brings a new experiment, and I’m documenting everything – the good, the bad, and the bloated. Follow along and maybe even try some experiments yourself.