Excessive Coca Cola Consumption can cause Death!

I previously posted an article on Coca Cola efforts to reduce one of the carcinogenic chemical in their product; which the FDA states high consumption cause it to be cancerous.

Today, I saw this article where a New Zealand women died of heart attack due to hypokalemia, whose dietary habit was 8-10 litres of Coke daily with little food consumption. She also had a daily dosage of around 30 cigarettes.

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Experts say a New Zealand woman's 7.6-litre-a-day Coca-Cola habit probably contributed to her death.

Ms Natasha Harris, a 30-year-old, stay-at-home mother of eight from Invercargill, died of a heart attack in February 2010. Fairfax Media reported that a pathologist, Dr Dan Mornin, testified at an inquest on Thursday that she probably suffered from hypokalemia, or low potassium, which he thinks was caused by her excessive consumption of Coke and overall poor nutrition.

Symptoms of hypokalemia can include abnormal heart rhythms, according to the United States (US) National Institutes of Health.

Dr Mornin said that toxic levels of caffeine, a stimulant found in Coke, also may have contributed to her death, according to Fairfax.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Lisa Te Morenga, a nutritionist at theUniversity of Otago, said excessive consumption of any type of liquid in a cool climate would be likely to play havoc with the body's natural systems and balance.

Karen Thompson, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Oceania, said in a statement that its products are safe.

"We concur with the information shared by the coroner's office that the grossly excessive ingestion of any food product, including water, over a short period of time with the inadequate consumption of essential nutrients, and the failure to seek appropriate medical intervention when needed, can be dramatically symptomatic."

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This shows that extreme carbonated drink consumption with poor lifestyle habits can kill us!

This can be helpful teaser when we teach food/health related topics in school, i.e. nutrients, what we eat... :)

Source:

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/TechandScience/Story/STIStory_790835.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-04-20/Coca-Cola-New-Zealand-death/54433488/1

http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/04/20/it-true-10-liters-coca-cola-and-30-cigarettes-day-will-kill-you