I was at work today listening to powernoise, drinking a rockstar, and smoking a cigarette like always, when I thought to myself "what the fuck is taurine and why is this shit in my drink". I busted out the calculater (a machine*) and wrote up a modest estimate of the ammount of questionable chemicals found in the crap I consume daily. Here is what I found, keep in mind this is a VERY conservitive estimate.
700 Ml caffeine
3784 Mg Taurine
800 Mg Guarana
100 Mg Inositol
100 Mg Carnitine
100 Mg Eleutherococcus Senticosus
80 Mg Milk Thistle
60 Mg Ginkgo
-All this and I had only been awake for about 4 hours.
So I know what some of this crap is and is supposed to do, but on some of it I was clueless. Here is what I found on the web about some of the chemicals listed above.
Taurine:
Is one of the lesser known amino acids. It plays several improtant roles in the body. It may help with reactive oxygen, respitory burst, and there is some evidence it is an inhibitory neurotansmitter in the central nervous system. It has also been linked to other metabolic functions but it is not clear. Why is it not clear, because it hasnt been fully researched and much of what it does is still unknown. There is a lot of research going into Taurine right now. There is is a lot of research into the effects of taurine on the hearts functions. Obviously many users have also noticed a stimulating effect from this amino acid as it is included in most energy drinks, but since it hasn't been proof it must mean it does nothing... Nope it just means it hasnt been studied closely by the FDA, it is currently under investigation in parts of the world and some drinks with it have been banned in france, sweden, and iceland.
Guarana:
Contains caffeine (It also contains modest amounts of related compounds theophylline and theobromine) and other ingredients it has the same effects as caffeine, but hasnt been studied as closely many users believe there are additional benefits to this drug. It has been used in and surrounding Brazil for a long time. It has also been found to increase weight loss and increase the rate of fat loss.
Caffeine:This is a well known and trusted stimulant... i will leave it at that. Since this isn't disputed caffeine is a known stimulant... you get 70-200 ml from most energy drinks... A full can of Rockstar gives you 150 ml .
ginkgo:
Known to Increases metabolism, enhance circulation, is an antioxidant, increases immunity... Yeah there is still more to know about this one, but increases metabolism sure is energy prodcucing.
Inositol:
This has little known about its effects but shows some promising results currently. It works directly in the metabolic process.
Carnitine:
Is an amino acid used direction in metabolism... <(what the fuck is that supposed to mean, and whats with the dot dot dot at the end?)
Eleutherococcus senticosus:
Also called Siberian Ginseng although it is not ginseng.. stimulates the adrenal gland.. Many times it is used to treat and fight chronic fatigue syndrome. It has long been used to increase endurance and stamina...
milk thistle:
Is an antioxidant and has been found effective in treatment against cancer. Obviously still very little is known about the overall effects of this plant. Milk thistle is also believed to be a good detoxicifying agent.
-I find it interesting that most of the ingredients that I was wondering about are still being studied and tested on animals, and that the full affects are still unknown. To sum it up I would say I'm going to double my energy drink consumption and stop drinking other nonalcoholic beverages alltogather, because I can.
-ava perestroika
*machines are better than you, obey the machines.
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