Five-Hour Energy Witch-hunt

[G-DDT]

I don't see this as a witch hunt.

If we don't scrutinize everything and punish the appropriate parties as necessary to set an example, then people will believe they can get away with all sorts of negative actions that harms others.

Now if we find out this is all being blown out of proportion after a thorough scrutinization, then so be it.

I'm not out to start a crusade, but I have the right to my experience-based opinions [[especially in a thread that invites comments from both sides-versus the ones that are more one-sided fan threads of a topic that don't deserve troll-like hate intrusion).

I just feel when something is so often hyped [[those commercials for the product have just as much circulation as EHarmony but not as much as commercials for cars, humorous insurance companies-because insurance is so "hilarious", right?- and pills with tons of side effects.), it deserves to be taken down a notch or two. Especially, when folks need to know some background truth. It's not easy to defend an unpopular opinion, but I'm often inclined to go against the grain when the popular opinion is so half-arsed and unnaturallly inclined.

Fact is: folks like speed. It makes them feel invulnerable. Others use it for sexual performance enhancement [[a side of culture that Breaking Bad drastically avoided, as it would insult those of a certain lifestyle). I feel sorry for any young woman who has recently tried coke for the first time. I have never met a girl who has tried coke and doesn't go ga-ga over it. Most of Hollywood [[and the entire porn industry) is based on this pervasive, quiet American staple. Every crackhead tried coke prior to the crack [[noone smokes pot for the first time and says, "Gee, that was cool, but you know what would be better? A big rock of Crack-cocaine to freebase."); I sadly have heard the same stories and seen the damage with the folks I've met on the streets.

We are told so many lies about health and nutrition: Inhalers fight asthma. Yeah, I was told that one for years until the cortisons in them rotted my adrenal glands and turned them into mini-3 Mile Islands. Then I learned deep-breathing exercises and got on a hypoglycemic diet [[small meals every three to four hours not this huge three meal a deal American lie) and haven't had an asthma attack in 11 years and 6 years prior to that.

Also, folks are told they can turn back the clock in aging. That's a lie. You can slow it down though [[people refuse to believe I'm the age I state I am)! Yet, it means the deep-breathing, the hypoglycemic diet [[which regulates metabolism and actually slims down women to the right weight), occasional vegetarianism, and most of all-removing the stimulants [[sugar, caffeine, ephedrine, sports drinks, etc.). Yet, some folks would rather worry about staying young rather than make the cuts needed. Can't have it both ways....so, many live in a contradictory limbo.

[HowardC]

Shortly after Red Bull went nation-wide, there were tons of articles about deaths due to mixing it with alcohol. At the time, I remember that certain bars stopped serving drinks mixed with Red Bull or other energy drinks. That did not last long. Media types get upset when they lose battles like they lost the smear campaign against Red Bull. Now, they are trying to avenge themselves by going after 5 Hour as heavy as possible.

[hogz]

HowardC, I agree. In my opinion, it sounds good in theory to say "let people scrutinize it a ton and if it's found harmless so be it." Makes sense, but often what happens is you create crusaders who will continue their fight despite any evidence contrary to their beliefs, because their minds have been made, their invested in the fight and they don't want to "loose."

by the way, I tried 5 hour energy once maybe a year ago. Taste is rancid - just awful. I'm sticking with red bull, but I think we have to ban Tylenol and a lot of other stuff if we are going ban this.

Also, the owner's donations to the GOP and attorney generals are gross, and clearly a pre-emptive attempt at stopping unfavorable actions and litigation against the company. This exchange would be remedied by wide-ranging campaign finance reform, and not by banning a soft drink

[313WX]

HowardC, I agree. In my opinion, it sounds good in theory to say "let people scrutinize it a ton and if it's found harmless so be it." Makes sense, but often what happens is you create crusaders who will continue their fight despite any evidence contrary to their beliefs, because their minds have been made, their invested in the fight and they don't want to "loose."

The hope is these crusaders will become a vocal minority that are no longer taken seriously, which is also what often happens.

[Bigdd]

Usually stories like these are planted by the big drug companies to get something that is safe and natural banned,.. so that they can market an unsafe chemical alternative that they hold a patent on.

Like what they did with Ephedra,.. which was used by tens of millions of people for many hundreds of years safely to loose weight and have more energy.

So they did up a story about how some 10 year old boy supposedly took 3-4 times the maximum adult dosage,.. and then played a football game and had a heart attack. [[No info on whether he had a heart screening before-hand,... so no actual evidence it was related to the massive dose of Ephedra, and not just that he had a bad heart).

So from this one story of one death in a period of many decades, in a country of 320 million,.. AND they GOT IT banned in 2006.

Yet;
Cigarettes kill 480,000 EVERY YEAR in the USA

Aspirin kills 2,000 EVERY YEAR in the USA
.

[Honky Tonk]

Usually stories like these are planted by the big drug companies to get something that is safe and natural banned,.. so that they can market an unsafe chemical alternative that they hold a patent on.

Like what they did with Ephedra,.. which was used by tens of millions of people for many hundreds of years safely to loose weight and have more energy.

