• Question: if you drink to much lucozade do you get amune to it

    Asked by 264sprg52 to Andrew, Dan, Emilia, Helen, Katy, LauraAnne, Stephanie on 7 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Helen Hanstock

      Helen Hanstock answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Immune wouldn’t be the right word here, but… if you are drinking sugary drinks such as Lucozade too much you may have other problems to worry about such as type 2 diabetes (when your body loses the ability to regulate the amount of sugar in the bloodstream because your cells no longer respond properly to the hormone insulin) or tooth/gum disease!

    • Photo: Dan Gordon

      Dan Gordon answered on 8 Nov 2016:

      This is fascinating question. I would agree with Helen that ‘immune’ is not the right word here, perhaps habituated is the correct term. If you keep drinking these carbohydrate-based drinks it is possible that the cells become de-sensitised to the effects and so you will start to need higher concentration to produce the same effects. However studies in mice have shown that this would require large volume to be consumed on an almost daily basis.

    • Photo: LauraAnne Furlong

      LauraAnne Furlong answered on 9 Nov 2016:

      Same, you probably won’t become immune but if you drink lots and lots of it all at the same time, firstly the sugar in your blood will rocket up, and then it will drop down rapidly as well which will have a horrible effect on your energy levels at the time. You may make yourself quite sick as well and that’s not good. Too much over a longer period of time and you’ll have the problems like diabetes and tooth disease to worry about!

    • Photo: Emilia McAllister-Jepps

      Emilia McAllister-Jepps answered on 13 Nov 2016:

      Hi, good question! I think the scientists have covered this very well, and I agree with the use of the term ‘habituated’ that Dan has mentioned. I think that it would be very difficult for anyone to consume Lucozade in the large quantity that would be needed to make you immune to its effects. You would however, as the other scientists point out, be opening yourself up to the risk of health problems related to the consumption of too much sugar.

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