So...

Soft drinks are very unhealthy, in a direct and legitimate way. It's an ineffective panacea to just say "everything is basically unhealthy", because it's not true. Eating a balanced diet that contains fresh fruit and vegetables and excercising is not unhealthy.

Drinking soda every day is unhealthy in much the same way smoking is. It won't kill you today, or next week, but it does impact your health. It lowers bone density, rots your teeth, kills brain cells, affects your skin, over-works the pancreas, and leads to diabetes.

Beldaran wrote:kills brain cells, affects your skin

Once certain elements of my life have changed, I intend to rework my dietary habits- actually all of my normal habits are going out the window pretty soon most likely. Among other things, I intend to lower my soft drink/general caffeine intake (right now, and somewhat consistently for years, I drink 1-3 cans a day; I want to lower that to irregular occasions), and drink more water (and maybe tea). Coffee kinda blows, it's bitter and strong.

That said, the best soft drink I've ever had is definitely Pibb Xtra from a fountain. Much sweeter and better-tasting than it's can and bottle counterparts, though as a canned drink it's usually my drink of choice anyway. In cans and bottles it seems much closer to Dr. Pepper, which I really don't like that much (it's way too musky, not sweet, and has this weird flavor to it that just feels kinda.. bleh). Barq's root beer is always good, too- much sweeter and cokeier than other root beer. It also has caffiene, which can be good or bad, but I respect it for being the only caffienated root beer in existence.

I see no reason to even consider trying cigarettes or that crap people stick in their gums, and I'm not really too crazy about attempting tobacco in other forms (cigars or pipe). I'm a bit scared and undecided on alcohol and marijuana due to the illegalness of the latter, uncertainty about WANTING to take anything mind or mood-altering, and the many health issues that surround them. All other drugs are retarded and I have no idea what incentive people have for doing such stupid shit to their bodies. Honestly, why does ANYONE do heroin? Just... why? "I'mma stick this needle in my arm regularly which burns and leaves marks so I can get this drug, which I'll want all the time, so I can get a high! It's uhh... better than marijuana which also makes me high. Because, uh... it's got a needle so it's XTREME!!!! Speaking of xtreme I don't feel qu*falls over dead*"

Anyway, my general health improvement plans include regular exercise, living in a cleaner environment (rather than a dusty as hell, stinky, nasty room in a house with cockroach and flea issues), eating a vegetable at least once a day (starting with primarily bagged spinach, mostly due to that being one I don't mind eating/tastes okay), drinking a lot more water, lowering sodium + cholesterol + fat intake, and other good things. Possibly trying to treat my allergies and acne, if the other changes don't help those two problems enough. I will likely be attempting all this alongside hormone therapy, for which it's important to be healthy and reasonably active, both for the sake of general health/avoiding risks and for optimal effect.

Ask me how I'm doing in a year.

Jennifer wrote:I knew about the rest, but can you possibly link to some information on these two points? I wasn't aware of such... especially brain damage.

I didn't precisely say brain damage, because I didn't want to imply that it makes you a retard. This claim is, to my knowledge, only true of diet soda. Diet soda uses toxic chemicals to create artificial sugars that simulate the sugar effect by stimulating brain cells, causing them to vibrate with excitement, and then die from the ordeal. So it does kill brain cells. I don't know if this causes long term brain damage, but there is a huge glut of information on the negative neurological effects of diet soda and sugar susbitutes in general.

Some quick google results, but trust me there are tons more. My dad recently wrote a research paper on this subject.

The artificial suger in diet soda is made from aspartame. Here is an article about the dangers.

With regards to affecting your skin,

"Effect on Skin:
Acidic blood affects the action of glutathione, which is an antioxidant enzyme. In addition, these drinks lack vitamins and minerals. By taking these drinks, people cut their intake of fresh juices, milk and even water and deprive themselves from essential vitamins and minerals that are mandatory for skin. Thus, the skin becomes more prone to wrinkles and aging."

Linked from This article.

Also, less technically speaking, soft drinks are very sugary and can cause increased occurance of pimples.

