NUTRITION QUACKERY AND MISLABELLED FOODS DEBUNKED

Misleading and unsubstantiated nutritional claims can ruin your health or even kill you.

- DR P.S. VENKATESH RAO

Many deaths have been reported due to cardiac arrest associated with an excessive intake of caffeinated energy drinks.

Protein is required for various body functions like muscle repair, blood and immune system function, skin, hair, and nail growth, and the production of enzymes and hormones. A high-protein diet can help satiate you and thus aid in weight management, but it isn't necessary for everyone. Elephants, Rhinos, Buffalos, and other herbivores have powerful muscles despite a low-protein diet of grasses and leaves. Excessive protein intake can be detrimental to health, particularly in persons with kidney disorders. Protein breakdown produces an acid load, which the body neutralizes by mobilizing calcium from bones, leading to increased calcium loss in the urine, stones, and weak bones. Crazy food fads, extreme weight loss diets, and unproven medications can cause malnutrition and death.

CAFFEINATED ENERGY DRINKS: Caffeinated energy drinks are associated with headaches, anxiety, insomnia, stomach upset, muscle twitching, restlessness, and sudden deaths with caffeine overdose. Caffeine content ranges in different brands from 50 mg to an alarming 505 mg per can or bottle, though their regulation is lacking. They are excessively marketed for psychoactive, performance-enhancing, and stimulant drug effects. Caffeine intoxication and dependence are on the increase and may progress to drug dependence. The combined use of caffeine and alcohol increases the incidence of alcohol-related injury.