I agree - this woman appears to have had an eating disorder of some kind, drinking massive amounts of soda was just one aspect of it.

Yeah, I think they just latched onto the 'unusual' part, lots of people smoke 1.5 packs a day, that's not news - but not a lot of people couple that with 2 gallons of Coca-Cola. Definitely a couple gallons of caffeinated Coke every day would be horrible for your heart, as well as a pack and a half of cigarettes. Each of those habits alone would be very bad for a person's health. Combined, that sort of diet would kill just about anyone.

This woman had terrible lifestyle habits! No wonder she died so young. Consuming nothing but Coke and cigarettes would kill anybody.

I always heard things went better with Coke. Apparently that was just an advertising slogan...

So in the end are we blaming her or Coca-Cola? The media, especially digital media, needs a headline that will generate clicks. A headline that says it all "Woman Who Didn't Take Care of Herself Dies at 30" won't get a lot of attention. Making Coca-Cola the focus of the headline does.

A diet of Coca-Cola and a pack and a half of cigarettes, without much else, I'm surprised she made it to 30. Someone should have just handed her a crack pipe.

I think we are blaming her poor choices and her total lack of moderation. You could drink Coke every day and live to be 100.

I never touch the stuff myself.

Oh no, now Moron-in-Charge Bloomberg will be trying to ban Coca Cola in New York City!

I would say the 30 cigarettes had more to do with her death than anything else. someone, the Pathologist, has it out for soft drinks

Well, 30 cigarettes a day is high for a heavy smoker, but not crazy high... and although they might die young, not quite THAT young or that suddenly. Smoking takes awhile to kill you usually, and it's often preceeded by all sorts of other conditions. Her smoking habit definitely contributed, but in a sense that it weakened her heart to only hasten what her cola habit was doing.

The 2 gallons of Coke a day plus a poor diet is actually more harmful in the short term than heavy smoking, because it severely hinders your nutritional intake. A heavy smoker can smoke 30 cigarettes a day and live well into old age. But 2 gallons of Coke a day plus poor eating habits will kill just about anyone in a relatively short period of time.

someone, the Pathologist, has it out for soft drinks.

Nah, I don't think so. I think the exceptional nature of her soft-drink habit is why people are paying attention to it, not because of some ulterior motive against soda-pop.

@lynseypug: The article is still being drafted. Just wait.

How about 2 cans of snuff, two gallons of coffee, and not eating "regular" food. That'll kill you, too. Anything can kill you if you do it "wrong." The woman obviously had more problems than a cola addiction.

She's 30 years old and mother of EIGHT! kids. I know some folks like having kids, but EIGHT? by 30 years old? I'd say there's a whole lot more going on here than drinking Coke.

Please allow me to express my condolences to the family. It can't be easy. I sincerely hope the kids get through this time with the least amount of stress.

30 year old mother of 8?! Wow. It appears she did everything to excess.

Okay...this woman was 30 years old and had "8" .., count them...., EIGHT children. One has to ask what toll was taken on her body with all those pregnancies, and then compound it with poor diet...Let us not lay the blame on the product, but on an entire lifestyle that seems bent on self destruct

One has to ask what toll was taken on her body with all those pregnancies

I'm not so much concerned about what she did to her own body compared to what she may have done to her kids. Was she still chugging caffeine and chain smoking when she was pregnant? Think about it... she was pregnant for a grand total of six years. Six years. You really think she stayed off the coke and smokes that whole time?

I just hope her kids haven't picked up her bad eating habits or been effected by second hand smoke.

I would say the 30 cigarettes had more to do with her death than anything else.

Eh, that's not even two packs a day. A pack and a half is a pretty moderate smoker. Did you know John Wayne smoked six packs of cigarettes a day?

This reminds me of the opening of the movie "Idiocracy"

Remember that it was the low potassium that brought on the heart attack, which was likely caused by the soda habit. The smoking was doubtlessly bad for her heart's overall health, but it does sound like her cola chugging is what pulled the trigger. As far as the information known is concerned, the article title appears accurate, in this case.

I call this the "Kate Moss Diet", cigarettes and Coke...

oh wait... not THAT kind of coke... Oh...

I'm a 33 year old male, 6 foot 5, about 150 pounds (my metabolism is INSANE), and my diet mostly consists of Coca-Cola, Pizza, Pizza Steaks (i live around Philly, what do you want?), Pasta, Chicken, and i also love bread.

I drink a lot of coca-cola (i used to drink that amount of chocolate milk, until we realized i was misdiagnosed as a kid and i was REALLY lactose intollerant [much better now]) though the amount is probably 6 12 oz. cans a day.

I'm alright.

I am allergic to the smell of cigarrettes, so i obviously dont (and have never) smoke.

That being said... most of what she ingested was coke and cigarrettes. If you compare our diets, (though i doubt any of you would think mine is great) i actually get a lot of other foods in there also, some of which give me some form of nutritional benefit.

To blame this just on the coke is silly... but then again, even i think that 2 gallons a day is a bit of overkill... but so was the rest of her lifestyle.

I bet you money people i know will send this article to me.

8 to 10 liters a day! I'm surprised she didn't die of a ruptured bladder. That aside, leave it MSNBC to try and twist the truth to get people to read. The original title of the article as published by the AP read "New Zealand woman's Coca-Cola habit cited in death".

I'm a 33 year old male, 6 foot 5, about 150 pounds

Dude, that's not healthy at all. That's not an "insane" metabolism, that's more like hyperthyroidism. I'm a 28-year-old male, 5 foot 8, and 150 lbs... and I'm in damn good shape. You must be skeletal. You ever get that checked out?

Chris - thank you for the concern.

I think i've had every test known to man done to me at one point or another. I know i got my thyroids checked out and they are fine. Actually got a full body workup, complete with blood tests back in december and the only thing that came up out of range is the trigger for Mono, which will always be high in me because i had Mono when i was younger (and will always be a carrier). (i think mono is the closest a human being could ever be to a real zombie)

But yeah... everything checked out fine.

My dad used to be tall and thin like i was growing up, and once he married my mom is when he started to gain weight. The doctors said i was always in the 99th percentile for height, and the 50th for weight.

I eat, i gain a little belly, eventually i go to the bathroom, belly goes away. Rinse, repeat, and stuff. Though i still have issues with the lactose intollerance every so often... which may have something to do with it?

Though i still have issues with the lactose intollerance every so often... which may have something to do with it?

Maybe. If you do eat as much high-fat, high-protein, high-carb foods as you say and still don't put on any weight, you might have a GI issue that prevents your digestive tract from absorbing nutrients properly.

I wonder what this lady fed her kids, were they exposed to the same diet?

Has anyone noticed exactly why the news is posting something that happened 26 months ago when she died in February 2010? Just wondering!

I saw the 2010....no idea why it took so long.

I agree with Coca Colas response. Too much of anything is bad for you. People are always looking to blame someone else for their bad habits/stupid decisions.

What about the health of her children!! All that sugar, caffeine, and toxins in her system had to affect her children, not to mention 2nd hand smoke, and bad eating habits after they were born. If you want to kill yourself with bad habits that is your business, but innocent kids need to be protected from harm.

I would just like to state for the record ... I am 44 now and was not given pop/soda as a child. When I was with my hubby at 16 I made up for lost time. I had both my children by the time I was 19 and drank the same product - it was my version of coffee. The caffine was an addiction and yes I smoked I would drink 2L of coke a day. At 21 I had chest pains and found out that each can of pop had equivalent to 8 tbsp's of sugar. There was my warning sign, I had no idea and made the decision to quit. I had withdrawl symptoms it was awful.