Ah the sweet necter of soft drinks, can't get enough myself. But lets hear what some others have to say...lets start with diet.

Originally posted by Some Neurosurgeon
Fully a third of all babies born to PKU carrier mothers consuming aspartame foods and drinks risk varying degrees of brain damage. It is also known that the amount of toxic phenylalanine reaching the baby is twice as high as that in the mother's blood because the placenta concentrates the toxin. In addition, numerous metabolic breakdown products of aspartame are known to damage the developing infant's brain, including methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, diketopiperizine and phenylacetate. Aspartame has been shown by several studies to damage DNA, which can lead to cancer and degenerative brain disorders later in life. The risk of increased brain tumors in such a child would be enormous. Similar mechanisms of damage would be expected in those with liver disease. Studies on aspartame safety have shown that the product increases tumors throughout numerous organs, especially the brain. It was shown that brain tumor incidence increased over 47 times in animals exposed to aspartame.

Sure, but how you gonna "prove it"

"With the public concern over childhood obesity and diabetes, few are being told of the overwhelming evidence that early exposure to excitotoxins (as found in aspartame) consistently produce gross obesity and insulin resistant diabetes, just as we are seeing in our youth. The promoters of aspartame use have been lying from the beginning and continue to use their money and political clout to cover up the real and present dangers of this toxic product. "Have there been studies on young children and aspartame? After 25 years of knowing how deadly aspartame is nobody would ask children to sign up for a study on sweet arsenic. But a study was accidently done by Dr. Miguel Baret Daniel in the Dominican Republic. Working with a pediatrician they decided to remove milk from the diet of 360 children because in small children it can precipitate diabetes. Instead he provided juice laced with aspartame. The pediatrician noticed that most of the children were having what he called a kind of "brain allergy" showing abnormal restlessness, lack of concentration, irritability and depression. Dr. Baret then removed the aspartame and within four days all the 360 children went back to normal.

That's fucked up...

Why was aspartame approved by the FDA? For 16 years FDA not only refused to approve it, but asked to have G. D. Searle indicted under Title 18, Section 1001 for "their willful and knowing failure to make reports to the FDA required by the Act 21 USC 355 (i) and for concealing material facts and making false statements in reports of animal studies conducted to establish the safety of aspartame." Both U.S. Prosecutors hired on with the defense team and the statute of limitations expired. But Donald Rumsfeld, who was CEO of G D Searle, said he would call in his markers and get aspartame approved even though the FDA said no. He was on President Reagan's transition team.

hmm...sounds familiar...

The incredible story of how Rumsfeld accomplished this is told by Washington, D.C., attorney James Turner in the documentary on aspartame called "Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World". Here is a clip where you can see and hear attorney Turner tell one of the most incredible stories of political clout in getting a deadly chemical, a neurotoxic drug marketed for human consumption.

Bastards!

"The neurochemical impact of aspartame on the brain is fairly complicated. Not only does it decrease the availability of the building block for serotonin (L- tryptophan), but one of the two amino acids that comprise aspartame, phenylalanine,is a precursor for another very important neurotransmitter, norepinephrine. Papers which I published in 1986 and 1993 discuss what I believe is the clinical impact (accentuating depressive illness) of altering the balance between these 2 neurotransmitters (norepinephrine and serotonin)."There is evidence that the therapeutic effect of antidepressants can be blocked by parachlorophenylalanine—a form of phenylalanine- one of the major constituents of aspartame. Administration of this substance has also been associated with aggression and binging."

Ah, what do Neurosurgeons know anyway. Now some fun wiki facts about coke.

