September 4, 2008
Taurine: Bull Piss?
So as a college student, I drink energy drinks to give me energy, wake me up, caffeine, help me study.. haha righhhhht, but you get the point. We just drink them a lot even though we, for the most part, know it’s bad for us. While sitting at my desk complaining about having to read a million pages on organic chemistry, singing to the Hannah Montana and Queen that my roommate is listening to, with my Monster in hand, I see that on my can it says Taurine. This brings me back to a discussion I had with one of my friends over the summer. She said that she never drinks energy drinks because it contains Taurine which is bull piss. I’m just like yeah, sure, whatever. I just Googled it. Originally Taurine was found in the bile of a bull and can be found in cattle pee, BUT you’ll be glad to know that the taurine that you drink in your energy drink whether it be Red Bull, Rockstar, Monster, or whatever is made synthetically, so not from bull pee. So continue drinking your energy drinks without worrying about bull piss. But something to keep in mind, taurine is dehydrating so be careful if you mix it with alcohol or drinking it before doing strenuous work.
August 26, 2008
Just Incase You Didn’t Know… Steroids Are Bad
What happened to the sayings “Winning isn’t everything” or “Playing just for fun?” It seems like these days in high school and professional sports alike athletes are willing to do anything and everything to be on top, even cheating. The use of steroids is an increasing problem in sports today. Although our bodies need steroids for our daily functions, the use of anabolic steroids are illegal. Athletes take steroids because they feel it is the only thing that is going to help them feel good enough to keep up with the pressure to succeed and competition they are surrounded with. Taking steroids to enhance athletic ability is cheating and illegal. Professional athletes are role models to teen athletes; if the professionals stop using steroids, many teens will most likely stop also.
Steroids are types of hormones that our body needs for its daily functions. The two types of steroids our body naturally produces are corticosteroids and sex steroids. Sometimes, steroids are given as prescriptions from doctors for certain medical reasons. Anabolic steroids were first developed in the 1930’s to treat hypogonadism. This is when a man’s body does not make enough testosterone for normal growth. Other medical uses for steroids include eye diseases, intestinal disorders, arthritis, asthma, and some cancers.
Anabolic steroids are a synthetic testosterone. It helps the development of male sex characteristics and promotes the growth of skeletal muscles. Steroids can be taken orally, injected, through nasal sprays, or topically . Chemically, testosterone is classified as a steroid because of the four-ring molecular structure. The chemical name for testosterone is 17-beta-hydroxandrost-4-en-3-one. Testosterone causes building effects on the body including increased skeletal muscle mass. In the skeletal muscle, testosterone binds to the receptor cells in the cytoplasm of the muscle cell, enters the nucleus, and stimulates the start of protein synthesis in the muscle cells. Continued protein synthesis enhances the mass and strength of the muscle. Taking anabolic steroids will prolong protein synthesis causing the muscles to grow larger and stronger. All anabolic steroids have the four-ring molecular structure similar to testosterone made naturally in the human body and mirror the action of biding to muscle receptor cells to stimulate protein synthesis.
The increasing number of teens using steroids is problematic. The use of steroids is illegal, cheating, and also has many negative side effects especially for students whose bodies have not fully developed. Teens who use steroids actually end up being smaller than they would if they did not take steroids because steroids prematurely close the growth plates on the end of the bones. Teens are also too immature to understand or care about the negative long term effects steroids will have on their bodies. Side effects in males include sterility, larger breasts, decreased testicle size, and increased rate of prostate and testicular cancer. In females side effects include irreversible hair loss, changes in menstrual cycle, more body hair, and smaller breasts. Other side effects in both male and female are severe acne, high blood pressure, nosebleeds, insomnia heart attacks, hepatitis, gynecomastia, and injury to tendons.
STEROIDS ARE BAD DON’T DO IT.
For more facts on steroids check out http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/steroids.html
Everything, Anything and Nothing 