Abuse of energy drinks serious health threat — Dietitian

Emmanuel Bonney Jul - 13 - 2023 , 14:53

The Head of Dietetics at the Trust Hospital, Wise Chukwudi Letsa, has cautioned against the abuse of energy drinks by a section of the public as it has serious health implications.

He said it was more dangerous for especially those who took such drinks in the morning in place of real food.

He warned that if such practice continued, the cases of health issues, including kidney diseases, hypertension and cancers, would surge.

“Energy drinks, which are also known as sports drinks, are meant for people who are sportsmen and sportswomen because they burn energy.

“For the majority of the population, energy drinks are not required.

We get energy from our food and that should be enough.

“If people continue to substitute food with energy drinks as is being done, the cases of kidney, hypertension and cancer would be so many,” Mr Letsa told the Daily Graphic.

The Trust Hospital head of Dietetics gave the caution at the launch of the hospital’s oncology services in Accra.

Craze

There has been a craze for energy drinks by some members of the public, especially commercial bus drivers and their conductors.

For the drivers they take the drink, mostly chilled, in the morning to energise them for the day as they start work.

One of such drivers, Yaw Owusu said the drink kept him energised when he had not taken “proper food”.

“Because of the pressure in the morning you don’t even have the time to sit and eat and so we take the drink to give us some energy,” he said.

Another driver, Tetteh also shared similar sentiments, adding that he felt energised to work in the morning after taking the drink.

He, however, said by mid-morning when the pressure for the vehicle was down, he found time to eat real food.

For him, he took the drink once in a while when he felt he needed some energy to work.

Not food substitute

Mr Letsa described that as a great health risk, stressing: “I would want to use this opportunity and this platform to advise people to avoid the abuse of these energy drinks.”

He said it was better to eat real food than to fall for the drinks, adding that “people should be crazing about eating breakfast and not relying on those drinks and things”.

“Let’s be crazy about eating breakfast, lunch and supper instead of taking energy drinks in place of breakfast,” he advised.

Exercising

Also, he advised adults to undertake regular exercises to keep healthy, advising that: “Let’s follow what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has prescribed, that we do 150 minutes to 300 minutes of moderate and physical activities a week.”

They include walking leisurely and cycling slowly, among other things.

Alternatively, he said they could undertake 75 to 150 minutes of high-intensity level physical activity such as swimming, dancing, running, some gym activities plus some muscle-strength training.

Mr Letsa said those exercises were necessary for weight loss, managing diseases, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and preventing cancers.

“When you exercise feel good hormones are secreted into your brain,” he emphasised.

Healthy eating

The dietitian further stressed the need for people to eat healthily, advising parents to show interest in what their children were eating, especially when they were being fed at school.

He said they should make sure that their meals were healthy and thought about how to eat fruits instead of packed drinks.

“Allow children to eat enough food except for those of them who are growing fat or obese.

So if we have a lot more interest in what our children are eating, we would be able to manage them better.

“A lot of children don’t eat, when you give them food they take just a little.

Some children are also not eating at all, some overeat, but then let’s make sure that the meals are healthy with little oil,” he said.