Miss Coffee? What about Red Tea?

Ever heard of Red Tea, known also as Rooibos tea (pronounced like “roy-bos”)?  It means Red Bush in Afrikaan.  Is a natually caffeine free herbal tea.  But its different from all those fruity (read acidy) herbal teas.  It comes in different flavors (my favorite is Good Cape Hope Vanilla by The Republic of Tea.)  It tastes richer than other herbal tea so you don’t feel quite as cheated when you can’t have a cup of coffee.  Drink it English style wiht a little milk or cream, yum!

I know, its still not coffee.  But, seriously, give it a try if you need  a substitute warm morning drink.  Yum!

Stomach Fat and GERD

With the onset of middle age I’ve had an increase in stomach fat.  In fact it seems that all of my weight gain has been through my middle.  Most of what you read says this is not good from the perspective of many diseases (heart disease, diabetes, etc.)  I am also wondering if the increased fat may be contributing to GERD symptoms.

My GERD started right about the time I started putting on more stomach fat.  This was the kind of fat that is around the internal organs, not just a spare tire.   I was scheduled to go to a dietician anyway for a slightly elevated cholesterol level.  So, I asked her about eating to get rid of stomach fat.  She gave me lots of good advice.  It seems that the cholesterol lowering diet is also very effective at getting rid of the dreaded stomach fat.

So, I’m 2 weeks into eating healthier.  I’ve had absolutely no fast food (a big weakness of mine since I dont’ like to cook) and I’m eating a lot more fruits and vegetables and less meat.  So, we’ll see how it goes.

I’m interested in hearing if any of you noticed your GERD symptoms reduce when you lost weight?