Currently drinking...

[WTFchris]

One chemical that soda contains that I don't think energy drinks do is "High Fructose corn Syrup".
Studies have shown that ONE soda per day can lead to a gain of fifteen pounds over X (I don't remember how many) years, and if you want to see how bad and how pervasive HFCS is, google it.
You may never drink another coke again.

Oh, I know. Soda isn't good for you. That's why I only drink one a day. People amaze me that drink that stuff all day. My rommate in college got kidney stones twice in a semester drinking 4-5 cans of soda a day.

It's amazing how many kids have diabetes from eating junk food and drinking soda.

[Zip Goshboots]

I have solved the problem of drinking too much Coke by diluting it with Southern Comfort.
But seriously..is this thing ON?!
I drink a couple Cokes a day myself. I love it with a meal. It's a "risk-reward" thing. You gotta have SOME evil pleasures. I don't snack at all, don't eat muc in the way of sweets. So, I figure I can chug a couple cokes a day.

[WTFchris]

It also depends on your level of activity. If you're lazy than you will gain the weight. Try chasing my 95 pound puppy around and you'll burn off some calories.

[MoTown]

Chris - my question is then why, when I'm really tired, do I get jittery and shakey and off the wall energetic when having two large cups of McDonalds coffee? (gross coffee by the way, but it seems to get the job done better than other coffee)

[Zip Goshboots]

Maybe you get jittery and shakey because you're worried about spilling it on your balls.

[Glenn]

*this post reserved for e-ray, tune in this weekend at approximately 3 am*

[WTFchris]

Chris - my question is then why, when I'm really tired, do I get jittery and shakey and off the wall energetic when having two large cups of McDonalds coffee? (gross coffee by the way, but it seems to get the job done better than other coffee)

your sugar level is probably bottoming out and maybe you are getting the initial gains of coffee (energy increase from the other ingrediants). i have no idea why that brand would help more. maybe it is more sugar and less beans or something, who knows. I don't drink coffee at all. you wouldn't get shakes from a build up of that chemical (that makes you drowsy). that would have to be an energy issue. drowsy is not the same as being exhausted. cold medicines don't make you exhausted (though the cold might), they make you drowsy/sleepy. i can be worn out from playing bball and not fall asleep. from what I understood, caffeine only affects the chemical buildup associated with being sleepy. that's why those energy drinks have all that other crap in there to deal with you just being worn out.

And I'm no expert on this either. i've just read a couple articles on it.

[Vinny]

Go to the vitamin section of your local CVS and look for this energy gum, I think it's made by life-fitness. Trust me, it works surprisingly well and is just a bunch of B-12, no caffeine or any of that other junk that fucks you up. Tastes like most other gums, eclipse or whatever. Pop two of those and you'll be surprisingly alert.

I didn't believe it either but you'll be surprised.

[Uncle Mxy]

I can't stand coffee. I tried it for a year when I worked at a place that had supposedly decent strains of coffee, hoping I'd develop a taste for it. I never did.

I'm partial to bat-piss (a.k.a. Mountain Dew) in the morning. I find it flushes out that "morning mouth" taste better than anything else, gets me going. I tend to gravitate toward water and iced tea (or hot tea of various flavors if I'm doing oriental) as the day goes on. I still end up drinking too much carbonated fizz, though, and I have the gut to show for it. <sigh>

Having said that, I think HFCS has gotten a bad rap in some ways. The real problem isn't so much HFCS per se, but that it's artificially "sweeter for cheaper than sugar" in the U.S., thanks largely to the protectionist sugar tariffs and quotas we've had since the 1980s. We have made sugar artficially expensive while making corn artificially cheap. So, we've "evolved" to HFCS in our foods as opposed to sugar and other natural sweeteners. Even in the wake of things like CAFTA, where we should have "free trade" with the tropical places that make cane sugar, we still protect our domestic sugar prices and encourage crap like HFCS, where you can put less of it in and it's sweeter so you can indulge more sweet tooths with junk calories. Bleah.

[DrRay11]

I find it flushes out that "morning mouth" taste better than anything else, gets me going.

Ever heard of that toothbrush/toothpaste combination? I hear it works quite well.