Oh, I thought it was caffeine addiction.

So I was looking up the amount of caffeine in a sugarfree Redbull. I thought my happy emotions after drinking Redbull were due to caffeine addiction. I've been feeling pissy before I drink caffeine, and afterwards I'm always in a better mood; I thought this was simply because my body got what it was craving.

Along the way, I also wanted to find out how much taurine is in Redbull & what exactly this molecule does. I mean, it's the third ingredient on the nutrition label (after things like water & citric acid, for god's sake)! I gotta know what this thing's doing to my body. So I come across the Redbull website, which says, (among other interesting things), that Redbull "improves emotional status." That makes sense because plain coffee/caffeine doesn't give me the same emotional high that Redbull does.

So one of the main reasons Redbull improves your mood (besides satisfying caffeine addiction) is due to taurine. Taurine is this weird molecule.. it's an amino acid that has a million different little functions in your body. One of them is it can act as an inhibitory neurotransmitter in your brain. It's not actually a neurotransmitter (you know what neurotransmitters are- they're things like serotonin & dopamine), but it can act like one because its structure is similar enough to GABA, (an inhibitory neurotransmitter in your brain) that it can sortof copy what GABA does (I'm trying to explain without getting too technical for you people who aren't in my Mammalian Physiology class). Taurine also makes GABA more effective by preventing it from breaking down -->which multiplies its inhibitory effects. An "inhibitory" effect means that an "excitatory" message has trouble going through the area that has been inhibited.

GABA's inhibitory effects are related to mood stability. In diseases like Bipolar Disorder, the GABA pathway doesn't work correctly, which means it can't balance out opposite (excitatory) messages in the brain like it would normally; so moods can easily fluctuate between extremes, as random excitatory messages rampage through your brain, undampered.

It's interesting to relate this to how alcohol works, since we're more familiar with that than neurotransmitters. As we all know, alcohol depresses the central nervous system. Thus, it acts as a depressant; and like many depressant drugs, it activates this same GABA pathway. This means that alcohol keeps neurons in your brain from relaying excitatory messages, which initially results in relaxation, feeling tipsy/high/"fuzzy", and pain subsiding.

So now I understand why energy drinks with excessive amounts of Taurine can cause you to feel similar to that first drink or two of alcohol; they activate the same neurotransmitter in your brain!

Tired of

My own twist on 3OH!3's "I'm not your boyfriend baby" lyrics

I'm not your girlfriend, baby
Won't be your stupid little sex toy
I'm not your static 2-D fantasy
Can't be your mindless little doll

I'm not your girlfriend, baby
Won't grant your every wish
This ain't me sayin maybe
Your hollers really get me pisst.

You can catch me on the sidewalk,
Singin to my own beat..
No, I don't want your dates, your money, your cock
I'm not your call girl, your next bragging feat

Get out of my skin, get out & grow up
Get out of my missed calls, stop telling me lies,
Stop hitting on me when I'm drinkin at bars

Don't interrupt me at banks, or when I'm buyin' groceries
I don't think it's cute, and it's nothing new, aight?
It happens a hundred times, a hundred ways
You think I've never heard that line before? Right.

It's not funny anymore, its old, so old;
You're a kid no matter how much you age
And I've met "you" a hundred times

Ps.

I would also like to mention, in reference to our coming "Singles Awareness Day," that I'm very happy to go without the pressure of finding the perfect Valentines present for a significant other. Three out of four of my roomies are dating, so it's funny to watch them stress a bit about picking the right little present.

It can be pretty hard to find the right present for someone- even family members or friends. You don't want to spend too much $ or TOO much energy, because then it appears you have no life except to make people great presents.. that they may not end up liking. Especially if the present they give you (or don't give you) involved zero to no effort.

In the meantime I will revel in the fact that I can buy myself those shoes I've wanted.. instead of using that money to buy someone else something valentine-tack-ish.

Much love to all my Singles out there!
Have a great weekend & don't stress about Monday :)

This Post is Dedicated

...to a good friend of mine. Today had its ups and downs, but in the end, what really matters to you? In a week, will you still be pisst off about your metro card breaking at a crucial moment? Or will you look back on that day & be glad you still went into the city, saw a good friend, and got 40 minutes of great exercise walking home in the dark.. thinking of all the love in your life? Let what really matters be what you focus on.

"The interesting thing about loving other people is that it comes back to you... and letting go of fear & allowing people to get close to you doesn't always result in more hurt." - Unknown Author (aka me)

Winter

For me and winter, there comes a point when the fun of bundling up in a bulky coat just.. Expires.

Thursday

Zappos,
I love you because you send me Sugarfree Redbull with your shoes!
Love from,
Me

February 1st.

It's now February. And to celebrate, I'm posting my favorite quote of the day, 

"My new diet is heavy on local, seasonal foods.. Mostly Valentine's Day candy from the Walgreens down the street."
-A Variety of Twitter Updates