Everyday Systems

I am new to all this, but have been trying to stave off my cravings between meals for a while anyway, and the thing I've found that has helped the most is tea (which is a natural appetite suppressant) ! I love it hot, and you can get almost any flavor imaginable. There's vanilla, spiced, lemon, spearmint, etc. Even chocolate! And of course they contain no calories but really hit the spot when I'm wanting something sweet and trying to control myself. Also, tea has so many health benefits. And chamomile at night before bed helps me sleep.

I don't do artificial sweetener (it gives me migraines) and I don't want "sweet tea" Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to the point where I think, "I sure am craving a nice cup of tea." I wish I did, though. Still coffee for me.

I don't do artificial sweetener, either. The tea I drink doesn't contain it. I don't drink anything that doesn't have all-natural ingredients, and of course I don't add any kind of sugar.

I don't drink tea often, but I do like it occasionally with a teaspoon of sugar. Oh, and sugar in hot tea only. Iced tea I like unsweetened. I drink more iced tea than hot tea.

No flavored teas, though. There's something about flavored teas and coffees that I just can't stand.

I bought a package of Meyer Lemon cookies at Trader Joe's this weekend and I was thinking that they'd taste great with a cup of tea -- even better than with coffee.

i really like stevia in my tea! it's not an artificial product, it's made from some plant, was only sold in places like whole foods but now it's in grocery chains and in the sweetener area. i use it in tea and oatmeal. zero calories. give it a try!

I'm English; of course I drink tea!

But only about seven unsweetened cups a day (summing to about a quarter of a pint of semi-skimmed milk).

Just to finish the list...

And one coffee after lunch, black and unsweetened.

Just to round off the fluid intake, I also drink two or three glasses of water and one of juice.

I'm lucky with regard to this, as I don't have a sweet tooth and don't regard tea or coffee as flavours that work well with sugar (I don't like artificial sweeteners, or artificial anything, really). Iced tea isn't that popular here and that which can be found is usually sickeningly sweet.

I take three teaspoons of sugar in my black tea

It's not something I particularly want to change. I have tried before and then just ended up hating tea, which seemed a shame. I do try and limit my tea intake to 2-3 cups a day, though, which I think is fair compromise.

I was quite relieved with that section in the No S book though which pointed out that a soda has around 10 spoons of sugar in it, so at least I'm getting (just) less than if I had one soda a day, plus the other health benefits of tea, so I don't feel quite so guilty.

Much.

ThomsonsPier wrote:I'm English; of course I drink tea!

But only about seven unsweetened cups a day (summing to about a quarter of a pint of semi-skimmed milk).

Just to finish the list...

And one coffee after lunch, black and unsweetened.

Just to round off the fluid intake, I also drink two or three glasses of water and one of juice.

I'm lucky with regard to this, as I don't have a sweet tooth and don't regard tea or coffee as flavours that work well with sugar (I don't like artificial sweeteners, or artificial anything, really). Iced tea isn't that popular here and that which can be found is usually sickeningly sweet.

I'll admit that I don't understand my preference for sugar in hot tea, no sugar in iced tea or coffee. It's just the way it is! I do think that sugar in coffee enhances the bitterness rather than masking it. To my mind, it's really vile -- one of the only things I've been known to spit out almost instinctively!

Well I live in Georgia, so as I'm sure you know sweet tea is VERY popular here. I have to keep a gallon of it in the fridge all the time for my hubby. I don't drink it though, I have never liked sweet tea which is odd because I do have such a sweet tooth. However, flavored teas are right up my alley.

What I like are technically "herbal infusions" rather than real (black) tea, which I do NOT care for... except when I'm visiting England, where I drink it instead of my usual coffee. Somehow, I think it tastes different there.

Normally, I drink Red Zinger (hibiscus) and Lemongrass teas every day between meals, with occasional forays into other varieties. No sweetner - I like the kind of fruity ones, and they don't need it.

KCCC wrote:What I like are technically "herbal infusions" rather than real (black) tea, which I do NOT care for... except when I'm visiting England, where I drink it instead of my usual coffee. Somehow, I think it tastes different there.

I cannot stand American-style black teas, to me they are very harsh tasting, overly brash blends. Generally, what you'd get in a restaurant is very low quality and "stewed" not brewed.

I would recommend that you ask what brand you are drinking in the UK: you can get a lot of them in North America in bigger stores, or on the internet (really easy in Canada, but we still have a bit of a colonial complex!).

Between tea used, proper preparation technique, and using good water, tea can become very different.

Yes, I definitely drink tea between meals. I live in the UK too so there is a fantastic selection of wonderful teas (herbal or black). I also don't like overly 'sweet' teas (e.g. vanilla, blackberry etc). I usually just go for darjeeling or earl grey (or something along those lines). Or alternatively lemon & ginger tea or roiboos- have you heard of roiboos? It's delicious, no-caffeine, & a good no-calorie drink. I'm lucky that I don't take sugar in my tea anyway, so no artificial sweeteners needed (but I really suspect they're not healthy anyway)...