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[madoka]

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, 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."

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2.1-2.6 gallons of Coke every day!

[Zackback]

Man that is alot of coke. Smoker as well.

We only have one body people.

Sad. May she rest in peace and may God be with her family.

[fermentation]

And I thought I was a soda addict. But honestly it seems like it a combination of excessive soda drinking, smoking and lack of a healthy diet. I doubt she was doing all that and eating fresh veggies and lean protein every day. Still, who the hell drinks 2 gallons of it every day? I don't think I can drink two gallons of water every day.

[transmogrifier]

Still can't believe the utter stupidity of her partner.

"I thought it would just be like drinking water"

And now they want Coke to compensate them for their own utter, utter idiocy and lack of self-preservation.

[aussieb]

The woman is 30years old with 8 kids ... I don't know how she found the TIME to drink 2 gallons of anything each day

[flakfizer]

What really did her in was that pack of Mentos she had at the end of the day.

[yodanole]

Cola is liquid death - but there are times when it can taste oh so good.