What does caffeine do to your body?

Caffeine is probably the most common drug in America. We drink caffeine in coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, some soft drinks, and some drugs. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. That means that, in moderate doses, caffeine can:
1. make you alert
2. reduce your motor function
3. make you awake
4. cause headaches and dizziness
In massive doses, caffeine can be deadly. A fatal dose of caffeine has been estimated to be around 10 grams, or the same as drinking 80 to 100 cups of coffee in a row. Caffeine can have its effects as soon as 15 minutes after somebody drinks it. After that, caffeine will stay around for hours. It takes around six hours for one half of the caffeine to go away. Caffeine also increases your heart rate, constricts your blood vessels, helps to improve breathing and allows you to use your muscles more easily.
Some studies show that once you use caffeine for a while, your body craves it and becomes somewhat dependant on it. One way to tell if someone really needs a cup of coffee is to take it away from them and then see if they have withdrawal symptoms. Usual withdrawal symptoms of caffeine are a headache, fatigue and muscle pain. You only need four cups of coffee a day to get hooked. And our nation, with all of the Starbucks and Dunkin' Doughnuts, is in great danger of being hooked onto this drug.

9 Reasons Why You Should Go Vegetarian

70 percent of all Americans are suffering from diseases that are directly related to the way they eat. Numerous studies show that a diet that's full of fruits and veggies, grains and soy is a sure way to living a longer and healthier life. Here's nine reasons why you should be a vegetarian.

1. You'll live a lot longer. Vegetarians live about seven years longer, and vegans (who don't eat any animal products) live about 15 years longer than meat eaters, according to a study from Loma Linda University. And a British research that studieded 6,000 vegetarians and 5,000 meat eaters for 12 years found that vegetarians were 40 percent less likely to die from cancer and 20 percent less likely to die from other diseases.
2. You'll save your heart. Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States, and the average American diet that's full of saturated fat and cholesterol from meat and dairy is one of the main contributers.
3. Replacing meat, chicken and fish with vegetables and fruits is estimated to cut food bills by an average of $4,000 a year.
4 You'll reduce your risk of cancer. A study in The International Journal of Cancer concluded that red meat is strongly associated with breast cancer. The National Cancer Institute says that women who eat meat every day are nearly four times more likely to get breast cancer than those who don't. Studies have also shown that a plant based diet helps protect against prostate, colon and skin cancers.
5. On average, vegetarians are slimmer than meat eaters. That's because diets that are higher in vegetable proteins are much lower in fat and calories than the average American diet.
6. Giving up meat helps rid the body of toxins (pesticides, environmental pollutants, preservatives) that overload our systems and can cause sickness. When people begin formal detoxification programs, their first step is to replace meats and dairy products with fruits and vegetables and juices.
7. Each day, 22 million animals are slaughtered to support the American appetite for meat. By being a vegetarian you are making astrongpolitical statement by not contributing to the slaughtering.
8.You'll help reduce waste and air pollution. Circle 4 Farms in Milford, Utah, raises 2.5 million pigs every year, creates more waste than the entire city of Los Angeles. And this is just one farm.
9. Your bones will last longer. The average bone loss for a vegetarian woman at age 65 is 18 percent; for non-vegetarian women, it's double that.

Cursing: Inappropriate slurs or pain relieving phrases?

So you accidentally bang your elbow on the hard edge of a countertop and out comes something like “You little f*ck sh*t!” And for some, this sudden outburst of cuss words after being hurt happens without even thinking about it. But, this might actually be for a good reason. A study from Keele University in England found that swearing can trigger a person’s body’s stress response and actually increases your tolerance to pain. The study used 64 undergraduates who were asked to put their hand in a tub of ice water while repeating a swear word and, in a second experiment, repeating a regular word used to describe a table. The swearing increased pain tolerance, increased heart rate and decreased supposed pain compared with not swearing. Even The New York Times points out examples of foul language among Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth 1 and even the Bible, and says, “Researchers point out that cursing is often an amalgam of raw, spontaneous feeling and targeted, gimlet-eyed cunning.” Researchers continue to say that swearing is often used as a form of stress relief and anger management, and may actually be an under-appreciated way to blow off steam.

The Talk with Mom and Dad

All of us roll our eyes anytime we mention talking with a parent or trusted adult about relationships and sex. Most of us would probably agree that we think our parents to be "in the dark" when it comes to the topic of sexuality.
They criticize our music, the way we want to dress and the kinds of people we hang out with. Forget about even bringing up current relationships or sexuality. We have always had tension between our parents. It's nothing new.
But our parents probably didn’t grow up knowing about HIV or AIDS, and they definitely couldn’t get information on the Internet. But their parents, and other adults in their lives, still gave them a hard time. Just like today.
Maybe they’re trying to stop us from making the same mistakes that they did. Things may look a bit different these days, but chances are your parents or the adults you trust had the same worries about whether or how to talk to their own parents or families. Think about it. You may decide that your parent or another adult is just the person to talk to about sexuality.

Benefit Concert for Everglades Earth First

Half of the original Everglades has been drained, and the national park now protects most of what is left. The Everglades ecosystem is the single source of drinking water for more than 6 million people in South Florida. Only 25% of the original Everglades, the only ecosystem like it in the world, is left today thanks to the overdevelopment of South Florida and the abuse of its resources.
In order to raise awareness, as well as funds, a befit concert is being held at The Country Isles Park in Weston on Saturday December 19th. Anyone is welcome to attend.



"While many Earth First-ers have scientific or ecological backgrounds, our struggle is fundamentally about our intuitive connections to land, water, the community of life around us and our willingness to fight for it. We are committed to working with any groups who share these basic values." - Everglades Earth First activist

Scared Yet?

So PSAT scores recently came out and a lot of people may be freaking out about their scores. Some people probably are disappointed in themselves because they thought they could do better. But not to worry, we're only in our sophmore year. So take a deep breath and remember that we have about a year to improve and prepare ourselves for the actual SAT. If you're really that worried about getting into a good college then maybe an SAT prep course would be good for you. Or maybe you could simply prep yourself by buying an SAT guide. Either way would probably be a good decision if you are interested in getting scholarships ect.

Teens and Drug Abuse

There is a high probability that a teen you’re friends with will be exposed to drugs and alcohol. Teenagers as young as thirteen have often already tried drugs as powerful as cocaine. Some teens might tell themselves they will only try a drug once just for fun, but many teens are under constant peer pressure to continue to try drugs and join their friends. Most teens don't start using drugs and think they might start to abuse them, and most teens probably see the drugs they use as casually having fun, but there are a lot of problems that could develop. The biggest issue affecting a lot of people today is that they become hooked and can’t live without the drug. Some people don’t even realize when they have become reliant on drugs. So, if you are a teenager in high school, probably about 97% of your friends go out and party and get drunk and do drugs. Most of you may think this is okay and acceptable, but if you truly care about someone and notice they are beginning to become dependant on drugs or alcohol, you should talk to them or get them help so that they don’t get way over their head.