Lemming Tracks: Energy Drinks, Common Sense, and 'There Oughtta be a Law'

"Energy Drinks May Hurt Kids: Study"
Randy Dotinga, Health, US News and World Report (February 14, 2011)

"Children with existing health or emotional issues most at risk, researchers say

"Energy drinks such as Red Bull, AMP and Rockstar have no health value and may even harm some children and teens, a new review finds.
Click here to find out more!

The increasingly popular, highly caffeinated drinks are especially risky for children with heart abnormalities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or other health or emotional problems, said Dr. Steven E. Lipshultz, co-author of the study, published online Feb. 14 in the journal Pediatrics.

" 'It's a set of products that are totally unregulated and have no therapeutic benefit,' said Lipshultz, chairman of pediatrics at the University of Miami.

"Surveys suggest that 30 percent to 50 percent of U.S. teenagers and young people consume energy drinks, despite warnings about their safety. Many users mix the energy drinks with alcohol, further heightening the potential for ill effects, say the researchers...."

Something's Not Regulated?! SHOCKING!!!

The Lemming doesn't have much doubt that chugalugging a six-pack of Red Bull, with a beer chaser, might not be good for a teenager with heart problems.

For that matter, it might put someone in perfect health in a tad less than tip-top shape.

Credit where credit is due. US News lets someone besides the 'experts' have a say:

"...But the maker of Red Bull took issue with the findings.

" 'This article just draws together material from the Internet, and largely ignores in its conclusions the genuine, scientifically rigorous examination of energy drinks by reputable national authorities. For example, the European Unions food safety authorities spent 10 years thoroughly examining energy drinks and concluded that the key ingredients [taurine and glucuronolactone] are of no concern,' Red Bull officials said in a statement. 'The effects of caffeine are well-known, and as an 8.4-ounce can of Red Bull contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee [80 mg], it should be treated accordingly.'..."

Does the Lemming think a steady diet of Red Bull, Mountain Dew, Twinkies, and deep fat fried pork rinds would be good for a teenager? Or anybody else?

No.

On the other hand, the Lemming is drearily familiar with folks who are incensed that others don't act they way they're 'supposed to.' And think that 'the government' should regulate what the rest of us eat, drink, watch, wear, and - if possible - think.

'For our own good,' of course.

The Lemming thinks that moderate degrees of physical activity and a diet that's long on complex carbohydrates, protein, and other parts of a sane diet is good for people. But the Lemming's not going to cobble together a 'scare' article to frighten folks into eating the 'right' way.

That's the sort of thing 'experts' do, it seems.

Almost-related posts:

• "Autism, Childhood Vaccines, Bogus Research, and the Lemming"
  (January 6, 2011)
• "Lemming Tracks: '8 x 8' Water Rule, Real Research; Beer and Pretzels"
  (November 27, 2010)
• "Lots of Lead and Cadmium in Kids' Tableware: Spiffy"
  (November 22, 2010)
• "Saving the Environment Makes You Sick"
  (September 28, 2010)
  • "Well, no: not exactly."
• "Tanning Beds, Addiction, and Pale Mutants"
  (April 21, 2010)
  

About "apathy," the Lemming's' way:

• "About the Lemming"

Drinking (Some) Coffee is Good For You

"Study Shows Coffee Drinkers Could Have Lower Blood Pressure"
Health News, RTTNews (September 3, 2010)

"A new report given before the European Society of Cardiology Congress suggests that drinking coffee could help older people who suffer from high blood pressure.

"According to lead researcher Christina Chrysohoou of the University of Athens in Greece, older people who drink one to two cups of coffee a day elastic blood vessels than those who drink less or more...."

In common with many findings like this, more isn't better.

That last sentence, by the way (ending with "...older people who drink one to two cups of coffee a day elastic blood vessels than those who drink less or more.") ends right where my excerpt ends. It makes more sense, if you read the next paragraph. The writer's saying that drinking one or two cups of coffee a day was the habit of older folks who generally had more elastic blood vessels.

The article's short, has data - including numbers - from the study, and fits into the Lemming's 'moderation makes sense' attitude. So I think it's pretty good stuff.

The content, anyway. Someone really should have proofed that "elastic blood vessels" sentence. And corrected it.

The History of Coffee - a DVD

"Modern Marvels: Coffee DVD"
History Channel Store

"Traces the origins of this tasty drink from Ethiopia over 1,000 years ago to the espresso-fueled explosion of specialty coffee stores like Starbucks today.

"Along the way, we'll see how American companies like Hills Brothers, Maxwell House, Folgers and MJB grew to be giants. Discover how billions of coffee beans make their journey from coffee farms and plantations, and are processed in gigantic roasting and packaging plants before showing up in coffee cups all over the world.

"Details the invention and production of instant coffee, decaffeinated coffee and freeze-dried coffee, and the espresso machine. Also, we explain how coffee made shift work in factories possible, while coffeehouses provided a creative cauldron that brewed political and artistic progress in the 18th and 19th centuries. And, we also provide tips on how to make a better cup at home!"

I've seen part of the documentary - and the assertion that coffee made the Industrial Revolution possible isn't as far-fetched as it sounds.

Think about it: before coffee got introduced to Europe, city-dwellers didn't want to risk disease by drinking water from rivers or wells (sewage treatment was of the 'throw it in the street' variety). To stay healthy, they drank - beer, mostly. As a result, by the end of the day folks were in a bit of a haze. Not in any condition to operate heavy machinery.

From the description, and what I saw on the History Channel, I'd get the DVD. But right now, there isn't room in the household budget for the $24.95 plus about $2.95 shipping and handling that it'd cost. Maybe next month. Or year.

Never Mind the Water, Man! Is the Coffee Okay?

