Natasha Harris died of a Coke overdose.

[Valasca]

When people attribute someone's untimely death to a Coke overdose, they're usually not talking about the world's most popular soda.

But experts in New Zealand say Natasha Harris' 2-gallon-a-day Coca-Cola consumption "probably" contributed to her death. The soda company responded to the alleged connection by noting that even water consumption can be fatal in excessive amounts.

"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," Harris' partner Chris Hodgkinson said in a deposition. "She was addicted to Coke."

Hodgkinson testified that Harris drank between 2.1 gallons and 2.6 gallons of Coke every day.

The 30-year-old Harris died of a heart attack in February 2010. According to New Zealand's Fairfax Media, pathologist Dr. Dan Mornin testified on Thursday that Harris likely suffered from hypokalemia (low potassium levels), which he believes was caused by her overall poor nutrition, including the unusually high levels of Coke consumption.

Though in fairness to the soda manufacturer, it was also revealed that Harris made other questionable health choices before her death, including smoking a reported 30 cigarettes per day and having poor eating habits. Dr. Mornin also said Harris had "toxic levels of caffeine" in her blood, though it's not clear if those levels came exclusively from Coke or from a combination of other sources, including coffee.

Karen Thompson, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Oceania, defended the safety of her company's products in a statement:

"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."



Harris reportedly experienced high blood pressure in the months leading up to her death. Hodgkinson called emergency services and tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but was not able to revive Harris after she collapsed in her home.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...GVzdAM-;_ylv=3

[Dakota Valkyrie]

That's a 24 pack of Coke a day. She must not have been consuming much of anything else. When did she find time to sleep? HOW did she sleep?


You can die from drinking too much water too. Abuse of anything is going to have consequences.

[TheMorningStar]

A New Zealand coroner has told an inquest that Natasha Harris, a mother of eight who suffered a heart attack in 2010, would not have died if she hadn't been dependent on on Coca-Cola. In findings released Feb. 12, coroner David Crerar wrote:

"I find 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.''

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2671931.html

[TKaz]

I remember a story where a teen had died from ingesting 4 gallons of water.

THis woman must've had the shakes all the time. How did she drink so much soda!?? I know I don't drink enough water, but after two cups of coffee & maybe 2-3 glasses of water, there's no reason to drink anything else? I'm not thirsty.

I'm always shocked when people don't know how to eat correctly. For health. When I was young I didn't know a lot, but i learned. It's not so hard. My cousins gave their babies pepsi instead of formula.....

[malq]

She died of a heart attack, her diet certainly contributed to it, but to say she died of coke overdose? That's almost not a valid statement.

There is a reason this chick is pursing her lips together
Her teeth make meth users look like the offspring of dentists.

I used to watch people try to drink a gallon of milk in an hour. It's impossible.