This habit did not make me fat, a bad mother or bad eater. I was a fantastic cook and made my children healthy snacks and meals they had their bath's and in bed by 8 pm for adult time. Its a habit like any other and I'm really sorry to hear this lady passed away I feel terrible for her children to loose her so young, she won't see them graduate, pick them up when they are hurt or kiss them at night and tell them she loves them.

This article is for knowledge too much of anything is not good, sort of like the big mac guy that ate it for a year and ultimately died.

So keep this article in your pockets and if you meet someone with the same problem suggest maybe changing to coke 0 and eventually rotating pop with water to help them get away from it.

xoxo good luck to everyone!

The sad part about this is that the Coca Cola Company is absolutely correct--even water can kill you.

Or have we forgotten about the woman who attempted to "Hold her wee for a Wii" and died from water poisoning? For those who have forgotten, the story is here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16614865/ns/us_news-life/t/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-contest/

Excessive behaviors of any kind can kill you. Chalk this one to another one of those deaths that will eventually appear, with a not-so-funny tagline, on 1,000 Ways to Die on Spike TV.

The headline writers had to latch onto something to grab attention.

It wouldn't have been as dramatic if they had said that her cola consumption contributed to her death.

It is a shame that those children will be without their mother at such young ages, what a loss for them. Too bad she didn't take better care of herself for her children. Maybe this will be an eye opener for other people if they have the same type of habits. I guess that we can just pray that her children can get through this, I hope they have alot of support.

Every one who has never seen Cola eat a tooth, will destroy your stomach and/or heard that cigarettes kill RAISE your hand?? Goodness.

Let's just be honest here.....she didn't die of lung cancer so her "partner" can not sue the cigarette company. And you can not sue anyone for her not eating. But, if her "partner" can pin it on her being "addicted" to Coke and this was the cause of her death, then he can sue them for her death.

I would look at him as well. She was a stay at home mom.....this means he was the person buying her the 4 to 5 2-liter bottles a day and the 1.5 packs of cigarettes a day (US$20 per day habit). Yet he did nothing to stop it or get her help.

It is possible that she had one or more multiple births; the article also does not mention how old the children are. But even so, eight children before the age of 30? Yeow!

And yes, even excessive water can be fatal, just like excessive alcohol can kill you. So sad for her children to be deprived of her so early in life. My condolences to them and to her partner (don't know if they were married).

A headline that says it all "Woman Who Didn't Take Care of Herself Dies at 30" won't get a lot of attention.

Browns - you hit the nail on the head! I could tell that this is a trivial, useless article before reading it to the end. If someone has 8 kids by age 30, smokes 30 cigarettes per day, doesn't even attempt to consume a balanced diet, and drinks 2 gallons of Coke per day, then it shouldn't make headlines when she dies young. Her body is naturally going to be stripped of nutrients with each pregnancy, given that lifestyle.

Archeim - get over yourself. No one cares. Your lifestyle has virtually no similarity to this woman's. You do realize that your six 12 ounce cans of Coke per day amounts to only 72 ounces, right? That is nothing out of the ordinary. A lot of people drink that much every day. I used to drink that much and more before I broke the soda habit. Two gallons of Coke is 256 ounces. That's over 3.5 times the amount of Coke that you consume. Come back and tell us about yourself when you have birthed 8 kids, smoke a pack of cigarettes per day, drink 256 ounces of Coke per day, and eat next to nothing. Then you and she might have something in common.

This is not an addiction. This is an eating disorder.

Archeim,

Get yourself checked for gluten (wheat) intolerance.

In defense of Chris ... as a young woman I was 5'8" and weighed 104 1/2 pounds. I ate SIX meals a day in order to maintain that weight. My doctors investigated me for hyperthyroidism, anorexia, bulimia and everything else under the sun. I was perfectly healthy.

Thinning the herd . . .

It really wouldn't have made a difference if she were drinking Coke or water, in that quantity, she was flushing nutrients out of her body. Water would have done the same thing, only faster as there is virtually no nutritional value to water, the Coke has at least a little.

I'd bet that 2 gallons of Gatorade or any other hydration drink would have a similar effect. That much of anything your kidneys have ti filter out is likely to have detrimental effects. Additional plain water would allow the body to get rid of what it doesn't need but even that in excess has caused death. Looks like a case of simple human excess.

Scales - It doesnt look like you read some other talkbacks. People other than you, do care, and asked questions. I am, and have been responding. As i stated, i dont smoke, and i find it hard to have 8 kids being that i'm male.

Troll much?

Alex -

I was checked for that. Fortunately, i am not... (though 2 members of one of my roommates family are, so i'm familiar with what they go through.)

Aside from being randomly lactose intollerant, i have some form of "chemical poisoning" (MCS) (which we believe happened from a lot of perfumes and colognes being sprayed on me one after the other by my little sister when we were way younger) (about 13 different kinds, and about 1000 chemical compounds in each scent) but my only other allergies are dust mites, ragweed, kapoc, and some forms of honey. (so depressing as the cereal honey smacks is delicious, but if i eat it i guarantee you i will be occupying a bathroom for at least a day)

Actually - due to the whole misdiagnosis of me being lactose intollerant i was hospitalized twice each for a week. Writhing in agony with terrible stomach pain. (when i was 12) They said that my villi were blunted because for years of ingesting lactose when i was highly allergic to it. If i recall correctly, i went from 110 lbs to about 90 lbs.

They had me with a tube down my nose feeding me straight lipids, and an iv in my hand giving me straight protein, both of which bypassed my digestive system, keeping me alive. After about a week of this, it gave by body a chance to regenerate the villi a bit. From there i started drinking lactaid milk, and taking lactaid pills, which i did for years after.

Another reason villi could be blunted is Celiac disease, which i was also tested for and do not have.

Normally my lactase enzyme level will get low maybe 1 time a month or so... and then i go on a liquid diet for about 2 days, and am fine again. Now i am thinking that i need to get more calcium in me.

While the cigarette smoking no doubt would have increased her risk for atherosclerosis in the long run, what killed her at the age of 30 was a heart attack brought about by low potassium. This is clearly related to the massive intake of fluids, and perhaps the massive amounts of caffeine as well (since this can also cause fast/irregular heart beat). Poor nutrition probably contributed as well, as she wasn't able to replace the potassium through her diet. To say they are picking on her coke intake is ridiculous - THAT is what actually killed her, not the smoking and not having 8 kids. Those may be contributing factors, but the coroner's job is to determine the actual cause of death, which was a myocardial infarction brought on by low potassium due to excessive fluid/coke intake.

Drinking massive amounts of water without replacing electrolytes will kill you as well - this causes hyponatremia (low sodium) and has caused death for several amateur marathon runners.

Apparently Natasha had a death wish or a desire to die she may not have been cognizant of and may even have been suffering from depression. It is documented that caffeine offers an elevation in mood for those suffering from depression. As with any drug or mood altering substance the longer it is used or abused the more the dosage needs to be increased due to an increase in the tolerance level. Either that or she just didn't care about herself or her health (another typical sign of depression).

@Softdude - 2 gallons a day of Gatorade wouldn't have caused the same problem, as it specifically replaces electrolytes (8 oz has 30mg of potassium), but if someone is not exercising and losing electrolytes that need to be replaced, drinking that much Gatorade might cause excessive electrolytes, which also can cause problems. Bottom line is, that excessive of an intake of anything is not healthy.

and I thought my love for coca cola was nuts.

