phillbecker

I work part-time as a late night delivery driver for a local pizza shop, and have tried all kinds of things to stay alert and productive until 3 or 4 a.m. Usually I drink lots of Mountain Dew (free and full of calories) or an energy drink. I like the serious ones with about 200 mg of caffeine + the herbs etc.

But, all that caffeine meant that I was up and wired when I got home and couldn’t sleep well, even though I had to be up in 2-3 hours with the kids. Skipping a night’s sleep is o.k. now and then, but I sure get grumpy and short-fused.

Last night I decided to try one of those 5-Hour Energyfor the first time. I’m not real sure how much I paid for it, I was reeling from filling the gas tank and didn’t pay close attention.

When describing the 5-Hour Energy feeling, some people say it’s “like the sun coming up in my head.” That’s because when you’re feeling groggy and lethargic, 5-Hour Energy wakes up your brain and gets you back to feeling the way you want to feel bright, alert, focused and energetic. What you won’t feel is jittery, or crash. That’s because, unlike other energy drinks, 5-Hour Energy doesn’t jack you up with sugar, caffeine and herbal stimulants. Instead, it’s packed with stuff that’s good for you B-vitamins, amino acids and enzymes. To get anything out of those canned energy drinks you have to force down a lot of liquid up to 24 ounces for some of them. It takes just seconds to slam down a 2-ounce 5-Hour Energy shot. That means its energizing ingredients get into your system faster. In a few minutes you can feel 5-Hour Energy brushing away the cobwebs and helping you regain the alert, focused feeling you need to get through your day. Canned energy drinks give you a lot of sugar, caffeine and herbal stimulants which can make you feel jittery, shaky or tense. But 5-Hour Energy’s blend of vitamins, amino acids and enzymes gives you hours of “smooth energy.” We named it 5-Hour Energy for a reason. People typically feel an elevated sense of energy, focus and alertness for about five hours. Individual results will vary, of course. And when that feeling wears off, it does so gently.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the results. I wasn’t bounding off the walls or jittery, but I never got drowsy (even though it was a very slow night. The cook, by the way, was downing redbulls and coffee and fell asleep twice during the shift. I said slow, right?

Lo and behold, right about 2:30 I felt a lagging and slowing that I recognized from … 5 hours ago. And the night before for that matter. We closed up and I decided to get this review out. Actually, I decided I wanted a big bowl of ice cream and didn’t really want to turn the TV on so I did this instead.

The reason I resisted trying them earlier was mostly marketing. I have a tendency to disbelieve all marketing, especially slick ads with beautiful women in short skirts; or with the perceived benefits blasted all over the place instead of any real information. But I read the label and saw it was just like a liquid nutritional supplement and not really all that scary. I’ll be putting these in regular rotation, along with my green supplements and the occasional cup of coffee.

Anyhow, Amazon.com has them for $1.67 each and I see them on shelves all over town. I’m going to start adding them to my orange juice

When people ask me why I’m a vegetarian, I usually say “for a variety of reasons. It’s a better ecological choice, but mostly I’m trying to bring more peace into my life, and killing animals is just not peaceful” or something to that effect.

This article makes me really glad that I’ve stuck to my decision … no matter how good steak smells.

Sickened pork workers have new nerve disorder
By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Eighteen pork plant workers in Minnesota, at least five in Indiana and one in Nebraska have come down with a mysterious neurological condition they appear to have contracted while removing brains from slaughtered pigs, U.S. researchers and health officials said on Wednesday.

…

He said tests showed patients had damage to the nerves at the root level near the spinal cord, and at the far reaches of their motor nerves, where the nerves connect with muscle

….

Lachance said it is possible that bits of pig brain stimulated an immune response in the bodies of the workers, causing their immune systems to improperly attack their own nerve tissue.

There are strong arguments to support local, small-scale, organic animal farming and processing.

There is no reason or excuse for factory farms or this kind of slaughter.

Apparantly there’s an outbreak of the mumps across middle America.

abcnewsHealth

It’s not known precisely why this mumps outbreak is occurring, especially when so many U.S. residents receive a vaccination for it during childhood. Infectious disease expert Dr. William Schaffner said he hopes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will fully investigate why Americans are coming down with the illness.

Hmm. I wonder if it’s because vaccines are a scam and they don’t work? nah. couldn’t be that.

While the word “outbreak” typically means bad news, there is a silver lining: Mumps is a fairly mild viral infection, causing swelling of the salivary glands and soreness in and around the mouth and jaw areas. It usually goes away after a few days and rarely causes complications.

So why bother making a vaccine against it? More chemicals to dump into a tiny body that short circuits the natural immune system, potentially weakening it against other pathogens.

As of today, the University of Kansas has six confirmed cases and 15 more probable cases among students, said Sheryl Tirol-Goodwin of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department in Kansas.

All but one of the infected Kansas students had received two doses of the MMR vaccine, she said, a strange pattern seen among many of the cases.

Hmmm. Interesting.

Taxachusetts just passed a law that will soon force everyone to have health insurance. Subsidies for those who can’t afford it and penalties for those who can but choose not to. And for businesses who don’t offer insurance.

One of the reasons I hate health insurance is that I have never found a plan that I will use. I want emergency medical (ER, bambulance etc) for trauma. I want some help with glasses and dentist (one must see and chew to survive, no?). That’s it. But I can’t find a minimalist plan like that. Why pay for services that aren’t going to be used?

It’d be great to find a plan that covered prevenative health programs (not just disease management) like exercise clubs, chiropracty, nutritional supplements etc. Something that pays to stay healthy so there’s fewer actual medical bills.

Eddy and Allison have both been to see doctor’s recently (one is sick, the other pregnant). The bill shows that the doctors charge more than the insurance will pay, and then choose not to bill us for the balance. What that means is the medical industry is intentionally marking up their bill to get the most money from the insurance company that they can. If the cost of the service actually represented the charge, they would have to come after us in order to keep from losing money. And this is apparantly standard practice.

rawr. I hate insurance. I hate doctors and hospitals. I hate the state of health care and that victims of malpractice and mistake are being blamed for driving up the costs with “frivolous law suits.” How about frivolous markups? How much does actually marking the price up drive up costs?

Man, if I get cancer… fuck it. I’ll live it out as best as I can. Go carrot juice and algae 24/7. Sad thing is, insurance would pay for the drugs and surgery to make my longer life hell, but not the actual things that might take care of my health. yeah yeah. I’m young and invincible, right? sure. If that makes you feel better, think that.
/rant

Mass.LawmakersOKMandatoryHealthBill-YahooNews