Man Dies After Gulping Down 1.5 Liters of Coca-Cola in 10 Minutes

A Chinese man passed away after he drank 1.5 liters of Coca-Cola in 10 minutes.

An enormous amount of gas buildup was the cause of a 22-year-old man’s death. The tragic incident was detailed in the journal “Clinics and Research in Hepatology and Gastroenterology,” which stated the young man gulped down 1.5 liters of the soda, and six hours later, he began experiencing severe pain along with a swollen stomach. He immediately went to Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing, the New York Post reports.

After tests were done, they showed the man’s heart rate was elevated, his blood pressure was low, and he was experiencing rapid breathing. A CT scan revealed the man had aberrant levels in his intestinal wall and portal vein, which moves blood to the liver. He had no preexisting health issues.

As a result, the man suffered hepatic ischemia or “shock liver,” which is the result of there not being enough oxygen going into the organ. The hospital tried to relieve gas from the digestive system and gave him medicine to help soothe his liver and other parts of his body. Unfortunately, the man died 18 hours later.

Experts say it is drastically improbable that he dies from a Coca-Cola overdose. “The chances of downing 1.5 liters, or a little over three pints, of a regular soft drink being fatal would be very, very unlikely, I mean, staggeringly unlikely,” Professor Nathan Davies, a biochemist at University College London.

He says the man more than likely had a bacterial infection that created a pocket of gas in his intestinal wall after drinking the soft drink.

“It’s possible, but not necessary that likely, that drinking a large amount of carbonated drink could have had an exacerbating affect,” he said. “But with no underlying condition, it is very hard to see what could have happened.”