For a person drinking up to 10 litres of Coca-cola each day, the sheer volume of water within the beverage could be more toxic than the huge levels of sugar and caffeine, a University of Otago researcher says.
Dr Lisa Te Morenga is leading a Dunedin study of people who consume large quantities of sugary drinks, and the corresponding risks of their developing diabetes and obesity.
When contacted by the Otago Daily Times yesterday, Dr Te Morenga said of those participating in her study, the most extreme one or two drank up to 3 litres of soft drink a day.
A person consuming up to 10 litres of any liquid a day would severely put their health at risk, Dr Te Morenga said.
"Even drinking that much water a day would be detrimental, as our maximum capacity for water is something like 4 litres a day. I certainly wouldn't recommend it."
Every litre of Coca-cola contained 100g of sugar, so drinking up to 10 litres a day equated to eating 1kg of sugar, she said.
But that alone might not be fatal, and neither would consuming up to 1g of caffeine each day.
Each litre of Coca-cola contains about 96mg of caffeine.
Dr Te Morenga said aside from death, adverse health effects of consuming so much soft drink included diabetes and obesity.
