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Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Warning over popular drink after mother-of-two develops organ damage from daily habit
A mother-of-two who developed organ damage after drinking several cans of Red on a daily basis has warned against getting 'hooked' on the energy drinks. Lucy Parker, 35, from Perth in Australia, initially booked in for a medical scan to investigate pain she'd been having in her thighs. While the cause of this was revealed to be an ovarian cyst, the scan also revealed signs of serious harm on her liver. Images revealed the vital organ had an extreme build-up of fat which—if left to progress—can lead to organ failure as well as an increased risk of cancer. Ms Parker, who is a healthy weight, blamed her habit of drinking three Red Bulls per day, equivalent to consuming 81g of sugar per day (the equivalent of nearly two and a half Mars bars), for the problem. She's since quit the energy drinks altogether and said follow-up scans have shown signs her liver is recovering. The creative director for a marketing agency admitted she had been 'addicted' to Red Bull. 'If I knew I didn't have a Red Bull in the fridge before I went to bed I would drive out to go and get one or figure out how to get one first thing in the morning,' she said. 'I was having 81 grams of sugar a day in just those drinks. 'When you look at it on a scale there's no way you can eat that much sugar, it would make you sick.' The NHS advises that adults should have less than 30g of sugar per day, meaning Ms Parker was consuming nearly triple the recommended maximum. She added that even her daughters had noticed her reliance on the popular energy drink. 'Even my two kids on Mother's Day at school when they had to write down things about their mum they said "my mum's favourite drink is Red Bull",' she said. Recalling the moment medics gave her the scan results earlier this year, Ms Parker said it was mixture of relief followed by shock. 'Doctors were like "this is what's shown up-there's a cyst on your ovary we'll keep an eye on but that's the not the thing we're worried about",' she said. 'They told me "There's a lot of fat around your liver". 'They said it's basically where fat builds up around the liver and it's not able to work as well as it should.' While this toxic build-up of fat can be caused by drinking large amounts of alcohol, tests later revealed her condition was specifically non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is a similar condition which is most commonly seen in overweight or obese individuals, particularly those with a lot of fat around their waist. In its early stages it doesn't trigger any noticeable symptoms, but medics can detect it during scans performed for other reasons, as in Ms Parker's case. If left to progress the disease causes the liver to suffer increasing damage from inflammation, leading to internal scarring of the organ which make it works less effectively. As the liver, which helps with digestion and filtering out toxins, shuts down, patients can begin to experience dull aching pain in their abdomen, extreme fatigue, weight loss and weakness. At the most severe stage this damage becomes permanent, and organ will begin to fail and become at high risk of developing tumours. Ms Parker said that upon getting the diagnosis she immediately quit drinking Red Bull. And a subsequent scan held six weeks later showed this was already showing results. Ms Parker said: 'My doctor said "whatever you have done between the last session and now is working". 'I just said "I've stopped drinking the Red Bull". 'She told me to keep doing that and in six months' time we will have reversed it hopefully.' Ms Parker said she had no 'no symptoms' prior to her diagnosis and urged others with a similar love of energy drinks to get checked. 'I had no pain, no nothing,' she said. 'If someone reading this is drinking the same amount of energy drinks for that period of time I would suggest they get a blood test.' She added this was particularly the case for fellow people with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who may be using energy drinks to 'calm down'. 'If you have ADHD it just does the opposite to what it would do for a neurotypical person,' she said. 'It calms me puts everything into check and helps me get through the day.' Official data shows 345 Britons died from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in 2023, a slight rise from the pervious year's 323 with experts noting the rate had risen significantly since the Covid pandemic. Ms Parker's warning comes after the Government announced plans last year to ban under-16s from buying energy drinks due to concerns they are harming young people's health. Many supermarket chains across the country already have a voluntarily ban on selling the products to minors. But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his party would make this mandatory in the run-up to the General Election in 2024. Drinks such as Red Bull, Prime and Monster can have up to 150mg of caffeine, almost double that of a black coffee. With some brands available for as little as 25p a can, many of the energy boosting drinks can be cheaper than bottled water and are a popular pick-me-up among young people.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Fern Britton, 67, reveals the turning point behind her 5st weight loss as she poses for stunning Woman&Home shoot
