WELLINGTON,
New Zealand (AP) -- Experts say a New Zealand woman's 2-gallon-a-day Coca-Cola
habit probably contributed to her death, a conclusion that led the soft-drink
giant to note that even water can be deadly in excessive amounts.
 |
| Natasha Harris. (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald) |
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 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 U.S. National
Institutes of Health.
Mornin said
that toxic levels of caffeine, a stimulant found in Coke, also may have
contributed to her death, according to Fairfax.
Harris'
partner, Chris Hodgkinson, testified that Harris drank between 8 and 10 liters
(2.1 and 2.6 gallons) of regular Coke every day.
"The
first thing she would do in the morning was to have a drink of Coke beside her
bed and the last thing she would do at night was have a drink of Coke,"
Hodgkinson said in a deposition. "She was addicted to Coke."
Hodgkinson
also said Harris ate little and smoked about 30 cigarettes a day. In the months
before her death, he said, Harris experienced blood pressure problems and
lacked energy.
He said
that on the morning of her death, Harris helped get her children ready for
school before slumping against a wall. He called emergency services and tried
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but couldn't revive her.
Another
pathologist, Dr. Martin Sage, said in a deposition that "it is certainly
well demonstrated that excessive long or short term cola ingestion can be
dramatically symptomatic, and there are strong hypothetical grounds for this
becoming fatal in individual cases."
Inquests
such as this are sometimes held for unusual or unexplained deaths in New
Zealand, and can help shape future health policies. With the evidence in the
case now complete, the coroner's office will compile and issue a final report
into the death.
In an
interview with The Associated Press, Lisa Te Morenga, a nutritionist at the
University 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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