So they did up a story about how some 10 year old boy supposedly took 3-4 times the maximum adult dosage,.. and then played a football game and had a heart attack. [[No info on whether he had a heart screening before-hand,... so no actual evidence it was related to the massive dose of Ephedra, and not just that he had a bad heart).

So from this one story of one death in a period of many decades, in a country of 320 million,.. AND they GOT IT banned in 2006.

Yet;
Cigarettes kill 480,000 EVERY YEAR in the USA

Aspirin kills 2,000 EVERY YEAR in the USA
.

And what about alcohol? How many alcohol related deaths are there every year?

[hogz]

HonkyTonk, roughly about 90k In the USA annually, which is roughly 89,998 more than this energy drink. In fairness, alcohol is consumed more than 5 hour energy, but you get the idea...

[G-DDT]

Regarding Ephedra: I worked at a mall health store at the Fairlane Towncenter. I paid close attention to the products that sold most: top of the list was weight-loss, followed by sports nutrition, followed by men's potency supplements, followed by hair/skin/nails, followed by joint support, followed by drug-test cheat cleanses [[one item line our clueless manger, who commuted all the way from Pontiac, wanted to get rid of, but was instructed she had no right to do whatever with what stock was or was not slated to be carried there. The same woman ordered us-from outside of the mall, as she was not permitted to enter in along with all the others outside of the mall-to stay open during 9/11 though mall security was instructing us all that the mall was shutting down and being evacuated. I went over her head and called Corporate in N.Y.; they instructed me over the din of noise and chaos in the background to "shut it down!" Anyway...), and all else [[like you know, like, basic nutrition).

The weight loss items included Xenadrine, Hydroxycut, Stackers [[and Stackers 2!-woo-hoo!), the store version we peddled of Xenadrine, and others. They were also the most commonly returned items to our store. We had a huge bin piling up in back of opened, ever partially used Xenadrine bottles. I many times had to reassure customers who came in shaking, sweating, and cursing in front of me that they would get a refund/exchange. The complaints were all the same: they can't sleep, they can't stop shaking, their heart rate has gone drastically up.

Folks can be as ideological and as devoted as they want about stimulants, but my experiences tell me differently.

[G-DDT]

Power drinks and pyramid schemes come together. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vemma

[313WX]

Regarding Ephedra: I worked at a mall health store at the Fairlane Towncenter. I paid close attention to the products that sold most: top of the list was weight-loss, followed by sports nutrition, followed by men's potency supplements, followed by hair/skin/nails, followed by joint support, followed by drug-test cheat cleanses [[one item line our clueless manger, who commuted all the way from Pontiac, wanted to get rid of, but was instructed she had no right to do whatever with what stock was or was not slated to be carried there. The same woman ordered us-from outside of the mall, as she was not permitted to enter in along with all the others outside of the mall-to stay open during 9/11 though mall security was instructing us all that the mall was shutting down and being evacuated. I went over her head and called Corporate in N.Y.; they instructed me over the din of noise and chaos in the background to "shut it down!" Anyway...), and all else [[like you know, like, basic nutrition).

The weight loss items included Xenadrine, Hydroxycut, Stackers [[and Stackers 2!-woo-hoo!), the store version we peddled of Xenadrine, and others. They were also the most commonly returned items to our store. We had a huge bin piling up in back of opened, ever partially used Xenadrine bottles. I many times had to reassure customers who came in shaking, sweating, and cursing in front of me that they would get a refund/exchange. The complaints were all the same: they can't sleep, they can't stop shaking, their heart rate has gone drastically up.

Folks can be as ideological and as devoted as they want about stimulants, but my experiences tell me differently.

One has to take them responsibly to minimize any negative side effects. The problem is most people fail to do their research, OD on the stuff and then want to get mad at the world because they were irresponsible.

But it has been proven [[scientifically so) that stimulants can aid in weight loss, as they increase the rate in which your heart pumps blood through your body, which releases more of your body's stored energy faster and in higher volume than usual to help you push through those sometime difficult workouts.

[gazhekwe]

Cats cannot make their own taurine and must get it from their food. This article tells what taurine is and does:

http://feline-nutrition.org/nutritio...must-for-kitty

I am sure that you have all heard about the importance of taurine in a cat's diet. Taurine is a naturally occurring amino acid mostly found in muscle meat and organs like heart, kidney and liver and in seafood. In muscles, taurine gets more concentrated the harder the muscle works. Dark meat has more than light meat because it comes from parts of the body that work harder, legs as opposed to breast. Heart is another great example. Although it is termed an organ, it is really the hardest working muscle in the body and it has one of the highest concentrations of taurine. Shellfish such as mussels and clams also have a lot of taurine. They are constantly filtering and they follow the same "hard-working" scenario, concentrating taurine to a high degree in their tissues. Small amounts of taurine are found in dairy products. Plant products contain either low or undetectable amounts taurine. Despite meat being a good source of taurine, there is a significant amount of variability within meat samples according to a published study.¹ Taurine content of meat was not only affected by diet, breed and environment, but also by the freshness of the meat.
Read more at http://feline-nutrition.org/nutritio...must-for-kitty
Follow us on Twitter: @FelineNutrition

[G-DDT]

^^^Off topic, but a similar process for extraneous nutrients requires that vegetarians must take B-12 supplements, get more protein, and the amino acid L-Carnitine.