Fern Britton has revealed the turning point behind her 5st weight loss as she posed for a stunning new shoot with Woman&Home magazine. The beloved presenter, 67, has long been open about her weight struggles, having fluctuated between a size 22 and a size 12 over the years. Now, in a candid new interview, Fern reflected on the powerful moment she decided to take back control of her health. She told the publication: 'People often wonder when you lose lots of weight whether you've done it naturally. And I can look at you and say, 'Yes, I have.' 'I had my shoulder replacement 18 months ago, and two-and-a-half years ago, when I saw the surgeon, he said, 'I'm going to totally replace your shoulder, I'll see you in a year.' I thought, 'I need to get my life back on track. 'I need to stop smoking, stop drinking, get eating under control and stop lying in bed feeling sorry for myself.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. She continued: 'So I started the Couch to 5k, took about 80% of the sugar out of my life and started to think about what I was eating, which I had never done before. 'As a child, I just couldn't stop eating sugar, so [I ended up with a] big sugar addiction. I never had the button that said, 'Stop eating, you've had enough.' 'Curiously, having three sensible meals a day – which everyone has told me [to do] for the last 60 years – actually worked!' 'Exercise is part of my life. I go to a gym when my daughter, Grace, who's in nursing, isn't on a shift – we meet at 6am to do a class. I'm also cycling and starting the Couch to 5K again,' Fern added. Elsewhere in the interview, the presenter opened up about approaching 70, admitting she feels it's her 'duty to stay healthy' for her children. Fern has twin sons Harry and Jack, 31, and daughter Grace, 27, from her first marriage, to Clive Jones, and daughter Winnie, 23, with Phil Vickery. She said: 'I'm just two years off 70 so it's very real. I can't believe it, actually! 'At times, I get more tired than I used to or when I'm working in the garden, I think, 'That's heavy. She continued: 'I had my shoulder replacement 18 months ago, and two-and-a-half years ago, when I saw the surgeon, he said, 'I'm going to totally replace your shoulder, I'll see you in a year.' I thought, 'I need to get my life back on track' Elsewhere in the interview, the presenter opened up about approaching 70, admitting she feels it's her 'duty to stay healthy' for her children You can read the full interview in Woman & Home's July issue which goes on sale May 29 'I used to be able to lift that.' It is my duty to stay as healthy as I can for the sake of my children.' The star continued: 'I don't want them to feel guilty about not seeing me or worried about me if I'm not well. It's important that I show them I'm living my own life well.' Fern has kept her private life out of the spotlight since calling it a off with TV chef, Phil, 63, in 2020, after 20 years. On looking for love, she told the publication: 'I'm still a bit too wary of losing my liberty. 'There's nobody to run something past but, on the other hand, I think back to running things past people and it never really worked out, so why don't I just make my own decision? 'Then I'm the only person who can go, 'I f***ed up there.' I'm feeling pretty good [but] it would be foolish to say I feel spot on 100% of the time. 'Cats are great companions but there are days when I'm actually quite lonely because sitting, writing on your own is lonely, but it's good to admit it.' As for her latest project, Fern has another novel coming out, which centres on Wilderhoo - a fictional 1,000-year-old Cornish house that has gone to rack and ruin. Five years ago, the presenter moved permanently into her Cornish holiday home before renovating it 'bit by bit'. A Cornish Legacy, which is Fern's 11th novel and comes out on June 5, took the star two years to write – twice longer than normal. 'I'm used to producing one a year at least, so I'm sorry for the delay but I was a bit busy,' she told the publication. Last year, the beauty took part in Celebrity Big Brother and finished in fifth place. However, TV is no longer a top professional priority. She bid farewell to This Morning, which she co-hosted for 10 years alongside John Leslie and, later, Phillip Schofield, before quitting in 2009. She said: 'My forefront is now being a writer and it's taken me a long time to accept that. Gosh, yes, I can say I'm an author now!'
