Coca-Cola addiction death: Mother of eight dies from unhealthy soda habit
A New Zealand mother of eight, who drank excessive amounts of Coca-cola everyday for years, died of a heart attack three years ago, likely brought on by her unusual consumption of the soft drink, a coroner has found.
In a decision that was released Tuesday, three years after Natasha Harris passed away, coroner David Crear found that she died of cardiac arrhythmia caused by the effects of caffeine and a poor nutrition, the Telegraph reported.
In life, Natasha Harris, 30, drank up to 10 liters of Coke a day. The recommended daily caffeine intake for the average person is 400 mg.
Harris died on Feb. 25, 2010 from a cardiac arrest. It was Hodgkinson who found her seating on the toilet, bent towards the wall and asking for help.
According to coroner Crear, "the drinking of very large quantities of Coke was a substantial factor that contributed to the development of the metabolic imbalances which gave rise to the arrhythmia."
Besides her unhealthy Coke addiction, Harris reportedly smoked 30 cigarettes per day and ate very little.
Still, Crear concluded that "when all of the available evidence is considered, were it not for the consumption of very large quantities of Coke by Natasha Harris, it is unlikely that she would have died when she died and how she died."
The coroner advised the New Zealand Ministry of Health to review whether labels on soft drinks gave enough protection to consumers and urged Coca-Cola to consider including the quantity of caffeine content on its labels, along with a warning on excessive consumption.
In a statement, Coca-Cola Oceania Ltd. said the company did not agree with the verdict pointing to the soft drink as the main cause of the heart condition that led to Harris' death.
Was the coke the only reason for her death? No, obviously she made a lot of poor choices (smoking, poor eating habits), but it certainly was a contributing factor.
Everything in moderation.
This part:
The coroner advised the New Zealand Ministry of Health to review whether labels on soft drinks gave enough protection to consumers and urged Coca-Cola to consider including the quantity of caffeine content on its labels, along with a warning on excessive consumption.
I think that's a little overboard. It doesn't take a brainiac to understand that caffeine and other stuff in any sort of soda is not good and too much can do damage to your health. This gal knew she was slowly killing her body, she just didn't care. It's sad that her kids had to watch her abuse herself like that over the years.
I get it that it's yummy and that it can be somewhat addicting. I love me some Coca-Cola. The way other people say "I need a drink" after a particularly stressful day, I say "I need a soda". However, I don't even drink it every day, and the days that I do I drink about 12 - 24 oz for the day. Not 10 litres. That's just nuts.
10 Liters?! That's a lot of coke in a day. Wow. Sounds like she was literally addicted to the stuff.
that is alot of soda.. very sad example of poor choices
Her unhealthy habit is what did it. It's not "because of" coca cola.
I drink Cherry Coke daily, they better not ban my favorite drink.
This is so sad. I know how addicting soda can be. I forced myself to give it up last year (but I never did drink nearly as much as this woman). I still have some occasionally on the weekends but I even want to stop doing that. It's hard to give up. She had a serious addiction, like I've never seen. She was drinking the equivalant of FIVE 2 liter bottles a day! That is way extreme and I'm sure it played at least a part in her death, but the cigarettes didn't help either obviously.
Holder to investigate....Holder
- gammie
on Feb. 13, 2013 at 10:14 AM