Interesting article, but honestly I blame the FDA on allowing the garbage we put into our foods to keep shelf life. This has happened multiple times and tested by me each and every time. I visit Europe, eat basically what I want and lose to to 10lbs on every visit, and the trips range from 3 - 5 days.
I took my mom to Hungary at the end of May leaving her there and flew back 2 days later - I ate bread (which I do not eat in the US), I ate fruit (which I limit due to sugars), I ate desserts (which I avoid because of sugar and carbs) and left 5lbs lighter than when I left the US.
I returned to Hungary 2.5 months later and did pretty much the same thing - my visit was longer (due to family obligations) and lost 10lbs I'd been struggling with in the prior 2 months. I ate weiner schnitzel, drank wine, cognac, had dessert or ice cream nearly every day and definitely enjoyed the fresh crusty bread. Drank Soda (which I rarely do, but they have the best Orange Fanta in the world)
This same thing happened 3 years ago when I visited Hungary and Greece - I was between the two countries a total of 7 days and lost 15lbs.
I had a PCP (who has since retired) and he and I could talk for hours about how bad the food we eat in the USA is. Not only because we pump our meat full of hormones, but the preservatives we use to keep foods longer. Margarine was created to fatten cows and one day someone said, hey use this instead of butter....
IMHO, we are our own worst enemy, we created obesity by forcing families to be on tighter budgets and purchase foods that are pumped full of awfulness. Let's face it, to be healthy, it's not cheap.