1 or 2 bottles of coke a day (20oz) doesnt seem so crazy anymore.

though, im intelligent enough to know it's still not healthy.

Can we please address that someone with those habits shouldn't be whipping out 8 kids? Even people with great habits shouldn't be doing that.

Archeim - then perhaps you should reread my post and explain exactly what similarities you have with this woman that would cause you to post your original comment. Many people drink more sodas per day than you but not as much as she. Comparing your lifestyle to that of hers is like comparing apples and oranges. There is absolutely no connection between you and her such that posting your comments adds to this discussion. Add to that your comment about your diet indicates that you are aware that you don't eat properly but are too lazy to change your bad habits. Seems to me that you just like to talk about yourself.

I got a four inch kidney stone from drinking soda everyday. I too was addicted to it! The pop companies don't want you to know the bad side of drinking these sodas! It's true. I lost my left kidney because of my habit of drinking at least six cans of pop every day. You get to the point that instead of eating, you just grab another soda...addiction pure and simple!!!

Under normal conditions a healthy person drinking any amount of coke is not going to hurt them. Caffeine is a diuretic and it can wash out potassium do to large and frequent urination's. However, in a normal body the potassium balance is regulated. I rarely see low potassium levels except in patients who have very poor diets. Typically they either have eating disorders or are alcoholics.

Scales - after reading a few of your comments to other people on here, it seems to me you like to insult people. "no one cares" "get over yourself" you called someone else "Einstein" You made derogatory comments about the intelligence of another poster based on his wife who he said was in the medical field. How does any of that add to the discussion, other than making you look like a bitter troll?

To answer your question...

I made my first post before i learned from the grand pooh-bah of all knowledge (you) that the amount of Soda i drink is low compared to many people, and extremely low compared to the woman mentioned in the article. However, people that i am close to think my consumption is in excess, which led me to post.

My point in my first post was that there were a lot of contributing factors within the lifestyle choices that she made not just the massive quantities of coke she drank. She may have passed away due to having low potassium, but that was compounded by having poor nutrition in general, and barely eating (stated by her partner) , and smoking, and many pregnancies.

Sure people may want to latch on to the soda, but if she had better nutrition in addition to the soda, it might not have went the same.

If you would please send me your email address, and i will try my best to email you what i plan on posting before i do, so that i meet your incredible standards of newsvine posting.

Under normal conditions a healthy person drinking any amount of coke is not going to hurt them

That's kind of a stupid statement. She obviously wasn't a healthy person and these weren't normal circumstances. She was suffering from years and years of this kind of abuse of her body.

Good lord. She had eight children before the age of 30. That's enough to kill ANYBODY.

The Coca-Cola Corporation is exactly right.

2 Gallons a day of water is dangerous unless you are doing physical labor outside in a warm climate.

That is simply a massive amount of water.

Hiking all day in a hot desert requires 1 gallon a day.

It wasn't the caffeine - many people get just as much per day.

It wasn't the smoking - thirty a day doesn't produce acute problems.

It wasn't the sugar, many people consume just as many carbs. per day.

(These didn't help her health, but alone they wouldn't have killed her).

The lack of nutritious foods, combined with 2 gallons a day of mineral stripping water is what most likely killed her.

(When you pass that much water, minerals such as pottasium go down the drain - which wouldn't be a huge problem if you were inputting plenty of vitamins and minerals - but that wasn't the case with her diet.)

I also wonder about the mental capacity of her and those around her. 8-10 liters a day of coke is way out of the norm. Someone should have noticed that.

Of course freedom means you can kill yourself how you like. Blessing and a curse.

Everything in moderation...I just feel so sorry for her and her family.

I'm addicted to diet Dr.Pepper. Used to drink 12-18 cans a day. It does affect your health when you are not eating properly. At the time, I was working as an aircraft electrician 10 hours a day, 6 days a week and working on my house on my off time. Not much time to eat. I am down to 4 cans a day. I now take vitamins and eat two meals a day. Back then I only ate a sandwich every couple of days. Supplemented that with a candy bar on the drive to or from work. I found myself really tired all the time, had brain "fog", and had joint pain. Now, I have a lot more energy, the "fog" has gone away and the joint pain is gone as well. I think we have to take better care of ourselves if we want to be here long-term and have a better quality of life. My prayers are with her family.

Ryan in Texas- I had a neighbor in Fort Worth, Tx. that collapsed one day and had to go through months of physical theraphy just to walk normally again...the culprit was low potassium. Like you, I believe it wasn't any one thing that got her, but the combination of all of it.

Take care of yourselves people...we only get one go-around! Peace.

This unfortunate person had no-one to blame but herself, tough luck kid!

ANYTHING TAKEN IN EXCESS CAN KILL YOU. Not eating will kill you. Smoking 30 cigarettes a day will kill you. The caffeine did not kill this lady. Having 8 kids by the age of 30 + not eating + 30 cigarettes a day + drinking 2 gallons of Coke or Water or Coffee or Tea or anything else = DEATH.

Now we'll have all these Health wanting to pass additional Federal Laws restricting what we can eat and drink and when we can eat or drink. Let us remember that these groups are supported with tax dollars and the members get paid large salaries by our Government for their "Junk Science".

I personally think more Americans (I know she wasn't American so save yourselves the trouble) should die from this diet. They shouldn't be allowed health care though, due to the direct disregard for their own well-being.

Archeim: Have you been tested for narcissism????

Back when I owned a garage a very simple way to clean battery cables was to pour a 1/2 of can of coke on them and watch it clean the cables really well. Question, is it did that to batterery cables what is it doing to you.................if you don't belive it try it .

by the way Ryan in Texas is a moron....

Lora: have you been tested for being a troll and adding nothing to this discussion?

(at least Scales made some good points)

Chris,

I wasn't inferring that this woman was normal. I was speaking in general terms.

according to recent studies caffeine and aspartame (a.k.a. phenylalanine, found in DIET soda) have been linked to different types of cancer when consumed excessively. caffeine is found in a lot of things and is known as a narcotic when sold illegally on the streets and can be dangerous to anyone with a heart condition. i'm surprised this woman didn't have a heart attack sooner! some people can have a heart attack after consuming 6 servings or more of caffeinated coffee in one day! and she consumed more than that! as far as aspartame (found in DIET soda and other diet drinks) goes, it definitely should not be consumed period. it was originally intended to be an industrial grade cleaner NOT a sweetener! whenever i want to drink any drink, such as soda, i go for the decafeinated regular version. a tasty beverage, without the worry of present or future problems when consumed in a nonexcessive manner, as in about two servings a day. so don't blame the coca-cola company. blame her most likely uninformed or stupid choices. smoking could've caused this problem as well, which was a stupid choice.

Im thinking that this info couldn't be made public until now. Corporations have so much clout that News organizations had to wait for hundreds of autopsies by Coke before they were able to go public without being sued for slander. That's my guess as to why it is now public. It is acknowledged now by Coke and there only defense is "well a lot of anything is bad"-which is not denying it. They are VERY well aware of this woman and her death due to hypokalemia, so why are people here blaming other things? Do you have stock in Coke? Coke didnt deny it so why are you?

