Heartburn Croissant & White Tea
A meal like this could lead to one of the biggest operations modern surgeons can perform on a human being.
I had a croissant and coffee at a cafe this morning and now I have mild heartburn. Ham, buttery pastry and cheese. My money is on the cheese as it pretty much always gives me mild heartburn. Strong coffee also causes a little heartburn. I finished Friday’s breakky with Mr Trivia with a very healthy (and very expensive at $5/cup) white tea.
Plenty of things cause heartburn. Presently the Australian Government is running a heartburn campaign on TV. It’s pretty inoffensive. Very non-alarmist. Some guy digging a ditch at the side of the road – probably after eating his lunchtime Mrs Mac’s pie – stops digging to nurse a bit of reflux. It’s almost invisible in it’s meaning. A forgettable ad, suggesting that we (men mainly) go see a Doctor to have it looked into. The insinuation is that it’s not very important.
The fact that 1,000 cases of esophageal cancer are reported every year in Australia isn’t mentioned in the ad. Nor does the ad mention a mild, but notable fear campaign funded and lobbied by massive drug company profits behind the treatment of reflux. It’s a simple, quiet and very forgettable ad. Had I not lost Dad to oesophageal cancer, I may not have noticed it. After all, I barely watch TV these days. But there’s something in the advertising. Something there for the common man (men mostly get the diseaase). After witnessing Dad’s slow and painful death to this disease, I wouldn’t wish this kind of cancer on anyone. So, I guess I urge anyone with even the mildest heartburn to go get it checked out – as the (perhaps naive and well meaning) Australian Government campaign suggests.
Replacing your cheesy ham croissant with a chicken, avocado and alfalfa wheat-free sandwich will steer your body away from trouble. And who knows, washing your sandwich down with White Tea might even reduce the chances of you ever getting the nasty disease (cancer) which now affects 1 in 4 Australians (or 1 in 2 smokers). Our desire to make money isn’t just runining our ecology, it may actually be killing us directly. Have a nice day.
