A 29-year-old woman was admitted to the ICU with fulminant diabetic multi-organ failure. Was milk tea the cause?

"There is no trouble that cannot be solved by a cup of milk tea. If there is, then have two cups." "Have you had the first cup of milk tea in autumn?"...

Social networks are full of similar words, and a cup of milk tea is given more connotations.

Milk tea has remained as popular as ever over the years. Milk tea shops have even opened up in the streets and alleys in the bustling areas of the city center. Internet-famous milk teas have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and some milk teas even require queuing for hours to buy.

It can be said that milk tea has become a "national drink" that has completely conquered the stomachs of many young people in China.

Recently, Ms. Lin, a 29-year-old girl from Guangzhou, nearly lost her life because of milk tea.

She developed symptoms such as dry mouth, abdominal pain, dizziness, and multiple organ failure within a short period of time. She was eventually diagnosed with fulminant type 1 diabetes, combined with shock, pancreatitis, myocarditis, etc., and was sent to the ICU.

Her blood sugar level was as high as 38.86mmol/L, far higher than the normal value (≤11.1mmol/L when not fasting). Her blood amylase level was as high as 396U/L, while the normal range is 30-110U/L.

The doctor said that she had drunk more than a dozen sweet drinks a few days before being admitted to the hospital and usually drank milk tea.

1. Is Milk Tea responsible for Ms. Lin’s type 1 diabetes?

The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016)" recommends that adults should consume less than 25g of sugar per day and no more than 66g of fat per day. A cup of milk tea can easily exceed these figures.

First of all, the ingredients of milk tea are mostly: white sugar, non-dairy creamer, whole milk powder, instant black tea powder, food additives (silicon dioxide, edible flavors). It is a high-sugar drink.

But "sweet drinks including milk tea" are not the reason why Ms. Lin suffers from type 1 diabetes. Genes and autoimmunity are the causes of the disease.

There are many types of diabetes, including type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes and various special types of diabetes. The causes of various types of diabetes are different. Diabetes caused by long-term unreasonable diet, especially excessive diet leading to obesity is mostly type 2 diabetes.

However, a high-sugar diet is very dangerous for type 1 diabetes and can easily induce diabetic ketoacidosis, which develops very quickly and can even be life-threatening in severe cases.

2. Besides the fact that “milk tea fat” is not groundless, what other dangers does it have?

The Consumer Protection Committee of a certain city once conducted a "milk tea comparison test" and reported on the results, revealing the various "secrets" of Internet-famous milk teas. The milk tea shops that were "evaluated" included many Internet-famous milk teas on the market. The testers commissioned the Shanghai Nutrition Food Quality Inspection Station to test the sugar, fat, trans fatty acids, caffeine, etc. in the milk tea.

The results showed that the trans fatty acids contained in a cup of milk tea exceeded the recommended intake for three days. Trans fatty acids are particularly likely to cause coronary heart disease.

They generally contain stimulating and addictive caffeine, with an average of 270 mg/L, and the highest reaching 828 mg/L, which is equivalent to 4 cups of coffee. Excessive caffeine intake can cause accelerated heartbeat, anxiety, etc., and accelerate calcium loss.

The good taste of milk tea mainly relies on fat. The milk cap is mostly made of milk foam powder (the main ingredient is non-dairy creamer), and some also have vegetable oil added, so the fat content will be higher. The milk tea with the highest fat content in the report reaches 41 grams per cup.

In addition, a study published in the journal Gut in May this year was a blow to milk tea lovers. The results showed that women who consumed a lot of sugary drinks during adolescence (13-18 years old) and adulthood increased their risk of colorectal cancer before the age of 50.

3. What other safety issues does milk tea have?

1. Re-label opened milk and canned food that should be discarded at the expiration date to extend their shelf life;

2. Semi-finished food ingredients such as milk, tea, milk tea, rose jelly, pearls, etc. that have not been sold overnight can continue to be used by changing the "expiration tracking card";

3. Fruit skins are not washed, shop assistants grab lemons with bare hands, fresh fruit slices are stacked in cups, and milk tea is processed next to uncovered trash cans, etc.;

4. Recently, a reporter went undercover in a popular milk tea shop through random application and found that many of its branches also had problems such as cockroaches crawling everywhere, rotten fruits, unwashed rags, and false labels.

4. Special groups should pay attention when drinking milk tea

Milk tea can only be consumed in moderation, and special groups should pay attention to:

People with severe cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and infants are prohibited from drinking it;

Children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding women should drink in small amounts;

The elderly and people with poor liver and kidney function need to drink with caution.

If you drink milk tea like drinking water, it is recommended that you have a health check-up at least once a year. During the check-up, pay attention to the examination of chronic diseases, such as blood sugar, blood lipids, electrocardiogram, blood pressure, cardiac ultrasound, etc., to have some understanding of the basic condition of your body.