"There have been a handful of published reports describing individuals with severe hypokalemia related to chronic extreme consumption (4-10 L/day) of colas.^[8] The hypokalemia is thought to be from the combination of the diuretic effect of caffeine^[9] and copious fluid intake, although it may also be related to diarrhea caused by heavy fructose ingestion.^[10][11] A physiological response to Hypercapnia, blood potassium (as well as calcium) helps offset Acidosis, which is consistent with chronic, extreme consumption of carbonated beverages." wiki

"

Summary

Background/Aims: The consumption of soft drinks has increased considerably during the last decades. Among them, the cola-based preparations are possibly the refreshments with the largest sales worldwide. In addition to the possible detrimental effects of moderate, chronic cola consumption, it has been proposed that the consumption of large amounts of cola-based soft drinks may result in severe hypokalaemia.

Methods: In this review, we discuss the clinical significance of these disturbances and summarise the pathophysiological mechanism that may underlie the development of this rare, but potentially severe, side effect.

Results/Conclusion: Several lines of evidence suggest that the chronic consumption of large amounts of cola soft drinks may adversely affect potassium homeostasis and result in potentially severe conditions such as hypokalaemic myopathy." Wiley online library.

I am pretty sure cigarettes did not cause the hypokalemia (the death) of this woman. Not sure why some people are so quick to defend corporations. You are just a consumer of their product and nothing else. Coke might be upset that they lost their number one fan but there are millions more of us out there. I am one too. This article is really making me wonder what the hell is in the stuff and why on earth I still drink it.

SpeedDemon717

caffeine is found in a lot of things and is known as a narcotic when sold illegally on the streets

Is caffeine really being sold illegally on the streets?!
A. Who would do that?
B. Who would be dumb enough to buy something illegally that is available cheaply in legal large quantities?!

Wow... I've been gone all day, just came in to see the comments, and Movingon? Is that all it takes to get your panties in a bunch?! I mean really, I didn't state I was a scientist, I just posted some "fun facts" and you act like I'm trying to take your twinkies away, sheesh. Dan, Scales... didn't take much to get you two bunged up either! Lighten up guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thetruthwillsetyoufree -

You posted copy of the now completely debunked Fun "Facts" appears in thread number 2.

So you responding in thread #1 means no one knows what you are responding to.

That's just a free bit of advice if you want some sort of dialog (back and forth).

I happened to have commented in both #1 and #2, so I understood what you are responding to.

Seriously, check out the snopes myth/urban legend debunking site. It takes the exact point and shows how each of them is wrong or misleading.

People are not getting their "panties in a bunch" - they simply don't like it when other people post clearly wrong info. This world is complicated enough without it.

I could go point by point, but snopes did a pretty good enough job already.

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp

.

Sethspeaks -

Carbonated water can be used to clean many things. The bubbling action is the main reason behind the fact that water is the universal solvent, not the flavorings, preservatives or sugars in colas.

Ryan in Texas... Thanks for the Snopes reference and link. It's one of the internet's most valuable and underused references.

Only two gallons a day? Ppfffffttt - lightweight.

If she was pregnate eight times in say the last, twelve years, then she shouldn't of been smoking for six of them. I bet she had a naturally weak heart. Coke alone wouldn't do that, unless you were just genetically unfortunate.

low potassium is deadly. lots of ways to lose it...the runs..LOL. Lots of people smoke more than 3 packs a day and live long lives.,

you are gonna die from something.no matter what.think about it!!!!!!!!!!

The American diet is the worst diet in the world. The fact that nearly 50% of the US is obese or has very bad health proves this true. If you want to eat healthy, eat the way other countries eat. In particular, Greece, Italy and France.

Nick--not everyone in the US eats badly; and not everyone in Greece, Italy and France is slender and eats well. In any case, even taking average consumption, the American diet is far from being the worst in the world.

Regarding this young woman's death-by-coke...some details jump out at me:

1) she had 8 kids by the age of 30. If she started at age 20, that's nearly one kid per year. She elected to basically be permanently pregnant and attached to toddlers and infants --without a husband.

2) she was living on cigarettes and coke. "Her partner said she ate little". DIDN'T HE NOTICE? Here's the mother of his (even worse if they're not his) 8 kids, and he doesn't bother to marry her, and she's killing herself in front of his eyes and he doesn't do anything about it?

The passivity of these two, from the sound of it, is astounding.

Yeah, you're gonna die from something, but why hasten it, ACT in SELA?

"Things go better with Coke!" Just ask Whitney!

I have known a few people that have had health problems from consuming excessive amounts of soda. Namely, gall stones (ending in removing the gall bladder), kidney stones, and other digestive problems. But even these people admit this is not the soda company's fault! I think doctors should be more aware to ask questions about soda consumption when diagnosing a possible illness. All people involved had a few diagnoses before discovering the culprit. Beyond that it is up to every person to practice a healthy lifestyle. If there are really people out there that don't realize that consuming large amounts of a sugar-filled, chemical filled, carbonated beverage is not good for you, then let natural selection take over.

But on a more positive note she's dead and doesn't have to worry about her poor lifestyle choices any longer. She needn't worry that she drank herself to death, that her 30 cigarettes a day created respiratory issues, that down-loading eight kids before the age of thirty stresses the physical body as well as the emotional well-being, nor that a human body wasn't designed to ingest such massive amounts of synthetic chemicals (coke ingredients).

"CocaCola killed me" is like the person claiming "McDonalds made me fat".

No! Addiction killed you and poor diets made you fat.

Chris-629698

I'm a 33 year old male, 6 foot 5, about 150 pounds

Dude, that's not healthy at all. That's not an "insane" metabolism, that's more like hyperthyroidism. I'm a 28-year-old male, 5 foot 8, and 150 lbs... and I'm in damn good shape. You must be skeletal. You ever get that checked out?

Chris, could I have your number?? :P

Ron paul may be a good man with SOME good ideas but he looks like death warmed over.

He is not electable-maybe as a small college president, but thats about it.

Definitely not Presenential material!

It's the real thing. I'd like to buy the world a coke.

I used to be able to easily drink a case of Diet Coke a day. I don't smoke, never have. But I can see the addictive qualities behind Coke.

I quit drinking DC about 3 years ago, now it water and Tea. But it is addicting.

Ok, I'll have an occasional ginger ale, but other than that, it's not in my house... have you seen the price of it? Not to mention it's really not good for you. My dentist says he can tell how much cola someone drinks because it eats away at tooth enamel and they become more transparent.

In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.

To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.

To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.

Coke will also clean road haze from your windshield.

Helpful hints, but what must this be doing to your body? Coca cola is right... anything in excess isn't good for you. The cigarettes certainly didn't help. You'd think a yound woman with eight children would take better care of herself, if not for herself, then for her kids. Now there are eight small children without a mother, and that's the very worst part of this. Very sad.

Most of those "facts" you mentioned are not correct. I've tried.

Don't forget the "Loosening rusted lug-nuts" so you can change a tire. Overall, I blame the EIGHT kids!

thetruthetc: Why would you post a list of things that are obviously wrong, and that even the most basic fact checking would show to be so? Is there not enough misinformation in the world already?

Look at http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp. I found this by searching on "coke steak urban legend", it took me all of 20 seconds.

Hey, thetruthwillalwayssetyoufreee - you forgot to cite your source for all of your helpful hints. You copied it word for word from snopes.com. You also forgot to mention that Snopes states that this is false information. If you read farther down the Snopes page, you will see that Coke contains less citric acid than orange juice and that the concentration of phosphoric acid is too low to be harmful. The gastric acid in your stomach is much stronger than the acids in Coke. Carbonic acid, another ingredient in Coke, is part of the respiration cycle in our bodies. As carbonic acid builds up in our bloodstream, we feel the urge to exhale in order to release carbon dioxide, etc.

