If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a memory of you and me. it can be anything you want-good or bad. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised about what people remember about you.

When you're feeling stupid, read this

“Smoking kills, if you're killed, you'v I e lost a very important part of your life.”
~Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.

Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: “I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever.”
~Miss Alabama's Heather Whitestone in the 1994 Miss USA contetest, who was later selected as Miss America 1995

“Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean i'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff.”
~Mariah Carey

“I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body”
~Winston Bennett, University of kentucky basketball forward.

“Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country”
~Mayor Marion Barry, Washington DC.

“I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president.”
~Hilary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.

“That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it.”
~A congressional candidate in Texas.

“Half this game is ninety percent mental.”
~Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark

“it isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.”
AND
“We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur.”
~Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States

“I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix.”
~Dan Quayle

“We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?”
~Lee Lacocca

“The word “genius” isnt't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.”
~Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback and sports analyst.

“We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people”
~Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor.

“If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.”
~Bill Clinton, Former President of the United States

“Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas.”
~Keppel Enderbery

“Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.”
~Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina

“If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it wil monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record.”
~Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

My topic is energy drinks and I choose it because I drink them a lot and I was interested in finding out what they contained. Also, I had heard rumours about them being bad for you so I used the hypothesis: energy drinks are harmful to us. I used the key questions “what are they made of?”, “what are their effects?” and how are hyper activeness and energy drinks connected?” to prove or disprove my hypothesis.

My research was started off by buying an energy drink (red eye) and I used the label for my report. I looked up each of the different ingredients and wrote down a description of each from Encarta, I then brought a bigger selection and went on their individual sites on the internet. I had also tried going to the library but found no relevant information, because the different chemicals are so new, it was probably not a very good source. I interviewed another consumer of the drink but next time I would interview a bigger selection of people. I think that most people, like me, know that energy drinks are bad for you but do not know how serious they are. I’m quite shocked by some of my findings.

My first key question focussed on what energy drinks are made of. All the ones that I studied had carbonated water or spring water and sugar (sucrose). They also had a blend of chemicals added to them e.g.: caffeine, taurine, niacin, guarana thiamine and some even had the controversial Acesulfame K and aspartame, along with the usual preservatives and vitamin C. some had strange or even bizarre ingredients such as oats, creeping marsh plants and a certain species of tree ginko Bilbo. All of which I find unnecessary in a drink, when I buy a drink I don’t expect to be buying oats. It seems like they’re trying to mix other cheaper ingredients in to keep costs down.

I also wanted to find out what the effects of energy drinks are. The energy drink companies put forward such claims as “promotes energy endurance and vitality”- red eye, ginsing, “stimulating effect on body and mind”- red eye, guarana, “repair and revitalise your body”-V. under closer research I have found that although they add good vitamins and minerals to their drinks, they need to look closer at what ones thy put in, as some of them have very harmful effects when taken at excess.
A major ingredient, caffeine, has not yet been proven to cause cancer or birth abnormalities but is suspected to. It is addictive. Also it may relieve people of headaches but also gives you withdrawal headaches which I have also experienced. These can be throbbing two sided pain and can last for a long time. Avoiding caffeine because of this though, can cause a worse headache. Niacin, another apparently good for you ingredient, also taken in large does over long periods, causes liver damage.” If you take to much niacin, one of the B vitamins it can make your face and hands feel as if they are burning and can damage your liver. Too much vitamin B6 can harm your sensory nerves- the nerves that carry signals to your brain from your senses” – Body needs, vitamins and minerals for a healthy body. Sodium benzoate, a preservative found commonly in energy drinks is toxic in large quantities.
And then there’s the worst two of all… Acesulfame K and Aspartame.
Acesulfame K: in rodent studies produced tumours, forms of leukaemia and respiratory diseases when they were given less than maximum doses.
Aspartame: a very widely used sweetener which has been suspected to cause a huge range of different illnesses and could be extremely harmful.
I think it is unacceptable that an ingredient that is used on a regular basis in food has not been properly tested. It puts the consumer in danger and they aren’t even aware of the risks.

Finally I questioned how are hyper activeness and energy drinks connected?
In my research I found that that energy drinks do result in sudden bursts in energy and could be a cause. Being named energy drinks makes this slightly obvio