Diet Coke was sweetened with aspartame as soon as the sweetener became available in the U.S., 1983; however, to save money, this was originally in a blend with saccharin. After Diet Rite cola advertised its 100 percent use of aspartame, and the manufacturer of NutraSweet (then, G.D. Searle & Company) warned that the NutraSweet trademark would not be made available to a blend of sweeteners, Coca-Cola switched the formula to 100 percent NutraSweet, later switching back and doing without the NutraSweet trademark. Diet Coke from fountain dispensers still contains some saccharin (to extend shelf life).[

One version of Diet Coke (and majority of beverages using artificial sweeteners) relies on Aspartame, which has been blamed by some scientists and medical professionals for possibly causing serious illnesses (such as brain tumors, brain lesions, and lymphoma) when consumed in large quantities. Other researchers have found no such link, or believe that the quantities in sodas such as Diet Coke are much too small to cause adverse effects. It should be noted that Coca-Cola has now released Diet Coke sweetened with sucralose (also known as Splenda).

Soft drinks linked to weight gain and type 2 diabetes

In 2004, an eight-year study of 50,000 nurses showed a correlation that suggests drinking one or more sugar-sweetened beverages (such as soft drinks and fruit punches) per day increases one's risk of developing diabetes by 80% versus those who drink less than one such drink per month. This finding was independent of other lifestyle factors. It concludes, "Higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a greater magnitude of weight gain and an increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes in women, possibly by providing excessive calories and large amounts of rapidly absorbable sugars

The phosphoric acid contained in soft drinks displaces calcium from the bones. This can dramatically lower the bone density of the skeleton and can lead to conditions such as osteoperosis and very weak bones

EDIT: I see Beldaran beat me to posting.

EDIT #2: How do you guys get the multiple quote thing in where it always says "originally posted by soso"?

You can make it say "originally posted by _____" by either using the quote button at the bottom of a post or like this:

{quote=ExampleDudeName}blah blah blah{/quote]

Replacing {s with [s, of course.

Something cool someone else discovered about VB that no one ever uses, though: [strike]this[/strike]. {strike}text{/strike}.

That's pretty [Strike]screwed[/Strike] sweet.

Lets see...

Jennifer wrote:You can make it say "originally posted by _____" by either using the quote button at the bottom of a post or like this:

So far, so good...

Jennifer wrote:{quote=ExampleDudeName}blah blah blah{/quote]

Jennifer wrote:Replacing {s with [s, of course.

Something cool someone else discovered about VB that no one ever uses, though: [strike]this[/strike]. {strike}text{/strike}.

So that's how you get the slider thingy!

Thanks for [strike]nothing[/strike] your help! 😉

Wow, crap... I did not know that... I'm gonna quit soda... Just as soon as I get through this case of Vanilla Coke I picked up. And they say the Internet isn't good for you. On a related note, I need to get over this wretched hangover and figure out what I'm going to do with this beautiful Sunday. By the way, anyone have any healthy suggestions for dinner tonight?

Good luck! It's actually really hard to quit soda. Your body is addicted to the sugar rush. I tried to quit for a couple of years before successfully kicking the habit.

I actually had quit soda for quite a while... Just to see if I could... Of course, the thing was that when I had proven to myself that I could, I no longer had a reason to quit soda. This time, though, I have a real reason.

rock_nog wrote:I need to get over this wretched hangover and figure out what I'm going to do with this beautiful Sunday.

I haven't done a damn thing all day. Fucking hangovers. You know how I cure mine? Pepsi and crackers/toast. Don't know why or how it works, but it does. And we don't have Pepsi because my mom randomly decided to stop drinking it. So I feel really icky.

Fuck.

And a couple cops wanted to arrest me last night because I wasn't walking straight. Fuckers.

I haven't done a damned thing all week - just sit in my room and watch Smallville all day long - [Spoiler]WTF? Lana wasn't pregnant at all? Dude![/Spoiler] The only other things I've done are continuing the job search, obviously. I am so very, very bored. I need employment before I go out of my mind.

Personally, I like a combination of tomato soup and gatorade, myself. It's kinda funny how we all develop our own personal hangover rituals. But man, I'm gonna have to cut back... Getting too damn old for this. I mean, I used to be able to drink straight through the night and wake up fine... Now it seems I can't have more than a couple drinks without feeling like shit the next day.