I like Coke. (Coca-Cola) Especially Mexican coke, still made with real sugar not high fructose corn syrup.

Theorem: Coke makes women horny. Supporting Data: She has 8 kids. Status: Fact.

Theorem: Trigger response after sex, smoking. Supporting Data: She smoked excessively. Status: Fact.

Theorem: Overindulgence is harmful. Supporting Data: She's dead. Status: Fact.

Ditto, Gabriel. Mexican Cokes are delicious. They taste just like the Cokes of my childhood, before Coca Cola switched to using high fructose corn syrup in the early 80s. I haven't consumed any soda containing high fructose corn syrup for over 18 months and will never go back to them. The added advantage to this is that I also drink far fewer sodas, maybe three 12 ounce bottles per week, maybe less.

Gabriel---my husband & I also had cane sugar Coca-Cola while visiting South Africa in '06. I have to wonder, do they use real sugar everywhere they bottle, except in the U.S.? We've had both, & both of us prefer the cane sugar kind. Maybe some of it's nostalgia, being the stuff we remember drinking while growing up.

OMG. I wondered the same thing. With all that drinking and smoking, when did she have time for her 8 kids?

Jerry from Vista, that's funny. You can't smoke, drink soda and raise kids? How do you eat, put on your clothes, breathe and raise kids? Where does anyone find the time? Heheheheheh

@thetruthwillsetyoufree

Bah-low-neee! Pure baloney. Putting soda on your windshield may remove 'haze' (Jimmy Hendrix used to have problems with the purple kind), but will leave a brown, sticky film of sugar behind. No thanks.

Cleaning 'blood' from the road. Seriously? Yeah, there's just blood all over the roads and of all things to keep handy they keep soda. Soda has water, water is a solvent for most things. Water is your agent at work and I've never heard of anything so ridiculous.

'A steak will dissolve! A penny will dissolve! The Empire State building, when left in a tub of soda for fifty years, will dissolve!'

Anything will dissolve in liquid, if left long enough but here's the thing about consumptive beverages- THEY'RE CONSUMED! Soda doesn't stay in your mouth for days, overnight or much past when you consume it. It MOVES into your stomach, through your kidneys, through your bladder and out your pee-pee place. Your saliva helps remove it and, if you care about your teeth at all, regular brushing and rinsing finishes the job. Your mouth isn't a penny sitting in a jar of soda overnight! Can we all put all the ridiculous extrapolations from the one time we stayed awake in High School Science to rest?

OK, I don't have to go into the debunking since it is pretty well covered (gotta love using an acid to clean an acid from battery terminals plus the nice sticky layer of sweetener left on those "clean" terminals).

But the reason they use high fructose corn sweetener in the US is because of high sugar tarrifs. We generally pay the highest amount for sugar in the world, even though we usually have very low costs on most other foods.

That's just protectionism for sugar beet farmers and corn sweetener makers.

Oh, and to clear something up that always gets miss-reported : New Coke wasn't a product failure - at least not long term.

At the time it came out, high sugar prices (due to the tariffs) were forcing cola makers to transition to High Fructose Corn Sweetener (HFCS). Pepsi had been slowly changing their formula to include more and more HFCS and the newer, sweeter product was liked by consumers.

Coke knew they could not afford to up the sweetness with real sugar (the couldn't afford to even keep using the amount of real sugar that they had used for the previous 100 years). But they also had many loyal fans who would notice the change to HFCS.

So they made a clean break with the New Coke full of HFCS. They quickly found out that consumers were not fans of the slight flavor change and the excessive amount of HFCS.

So then what did they do? They told the consumers : "OK, we have heard you, we will go back to the original formula, that we will call Classic Coke, and keep the New Coke for people that lke it more."

What almost no one noticed is that the Classic Coke was using HFCS instead of real sugar. There are many reports of people who hoarded the Old Coke compaing it to the Classic Coke and noticing that it wasn't as good. Most people had gone many months since their last old Coke, so they couldn't do a side by side taste test.

That taste difference is the taste difference between US made Coke and Coke made in Mexico, India or anywhere other than the US.

The Cokes with sugar have the same basic flavor, but the sugar is less syrupy and it leaves the palate quicker (disolves better too). HFSC leaves a film in my mouth. Anyone who cooks knows you can't just switch real sugar for Corn Syrup without changing the finished product.

It is a matter of debate as to if they did this deliberately, which many people have claimed over the years.

But the fact that the controversy was New Coke and not HFCS, helped Coke to get past this entire problem until within the last decade, when people, and not initially the media were talking about HFCS.

We all know how the media can latch on to one story, and ignore another one - for sometimes unexplainable reasons.

They told everyone that New Coke was one of the biggest business blunders (they still run that story from time to time).

However, sales proved otherwise. Coke is #1, Diet Coke #2, and Pepsi a distant #3.

Who knows if that would be the same if Coke had not gone to New Coke, but had simply went to HFCS, and then the media went after that change as the controversy.

If they had been driven by pressure to go from HFCS back to sugar, they would have lost billions in revenue. Then they would not have had those billions for advertising. Or they could have kept the HFCS formula and had not 1 year of controversy with their customers, but decades of it!

I suspect the cola landscape would have been vastly different today if they didn't divert focus to New Coke so that we would not notice the change from sugar to HFCS.

If you ever go outside the US (or look in the Mexican section of the Grocery store), try a foreign made coke in a glass bottle with real sugar. You will be pleasantly surprised by how much better it is. That is the formula that made it #1 in the World.

Ever wonder why coke has never revealed the ingredients in "the real thing"?

gitdwell, If you can't say something intelligent why say anything at all.

well larry whittemore my comment was really a joke but if you think your are intelligent think twice

Because lots of people smoke a pack a day, not a lot of people drink 2 gallons of coke a day lol.

Having 8 kids in a decade or so was a huge factor, I would think.

The low potassium that killed her was likely caused by the soda habit, that's why.

Having the kids and a poor diet were the factor,not Coke. I do wonder if her family will try to sue and I hope they do lose. This woman made horrible health decisions and I wonder if anyone tried to help her see the error.

Her kids are suffering and I pray she was not smoking that much while pregnant or the kids will have health problems.

Sounds like slow suicide to me...she definitely had an addictive personality. I knew a guy once who drank a two liter of Coke and he started acting crazy. He cried, laughed, cried, and wrung his hands the whole time he was pacing back and forth and running to the bathroom, and then starting it all over again. He did that for a whole day, but it lessened a bit over time...it was scary and we were watching to make sure he didn't get worse and need a doctor.

Of course that much Coke, all the cigs, and no food would kill you. They aren't sensationalizing this....she died from all that Coke. Having so many kids and smoking, added to not eating well at all, and she wouldn't have made it that far after that anyway. How sad for the kids to be around the smoke, I bet she didn't take care of herself during pregnancy, either. And as far as a role model for her kids? Wow. What a mess.

ram - I was thinking that too. SAHM of eight, doesn't eat, smokes and drinks excessive soda. It sounds more like depression/desperation. I feel really terrible for her and her family. It's too bad she didn't get help sooner, certainly anyone dying so young is a tragedy, especially when they are a parent to young children.

They aren't blaming Coke. But her excess of Coke is what appears to have killed her, but it was her own fault for making the bad choices, not Coke's fault for making an unhealthy product.

I consider myself to be addicted to it as well. I drink about a 32 oz cup a day and I always feel awful doing it and I try to skip days without and cut back. I see now by reading the article and comments, there are other people way worse. Maybe now I won't touch the stuff, but we will see.