"Dunkin' coffee is brewing again"
Boston.com (May 4, 2010)

"Roughly 300 Dunkin' Donuts stores that were affected by the water shortage will be coming back on line all day, with many already serving coffee, said Andrew Mastrangelo, a spokesman for Dunkin' Brands Inc., the Canton-based chain's parent company.

"Some Dunkin' Donuts stores were closed by municipal order after a water pipe broke over the weekend, contaminating the region's fresh water supply; other Dunkin' locations stopped serving coffee.

"But now that Governor Deval Patrick has lifted the state's boil order for 30 communities, including Boston, things are starting to return to normal. And normal means the coffee at many Dunkin' stores is back on...."

I know: contaminated drinking water is no joke. I'm very glad to hear that Boston's water supply is getting back to normal. At least, I hope that's what lifting the 'boil' order means.

And, I'm sure that folks at Dunkin' Donuts will be relieved to have coffee again.

Coffee Art Video

"kahve sanatı.."

designerbb, YouTube (November 10, 2007)
video, 3:06

For those of you who don't read Turkish, the title of this video is "coffee art.."

The video has ambient sound, but no narration - and none is needed, in my opinion. You'll see over a half-dozen examples of coffee art, along with the steps taken to make several of them.

Some are abstract patterns - or flowers, I'm not sure. Pretty, though.

Some are faces. Whoever was doing the coffee art seems to like doing cute cartoon rabbits.

The steps are shown in enough detail for viewers to have a shot at making coffee art on their own, but I'd say that you'd have to go through a lot of cups of coffee (latte?) and creamer(?) to get these results.

The Inside Scoop on Coffee

"What's Inside a Cup of Coffee?"
Wired Magazine (September 21, 2009)

"Caffeine
This is why the world produces more than 16 billion pounds of coffee beans per year. It's actually an alkaloid plant toxin (like nicotine and cocaine), a bug killer that stimulates us by blocking neuroreceptors for the sleep chemical adenosine. The result: you, awake.

"Water
"Hot H2O is a super solvent, leaching flavors and oils out of the coffee bean. A good cup of joe is 98.75 percent water and 1.25 percent soluble plant matter. Caffeine is a diuretic, so coffee newbies pee out the water quickly; java junkies build up resistance...."

"...3,5 Dicaffeoylquinic acid
"When scientists pretreat neurons with this acid in the lab, the cells are significantly (though not completely) protected from free-radical damage. Yup: Coffee is a good source of antioxidants...."

"...a good source of antioxidants..." - somehow, though, even though antioxidants are now what ultraviolet light and spinach were to earlier generations, I rather doubt that we'll see coffee in health food stores.

Still, stranger things have happened.

It's a pretty good look at the chemical components in coffee - and, in some cases, what they do when they start perking through our metabolism.

Pretty good article, I think.

CoffeeQuick by Paws, Inc: Short, Silly, Funny

www.coffeequick.com is a URL that Garfield visited, in a comic strip back in 2001.

It's also a real mini-site, run by Paws, the Garfield company. I recommend visiting it when you don't mind disturbing others: this site is wired for sound. Don't believe the "technical difficulties" sign, by the way. The nerdy narrator will get the menu up in just a few seconds.

Don't go to CoffeeQuick if you're looking for cutting-edge graphics and AI. It's a simple, click one; click the next; and so on; set of Garfield animations.

He starts out with a cup of Limp Latte, and goes up to - I'll let you discover that.

(My coffee preferences are somewhere between Old Train Whistle and Lava Java.)

Enjoy.

So, Now We Want Starbucks Back?

"Cities, Customers Launch 'Save Our Starbucks' Efforts"
The Wall Street Journal (July 19, 2008)

"Now that Starbucks Corp. has disclosed the 600 locations it wants to shutter, a phenomenon is taking hold: the Save Our Starbucks campaign.

"In towns as small as Bloomfield, N.M., and metropolises as large as New York, customers and city officials are starting to write letters, place phone calls, circulate petitions and otherwise plead with the coffee giant to change its mind.

" 'Now that it's going away, we're devastated,' said Kate Walker, a facilities manager for SunGard Financial Systems, a software company, who recently learned of a store closing in New York City...."

As the song said, "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got
Till its gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." I've never been to a Starbucks myself, but I can understand someone feeling bereft when a favorite coffee shop closes.

Starbucks Closing! (For Three Hours)

"Starbucks closing 3 hours Tuesday afternoon for barista training" examiner.com (Minneapolis) (February 25, 2008)

Three hours, this afternoon. 7,100 Starbucks, 135,000 employees, across America will shut down from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 local time today.

Their mission: barista re-education.

Coffee and Cream and Performance Art

A three-minute video, "Coffee Art," "The art of Coffe and Cream," demonstrates that coffee, cream, and (chocolate?!) in a coffee mug can be formed into rabbits, butterflies, and flowers. I counted nine cups, each with a different picture, about three quarters of the way through.

Google’s contextual advertising may lead to heart attack

This blog post's lead sentence is, "Ok so maybe that headline is a bit dramatic, but just take a close look at this screen capture of Yahoo! News."

The rest is a well-written description of how Google AdSense works, and how the author believes it relates to a relevant topic: health care. Apparently, we've got so much advertising online, that "most of America can’t make sound health care decisions on their own."

I may be wrong, but this reminds me of the way Gregory Bresiger paraphrased a letter from his congressman, explaining why the congressman voted against a tax cut. In part, the paraphrase said, "Besides, you wouldn’t know what to do with your own money. You’d just waste it!

"I'm one of those commoners who think that common sense is much more common than our betters believe.Still, Street Anatomy's post is well-written, and raises an interesting point.

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