Beldaran wrote:Soft drinks are very unhealthy, in a direct and legitimate way. It's an ineffective panacea to just say "everything is basically unhealthy", because it's not true. Eating a balanced diet that contains fresh fruit and vegetables and excercising is not unhealthy.

Long-term exercise can lead to health problems such as joint pain, arthritis, etc. Most fruits are full of sugar and can contain a variety of worms. And for vegetables, remember the spinach recall?

Okay, so obviously eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly is not unhealthy, but can be to some extent due to freak occurrences. 😉

[hr]1[/hr]

Didja know that there is a whole load of nifty vB code?

rock_nog wrote:Personally, I like a combination of tomato soup and gatorade, myself. It's kinda funny how we all develop our own personal hangover rituals. But man, I'm gonna have to cut back... Getting too damn old for this. I mean, I used to be able to drink straight through the night and wake up fine... Now it seems I can't have more than a couple drinks without feeling like shit the next day.

To fight off hangovers, I just drink as much water as I do alcohol, and wait til it starts to wear off before I go to bed...

Dechipher wrote:To fight off hangovers, I just drink as much water as I do alcohol, and wait til it starts to wear off before I go to bed...

That's kind of tough to do if you drink a lot of alcohol. I usually just drink a few glasses of water and go to sleep. I have a bad habit of falling asleep with my shoes on whenever I go to sleep, stupid Bacardi.

Pineconn wrote:Most fruits are full of sugar and can contain a variety of worms.

Heheh, one of my friends found a worm in her banana the other day.

phattonez wrote:That's kind of tough to do if you drink a lot of alcohol. I usually just drink a few glasses of water and go to sleep. I have a bad habit of falling asleep with my shoes on whenever I go to sleep, stupid Bacardi.

It's not that bad. If you drink an entire glass of vodka, that's an entire glass of water to drink. Not really that hard to do. It's a little different with beer, I would just say drink a few glasses after you finish. I don't drink beer, so I dunno.

Does anyone remember when that chick died of drinking too much water on the radio? It was a few months ago. Quite funny/tragic/entertaining.

During the competition to win a Wii? Yeah. What a stupidly pointless way to die.

Beldaran wrote:Does anyone remember when that chick died of drinking too much water on the radio? It was a few months ago. Quite funny/tragic/entertaining.

I've never heard or that...

*does some googling*

....Wow. thats crazy...I'm speechless...

Beldaran wrote:Does anyone remember when that chick died of drinking too much water on the radio? It was a few months ago. Quite funny/tragic/entertaining.

I hate how the radio hosts were fired for that. It's the girls fault, she knew what she was getting into.

I can't wait for Opie & Anthony to get back on the air. They never should have been suspended anyway. They said something bad on an uncensored channel? How does that make sense? :googly:

Yeah, whatever happened to free will?

I am now officially caught up with Smallville. Funnily enough, it's not the Clark related cliffhanger I'm more interested in - it's all the others.
[Spoiler]I know Lana's not dead - she obviously got on the white van that passed between her and Lionel - but I wanna know what's going on with Chloe! If she dies, so do the writers. 'k?[/Spoiler]

I use to love Smallville, but I just got bored of the ceaseless melodrama and stopped watching sometime during season 6. I think the only reason I watched it is because I was sexually attracted to Chloe.

I used to watch it as well. It just came on during weekdays on my channel setup at like 2 am. Insomnia wouldn't let me sleep if I stayed up. Why Monday thru Thursday? Because they hate me.

Sir Johnaums, do you realize that in your picture, your neckstrap is set too high for your mouthpiece to reach your lips and your mouthpiece is upside down?

Is that a Yamaha, if so, how did you keep it so clean?

Probably from not using it. I think he's using that sax as a prop for a picture. If he knew what he was doing, the mouthpiece wouldn't be rotated backwards.

heil zeldafan500

How much water did she drink? Me and my friends had a contest to see how much water you could drink in 5 min without puking. I won, drinking 2 liters in about 3 minutes. Everyone else puked or didnt finish what they drank.

I actually felt good after it. 😃

If you want a real comptetition, try doing it with distilled water. 😃