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Luke Gevas |
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This snowboarder soars through the air |
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This snow boarder is transferring to a 50/50 rail. |
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Miles Gevas, soon after his accident |
Energy Drinks
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Good or Bad?
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John Lovette |
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Nowadays, common icons in everyday television commercials are energy drinks. That awesome athlete that you wish you were is drinking this mysterious substance that supposedly gives him the power to accomplish all of his great athletic feats. This constant advertisement makes it appear as if the drinks are good for you, when in all reality they are exceptionally bad for your health. Most people feel the need to disregard these things and continue to drink the energy drinks, even though they can have lasting effects on your health. If the athletes can drink them, why can’t I? I’m here to fill you in on what you should know about energy drinks. |
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Let’s start off with what’s obvious and visible on every single can. The F.D.A. requires that every company that makes these drinks put a label on the can because the chemicals put into the drinks are harmful to the human body. According to the warning on the side of a Monster Energy Drink can you should consume responsibly, and pregnant women or caffeine sensitive people should not drink them. Over consumption of energy drinks often leads to high blood pressure, acne, and on rare occasions: seizures. Often doctors recommend that people who have these reactions stop drinking energy drinks immediately, but sadly people have a hard time kicking these drinks because they contain several addictive substances, including the number one addicting substance: caffeine. Other substances include: taurine, ginseng, and a “chemical blend” that makes the drink taste good. Although the cans state that they contain the daily dose of all vitamins, is doesn’t really seem worth having all the other effects. |
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Most people claim to enjoy the buzz or sudden jolt of energy they get from energy drinks, but what is really happening to them? Clinical tests indicate that when you consume these drinks your system summons antibodies to fight off the intruding chemicals that are seen as harmful towards the body’s immune system. Your body is then put into a sort of shock which causes the body to heat up as well as speed up in order to destroy the harmful chemicals. This is what you are actually experiencing when you drink energy drinks. When your body eventually metabolizes the chemicals, you suddenly become tired and an energy crash occurs. Frequent use of these substances has been proven to show signs of irritability, sluggishness, headaches, and lack of sleep. Worst of all, your body will soon become dependent on these, forcing you to buy more drinks, making it possible for the energy drink company to grow. Sources: http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/atod/energydrinks.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_drink http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Energy http://www.consumersearch.com/energy-drinks/review http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0607/p13s01-lifo.html |
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Have you ever been snowboarding? Snowboarding is really fun, and many kids go over Christmas break. Some people even quit their jobs during the winter season to enjoy the slopes. Snowboarding has become more popular then skiing in the last few decades. The first snowboard was invented and manufactured in Utah in the early 1970s. Around that time, snowboarding originated and it went through an evolutionary process to the present-day snowboards. Well known inventors are Jack Burchett, Tom Sims, Sherman Poppen and finally Dimitirije Milovich. There are different styles of boarding, including freeride (which is riding on any terrain), dryride, freestyle, and freecarve. Dryride is on a man-made slope. In freestyle the rider uses man-made terrain-like boxes, rails, jumps, half pipes, and quarter pipes. The last style is freecarve, which is racing down the slope. Most ski resorts have something called the bunny slopes for beginners. The best resorts in the Sierras are Boreal, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Heavenly, and others close to the Lake Tahoe basin. One famous resort is Mammoth, in Southern California, which has had a bad start this season but is getting better. There are many different snowboard manufacturers. The top five are Burton, GNU, Forum, Ride, and K2, with pricing starting at about $200. Lift ticket prices can vary from $35 to $80. As usual, Freshman Miles Gevas went snowboarding over Winter Break. Miles had been saving his money all year so he would be able to go with his friends. When the day finally came, Miles was so excited. On his second run, a skier clipped the backside of his board, and Miles went tumbling down the mountain and, for the second year in a row, broke his arm. “This sucks! I’ll miss another season, thanks to this stupid arm!” said Miles Gevas. Don’t let Miles’s bad experiences stop you from going, because snowboarding is a fun sport, and you will have lots of great memories. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowboarding, http://www.skireport.com/california/lifttickets/, http://www.californiaskiresorts.com/ |