RAM

I think your buddy had PMS. Just sayin'

OMG:

I used to drink Coke a lot (about two to three cans a day), and within the last year, I just stopped buying it. I bought bottled water instead, and it was really tough at first to just stop drinking it. But after a few months, I found I preferred water if I was thirsty and would choose that over soda. Now I can have an occasional soda when I got out to dinner and still stick to water the rest of the time.

I lost 5 pounds too once I cut it out of my diet. If you can do it, I highly recommend it. It took me several attempts, but I eventually did it.

I think New Zealand's no-fault law precludes this as a motivation.

At least somewhere in the world, the courts do not hear every frivolous case and award a lifestyle of the rich and famous for a hang nail

We can hope there is no lawsuit.

New Zealand might have laws...what is stopping them from filing it in the US?

I bet it was like hitting a warm bowl of chili...

You got the mess part right. And Chris, I just threw up in my mouth a lttle bit! LOL

Haha, Good one Chris!

A used to think the same, Mike. Water is harmless and healthy, right?

A close relative of mine religiously drank eight glasses of water a day, and was skimping on salt because of some problems with blood pressure. Those two put together caused her sodium to decrease to the point where it almost killed her. She was in the ICU for 3 days and is lucky to be alive. The doctors gave her a water bottle, and forbid her from drinking more than that each day. Water is good, but too much in conjunction with poor nutrition can kill you.

I know. My wife is in the medical field, so we do have some education on this matter. Your right. That's why I take plenty of multivitamins and maintain a balanced diet of fruits and vegetables. No cigaretts. No caffeine. Truth is, this woman's combination of bad habbits helped kill her.

I'm pretty hard on my body.... smokes, caffeine, alcohol - and too much of them all. But 2 gallons of Coke? Jees, I couldn't even handle that much. My heart would be going nuts, jitters, and all that cola makes you even more thirsty....

Hey Mike-1842539 the story said 8 to 10 liters a day not 2. Try to read the story next time. So in that respect Coke is wright that anything taken to excess can be bad for you.

I used to drink too much Coke. Not like this crazy lady, but say 4 large glasses a day. One day I decided to stop. The next day I slept almost the entire day and throughout the entire night. That was it for me and caffeine. I even switched to decaf for my one cup of coffee per day. The only caffeine I get now is from a small glass of iced tea with dinner.

But The Coca-Cola company is right about this. No one can say Coke is good for you, but hardly anything taken to such an excess would fail to seriously damage your health. Add nicotine, which constricts the arteries, and this woman must have had a death wish.

Double D from Ga, you might want to read yourself. Mike-1842539 said 2 GALLONS of coke not 2 liters. The artical said 2 gallons.

Rememebr in Europe they use a different measurements.

I am not a soda person, but I do like Coke Cola. I mainly drink soda while studying for finals and all and then feel like crap for a few days later as I go back to water adn netzeros.

I do have a glass every now and then though.

Nothing is good in excess though.

This woman is at fault and probably her parents if she develope this happen as a child and they did not stop it. Just like the girl with the McDs nugget diet (which still makes me cringe).

Dave the Doubter,

Since we are all correcting one another, I copied this from mike's post for you:

I bet I could drink two liters of water a day

Double D from Ga,

I believe I just agreed with somebody on that...And it's spelled "right" not "wright." And I did say 2 liters. But I'm not so sure I believe that anyway. 10 liters a day...Wouldn't you have to be drinking coke pretty much every minute of the day more or less? This is based on the testimony of her partner, so....I don't know.

but the article said she had a toxic level of caffeine. that would take nearly 2000 gallons of coke a day. physically impossible. hell, there are energy drinks, like spike or NOS, that contain about the same amount of caffeine as 2 gallons of coke in a single can. there are caffeinated body lotions and soaps that deliver more of the stuff in one use than in ten gallons of coke. honestly, the toxicity of caffeine is kind of an open question- it is generally accepted to be around ten GRAMS, or the amount in about 12,000 cans of coke, or 10.000 cups of drip coffee (or 25,000 grande caramel macciatos) and that ten gram figure is based on ONE case, so nobody is all that sure how dangerous the stuff is.

Actually Mike, there are a lot of people who have died from drinking too much water. The term is called "Water Intoxication" or Water Poisoning. This happens when you drink more water than your kidneys can process and dilute the electrolytes in your body. Not too long ago, a woman died from this on a radio station in a contest to win a Nintendo Wii. I believe she drank two gallons of water in under an hour or something like that and died shortly after. Not to mention, she wasn't drinking 2 liters of cola a day, she was drinking 2 GALLONS of cola a day.

Mike - Hey, Einstein, one liter is equal to 33.8 US fluid ounces. If you drink two liters of water per day, you are only drinking 67.6 ounces of liquid. She was drinking 256 ounces of liquid per day, which is over 3.8 times the amount that you drink.

You failed to mention in which medical field your wife is employed. My guess from your ability to spell and reason is that she isn't exactly a doctor or nurse. Why would anyone with that level of education be married to a guy who can't spell? ("Your right." That should be you're. "Your" is a possessive pronoun. "No cigaretts." Try cigarettes.)

Scales - ok grammar/spelling/punctuation/math police...Get a life. The point Mike made, was that she could have died drinking water. The cause of death wasn’t the Coke, the issue was the total lack of adequate nutrition and overall life style. Consuming that much Coke would 1, flush your body of nutrients, and two unload havoc on your pancreas. Combine that with the caffeine and tobacco and now her heart is taking a beating. She might as well been doing meth.

.actually, JC-realist, Mike was NOT stateing that she could have died from drinking water, quite the opposite actually. He thought it was "funny" that coke was attempting to clain that their product wasn't specifically to blaim and making light of their claim that even too much water can be harmful. His asertion was that he drinks 2 liters day and is perfectly healthy.

Mike-1842539

I just think it's funny that coke is trying to divert the attention to other foods while placing emphasis on "water." LOL that's a good one, coke. I bet I could drink two liters of water a day and remain fit as a fiddle. Truth is, I do.

He was wrong for comparing his 2 liters to this woman's 2 gallons and was wrong in his asertion that too much water can't be unhealthy. He tried to backpedal and add that you need proper nutrition and such when he was called out on his fallicies, but he was in fact wrong in his initial statement. and his error was made all the more glaring by his choice to



Two liters is only about 1/2 gallon. Depends on how fast you drink two gallons of water: all at once can kill you.

It was the chronic drinking along with poor nutrition and possibly cigarette smoke.

The only thing that saves this from frivolous lawsuit against Coke is that it's not in America. (And not that Coke is good for you.)

Hey scales 66..FU#K YOU! Is that spelled right? Ya little dip sh#t Bi#ch. If you spoke to me like that to my face I would mash your littl punk ass mouth.

There was a radio contest where someone died because they drank too much water.

Yep:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16614865/ns/us_news-life/t/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-contest/#.T5Fnr6sS0uc

That's right it was a woman and it was for a Wii.

O wow it was from 2007, thought it was only a couple of years ago.

Anyone know if her family sued the station?

I have a condition called Sjogren's Syndrome, which is an autoimmune disease that attacks and destroys your body's tear and saliva glands. As a result, I am constantly thirsty and can drink up to five gallons of water a day. But I know that because I drink so much water, I have to keep my electrolytes balanced and pay attention to any signs of water intoxication. Thankfully, through diet and proper supplements, I have never had any issues with the amount of water I drink.

