According to health professionals, excessive consumption of energy drinks is responsible for the rise in the number of patients with acute kidney failure in the country. Acute kidney failure occurs when the kidneys suddenly lose the ability to eliminate excess salts, fluids and waste materials from the blood.

More than 100 Ugandans were diagnosed with acute kidney failure at Mulago National Referral hospital last year. Dr Emmanuel Sekasanvu, nephrologist says that while energy drinks do not directly lead to acute kidney failure, they are a secondary cause of the condition due to the high amounts of sugar they contain.

Dr Sekasanvu says the high amounts of addictive substances in energy drinks lead to addiction, which is a precursor for diabetes and hypertension.

The energy drinks contain between 30 and 32 grams of caffeine. Mpiima recommends that people don’t take more than one bottle of 350 millitres of any energy drink a day. According to the health workers, caffeine can stop the body’s ability to deal with high loads of blood sugar when the body is forced to increase the amount of insulin needed to clear blood sugar.

Mpiima says that energy drinks are more harmful than coffee.

“Energy drinks are harmful and addictive than coffee today even if coffee has higher amount of caffeine”, he said. 

According to Mpiima, even if one cup of coffee may contain more caffeine than an energy drink, the mixture of ingredients like caffeine, taurine, ginseng and various vitamins make energy drinks the more lethal substance because they can lead to diabetes.

In 2013 the International Society of Sports Nutrition released a statement, saying drinking an energy drink such as Monster Energy drink 10-60 minutes before exercise may improve overall athletic performance including focus, alertness and endurance due to the amount of caffeine found in the drinks.

The statement further states that “Diabetics and individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular, metabolic, hepatorenal, and neurologic disease who are taking medications that may be affected by high glycemic load foods, caffeine, and/or other stimulants should avoid use of ED [energy drinks] and/or ES [energy shots] unless approved by their physician”.

According to Dr Sekasanvu, people diagnosed with kidney failure, diabetes, expectant and breast feeding mothers and children below the age of 13 years shouldn’t consume energy drinks.