It’s always great when you can discover something that helps you push through your day. Activities like meditation, reading and listening to music have all proven to do just that for many people all around the world.
And while those are all positive activities that you can rely on daily to help you work through even the densest of mental fogs, unfortunately there are quite a few negative, unhealthy coping strategies out there that have a grip on many consumers.
Mary Allwood, working mother of three from England, knows all about that. Her vice? Red Bull.
Allwood had an incredibly busy schedule that often left her feeling worn out. But then she discovered Red Bull, and the company’s slogan “Red Bull Gives You Wings” certainly seemed to ring true for her.
She started off by drinking just one or two cans daily. But her tolerance quickly grew and she had to begin drinking more and more red bull to achieve that same push she craved so much.
Eventually, she was drinking twenty cans a day.
The 26-year-old ballooned from a size 16 to a size 24 as a result of her addiction.
In November of 2015, she was rushed to the hospital as a result of severe liver pain.
An MRI scan revealed that her liver was twice its normal size. Doctors were convinced she was an alcoholic.
But Allwood never drank. After investigating, the doctors concluded that the high sugar content in the Red Bull she was guzzling down regularly had caused fat to build up in her liver.
Not only that – her liver also had two fibrous lumps. One was the size of a grape and the other was as large as a satsuma.
Luckily, Allwood was not beyond recovery. She quit Red Bull cold turkey and instead swapped it for six and a half litres of water a day.
It wasn’t easy – her withdrawal symptoms included mood swings and shakes. But she eventually worked her way back down to a healthy size.
Of her addiction, Allwood said:
“I needed it and I didn’t care at the time what damage it was doing to me. If I didn’t get my fix I would be miserable and grumpy and it just wasn’t an option – I would make sure I got it. It was my heroin. I would feel awful if I didn’t have it.
Now the thought that anyone can go into the shops and buy it makes me so worried. I think it should be treated as if it is alcohol and cigarettes.”
You might be thinking “No way could that happen to me! I don’t drink that much Red Bull!”
But while you might be guzzling 20 cans a day of Red Bull, just consider all the other foods and drinks you consume that tack onto your daily sugar intake.
Yogurt. Canned soup. Salad dressing. Tomato sauce. Bread. Granola bars. Dried fruit.
These are all foods you could be forgiven for assuming are totally healthy and benign. But really, they represent just how easy it is for loads of sugar to sneak into your diet.
Most people know that alcohol can damage your liver but sugar can potentially damage it just as badly – and through the same mechanism; fat deposited on the liver.
Some studies show indicators that sugar can boost both “benign” tumors (such as Mary Allwood’s) and cancerous tumors. That’s not to mention the diabetes and obesity risks, which come with their own multitude of complications.
Sources:
The Daily Mail