Too much of anything can be fatal. Whether it's soda or water, you have to educate yourself about what could happen if you consume too much. Read up and pay attention to the signs your body gives you. In this information age, there's not really any excuse to not know the effects of what you put in your body.

you're insane, 8 glasses of water per day will not even come close to killing you. Your kidneys can easily process 1 quart per hour. A person can drink 24 glasses per day with no problem. But if you drink 2 to 3 gallon within 15 to 30 minutes or less, you're pretty much toast.

Jay...buddy....consuming 2 to 3 gallons of water within 15 - 30 minutes is called "drowning" not "drinking".

spider-737231........speaking of morons..................................

Nothing is lost in most of the comments. This woman made bad decisions that took her away from her children too soon. No one is blame but herself.

These two comments here represent about the most reasonable discussion I have seen on these boards. (and no, I was not being sarcastic, I know it's hard to tell)

Irrespective of the reason or the fault we have children without a mother. What a terrible tragedy!

Or now the 8 children will get a responsible mother that will set a good example for them. Could very well be the best thing to happen for those kids. I know that's a cold statement, but sometimes the truth sucks.

... at the very least without some bourbon

a good ratio would be about a bottle of rum for every four liters of coke. that'll get you through the day.

Omg, shame on me, but I thought the same thing. You'd need a spirit additive for SURE. She had 4 times as many kids as I have and some days *I* want to scoop my eyes out with spoons.

Coke is probably smart enough to realize that they would have no chance of winning a suit in court. You apparently are not.

Coke is bad mouthed every day on the internet...go do a search....I'll wait.

Every food and drink is blasted on the internet...hmmmm must be that whole free speech thing.............

Please learn to read beyond the headline. A pathologist determined that her death was probably due to a condition of low potassium, which could have been caused by drinking massive amounts of Coca Cola. Obviously, it contributed to her death. Coke, by the way, was correct in saying that over consumption of any liquid can cause death. But that does not absolve them of the responsibility to produce a healthy product. Everyone knows that too much red meat can result in cholesterol problems; it's been well advertised. But did you know that too much cola results in low potassium? I didn't, and I doubt that most people did. And now that it is known, I expect that Coca Cola's advertising and label content will reflect that fact.

If you did not know the effects of soda...then you need to do some reading.

It is a drink full of caffine and other perservatives. Now add that as the only thing you drink and no meat, veggies, fruits, grains, and etc... low potassium is just the beginning.

Did you support the woman who sued McDonalds because her coffee split after she placed it between her legs burnng it. That lawsuit was shameful and the center of why people are so sue happy. If I was on that jury I would laughed at the woman and demanded a mental examination if she did not know coffee was hot.

My husband, who spends his days working for Fortune 500 companies thought like you did, but before made a hasty decision he looked up the case and read the documentation and showed me the photos. They were horrifying. I almost puked. That particular McDonald's had several complaints by everyone from the Department of Health on down over the water temperature of their coffee (which was much higher than legally allowed). They never did anything to change it. That is why they got hit with a 16 wheeler settlement. In his legal opinion, which is only that of a lowly white shoe lawyer with 25 years experience, McDonald's screwed up and severely damaged this woman. How much money is your vagina (yes, her vagina was literally burned off -that was a photo and a half) and your upper thighs worth to you? Get back to me with a number.

I have enough intelligences to not put hot coffee between my legs, cup holders were invented for a reason.

Coffee is HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can get it luke warm to burning hot at times...I would never ever drive off with it between my legs as I sped off from the drive through.

She was stupid, pure and simple, and so were the jury. If I burn myself on a coal, do I have the right to sue the company that made the coal and fireplace?

Also I have seen burn photos, a lot of them, because of my classes in college. Burns are nasty and some painful.

But the damage was the faut of her inability to make a smart decision.

She made the bad decision of placing hot coffee between her legs AND speeding off from the drive thru.

My opinion means nothing, she already won, but it still shows the sue happy mentality that this country has.

Gailerina, you are right on. I'm sure the worman's burns were terrible; I've been scalded by boiling hot water and it isn't pretty. But that isn't the issue. Whether the coffee was 140 degrees or 180 degrees, common sense should tell you that it is HOT and you should be extra careful not to spill it on yourself. I would not consider holding it between your legs in a moving vehicle to be "extra careful". Even if you are a careful driver yourself, you may have to stop suddenly, or someone could hit you.

Regardless of what the legal temperature limit was -- and, wow, what a world we live in that there even is a legal limit on beverage hotness -- we need to expect people to use their brains. I actually think it is the existence of these types of laws that give people the feeling that they don't have to act rationally, that it is everyone else's responsibility to protect them from their own stupidity.

Gailerina,

Please read about all details of the "coffee lawsuit". Then it won't seem that ridiculous.

For one, McD was intentionally brewing the coffee extremely hot, hotter than industry-standard machines normally do. That temperature caused instant scalding. Imagine getting a burger. You bite into it, and the beef is so hot that your gums are getting 3rd degree burns. You would be suing, too.

Please learn to read beyond the headline. A pathologist determined that her death was probably due to a condition of low potassium, which could have been caused by drinking massive amounts of Coca Cola.

RTSOB - you should learn to check your facts before accusing others of not reading beyond the headlines. It wasn't the Coke alone that caused her to have low potassium. Consuming that much of any liquid, including water, can cause low potassium. Here is the link to just one article that states that low potassium can be due to drinking too much water, among other liquids.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/537905-can-drinking-too-much-water-cause-low-potassium/

For a burger to burn me, it would be so burnt I would not eat it in the first place or I was sitting in front of McDs grill and went to eat it off the grill........

I have read the details...EXPLAIN to me why it is SMART to EVER put hot coffee between your legs...please! Just please answer that!

@scales67 and others

A little more about facts on everyone's part can help. The fact is the woman drank coca-cola and she died and it is known the over consumption of too much of this can cause death through potassium loss, using logic coca-cola caused her death. Now not in a sinister normal consumption way. However the fact still remains.

Yes water can also lead to low potassium but, not to the extent coca-cola can. As we know you lose potassium when you urinate, the amount of coca-cola you drink to potassium loss is significantly higher than that with water. That is because in this case coca-cola acts as a diuretic which makes you urinate in more volumes than you consumed. Water does not make you urinate more than you consume.

Therefore when you drink coca-cola you urinate the volume you drank AND deplete more water from your body depleting potassium as you go at many times the rate of water.

Also pointing out that other liquids can do the same does not take away the fact coca-cola led to this. If someone was hit and killed by an Audi arguing that a BMW could also hit and kill them as well does not take away from the fact that the Audi still killed them.

The coffee from that McDonalds was proven to be way too hot. They do have a responsibility to give people a safe product that has a likelihood of being spilled in a car. Think of all the millions of people who get coffee at a drive thru everyday. If all the coffee sold was 180°, there would be people going to emergency rooms for burns everyday from spilling their hot coffee.

There is a difference in it being split from say hitting a turn to quick and a difference between PLACING it between your legs....why does everyone ignore that?

Also I have gotten tea and hot cocoa from 7-11 at times and I can feel when the thing is hot, even with the little cardboard prtection...I am not stupid enough to get in my car and put it between my legs.

McDs might be to blame, but so is the woman. She should have enough intelligence to not do something so stupid.

Lol...Gallerina, our opinions mean nothing. As I said before, my husband read the case out of legal curiosity. He basically does a lot of legal "spin" when bad things happen - and after reading through 200 pages, there was a lot of tap dancing for McDonald's too do. She was not the first person to complain about being burnt by the coffee. The manager, after complaints and warnings, refused to ignore the problem and that is where the monetary settlement is derived from. Sort of like that school district last week that settled for $4.2 million dollars because they didn't stop a bully (their insurance company told them to) - the manager at McDonald's had well been aware of the problem and he chose to ignore it because it was an inconvenience. Sure, a jury could have gone the other way but they didn't. Neither did the court which McDonald's appealed. And no, my legal analysis is worth zero, so is yours, but my husband literally gets paid about $800/hr for his (usually to keep the Fortune 500 from running into these sorts of problems) and he says McDonald's had a very, very bad manager and they let him keep the coffee outrageously hot because it saved then a couple of pots a coffee a day. This was not an isolated incident. We have all spilt something hot on us, maybe gotten a blister, but this burned right through her clothes. I really don't think you understand how hot the coffee was.

I was one of those who also thought that the compensation was excessive UNTIL I researched it further. One of the reasons that McDonalds was fined so heavily was that they knew of the situation, were warned repeatedly to remedy it, but decided it was cheaper to continue to pay out small claims rather than redesign the cup and lid. The judge decided that enough was enough and he figured that a REAL fine might get their attention. I think it did.

Susan, you say "but this burned right through her clothes. I really don't think you understand how hot the coffee was."

I dont think anyone has any question or misunderstands how hot the coffe was, Our real question is why anyone would be stupid enough to place a PAPER or STYROFOAM cup of hot liquid between their legs, even if they werent driving in a car.

Based on your comment, Did the coffee spill on her, or was it the heat from the coffee through the cup that burned her? If it was that hot, I cant figure out how she held the cup long enough to place it between her legs. And if it spilled on her, why is it so difficult to accept that she was stupid to do what she did,- If she had not done what she did, she would not have been burned. My question is whether or not she had been to that McDonalds before and already knew the coffee was too hot?

So what you and Steve are suggesting is, that if I carry a thermometer with me, find a place which serves coffee or any heated beverage with hotter than allowed water temps, spill a cup of it on me, that i can retire early...and make those business pay thorugh the nose for it

How about those plates they deliver to your table which they tell you are hot, and to be careful. Can I sue over that if i get burned.

It always amazes me how people can do stupid things and are able to get someone else held responsible. okay I know, you cant legislate for using common sense, you can only legislate the lack of acting with it. Dont some Cups now carry a warning and have the fact that the contents might be hot and can cause burns....what a radical idea, that hot liquids might be something that could burn you...never thought of that one, glad I know cause i was about to see if I could chug a Cafe Americano in a minute or less ...you saved me. However Im not against the case for the negligence of the McDonalds for ignoring the problem-that was real, and prehaps they will think twice about ignoring dangerious situations and be proactive and preventative...too bad the lady did not follow the same course of action, proactive and preventative in getting burned.

And this Death By Coca Cola thing......When will people be accountable for their actions...oops, she was.

Didnt someone say Moderation in everything? so many comments...prehaps the commentators might want to read about how many caffeine related emergency room visits happen each year, and how the doses are not excessive at least not grams of caffeine. any drug can interact with other drugs or interfere with body chemistry when ingested...and if you have other issues it is not surprising the unexpected may happen. The article points out the excess was daily and long term....do any of you have water issues in your home where the plumbing is corroded or needs replacement for all the stuff in the water...prehaps the human body reacts in the same way...

And as for spellling errors...alll I know is that I sit at my key board and type and keys stick, and the crackers I had with the soup let little chips falll under the letter L, and I have to get the vaccuum or air puff to make alll the keys work better...give the misspelllers a break...its the opinions that matter, and spellling and grammar do have nothing to do with intellect or ability(at least in my case LOL)

Agreed (and they say Libs and Conservatives can't get along :-D) While Coke was the brand of choice, I think massive amounts of any caffeinated beverage, coupled with cigarette smoking and malnutrition, would have done anyone in.You're supposed to drink 6-8 oz. of liquid everyday. Doctors say it doesn't have to be water, but if it's just a caffeinated beverage and nothing else... I mean, if she was drinking that much Coke I doubt she was also drinking water, juice or anything nutritionally beneficial. A soft-drink is supposed to be a social beverage (soft as opposed to "hard" liquor); not a primary souce of sustenance.

Seriously, blaming Coke for this is just being lazy. It would be alot more believable if more gamers died after their 2 gallon a day Mountain Dew and Monster energy drink binges.

From the picture, it doesn't look like it.

Diet sodas aren't good for you either.

Anyone who drinks two gallons of anything every day will harm his/her health. Add to that she didn't eat and must have chain smoked, it's no wonder her health was shot.

Diet sodas are even worse for you. Sugar isn't great, but aspartame? Yikes. In the quantities she was consuming, she probably wouldn't have even made it to 30.

Thank god that evolution finally won one.

It didn't, she already had her brood.

Dole?

Also you can 8 kids and not be a but case or on welfare (which I think dole means). Do not assume you know everything.

Do I think she was inresponsible having 8 kids and not taking care of herself prooperly? Yes.

Maybe with 8 kids she actually used most of those calories! It's probably the poor nutrition that killed her.

I wonder how old the photo is of her above, because she does not look Obese.

Also, if she drank that much cola and smoked AND did not eat a lot...she could have been sickly skinny,

I think lack of moderation, even with the cigs is what did her in, on top of not eating a well balanced diet. Drinking soda at all is a terrible habit to get into. It is useless, and has no nutritional values whatsoever.

Huh?

Extreme bleeding from your what now?

Was that a nonsensical attack on HFCS? Cause you know HFCS and Sugar are both only good in moderation...

1st....yeah I get what return was to be

2nd Again anything in excess, even HFCS and Sugar is a bad thing

3rd Go attack an article where you make sense.

HFCS will kill you everytime she had to be bleeding because I know that it almost killed me and I had to stay completely away from any kind of cola or anything that contains High Fructose Corn Syrup caused extreme bleeding from my retum because it is made with Mercury.

HFCS is for the most part only used in the US. This is due to gov't subsidies for corn producers in the US. NZ Coke likely uses either cane sugar or beet sugar. Other link

Carol-448944 - I'm not a doctor, but I play one on Newsvine. Smart money says your rectal bleeding was due to the phosphoric acid in Coke, not the trace amts of mercury due to HFCS production.

Smart money says your rectal bleeding was due to the phosphoric acid in Coke, not the trace amts of mercury due to HFCS production.

I'm going to play the doctor giving a second opinion... It's probably more likely that the caffeine was acting as a diuretic and causing excessive bowel movements... and the resultant hemorrhoids and irritation caused by all that straining and wiping.

why would you want to share the story about your butt bleeding, for chist sake

Too much HFCS will cause rectum bleeding. I know of people who have that issue. And they all drink way too much soda. The rest of you with your dumb comments can all go take a walk. Be inquisitive about it.

I 100% agree!

Her death is 100% her fault. The only other people you could blame are her parents if the habit started young and they did nothing.

I don't feel sorry for her dying. She knew what she was doing. People always try to blame someone else or something else when things go wrong. She was drinking 2 gallons of soda a day. Think of all that sugar. OVERLOAD!!! Plus 2 gallons is 256 ounces. Even with water, a person should drink about 50 ounces a day, not 256. What's sad is she knew what she was doing and kept on doing it. When someone dies as a result of an accident, no fault of their own, or a sickness that they may have been born with, then I really do feel bad for them. When a person dies because of ignorance or stupidity, then I don't feel bad.