New Zealand woman has heart attack on Red Bull diet
A woman in New Zealand reportedly suffered a heart attack after drinking too much Red Bull.
Media in the country have reported that Brooke Robertson lost almost 45 kilos by drinking nothing than the Austrian energy drink. Now the woman has serious health problems.
The weight she gained during pregnancy has tempted the 23-year-old to choose this radical diet. Her son Keir is now four years old.
Robertson said: "I just started drinking it. I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating - I was exhausted. I just continued to drink it because I think it's an appetite suppressant and I noticed I was losing weight so I stuck to it."
Robertson, from the city of Auckland, saw her weight plunging from a whopping 100 kilos to just 57 kilos. The family mother said she went on a diet of ten to 14 cans of the energy drink a day. Apart from Red Bull, she only consumed a handful of dry cereal now and then, local media have claimed.
Before being struck down by a heart attack, the woman was confronted with severe pain and cramps in her stomach and bowel as well as anxiety attacks.
Robertson managed to keep her new nutrition habit a secret from friends and family for eight months - until she was hospitalised with a heart attack.
Robertson managed to get herself off the drink during her two-week clinic stay. She said: "I had severe withdrawals: sweating, nausea, shaking. It was an addiction. The doctors stated that."
Doctors have told the young mother to avoid Red Bull and other caffeinated drinks, but she admits drinking it occasionally. She said: "I can have one and my heart starts and I get the shakes, so I try not to. It's the same with coffee."
Following her stay in hospital, Robertson now stays slim and fit through a combination of exercise and a Weight Watchers diet. But she claims she still suffers the physical effects of her extreme diet.
In 2008, researchers from the Royal Hospital of the Australian city of Adelaide found that just one can of Red Bull could increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.
A spokesman for the Red Bull in New Zealand denied the drink is addictive and said there was "scientific evidence that caffeine is not addictive."
He said it was available in 148 countries "because health authorities across the world have concluded that Red Bull is safe to consume."
Red Bull hit the headlines recently as health authorities in five German provinces banned its "Simply Cola" drink from the shelves after finding traces of cocaine in it. Officials said they are still negotiating whether to keep up the ban.
Meanwhile, sales of Red Bull Cola went significantly up in Austria. Pub owners and nightclub managers said last week sales figures have quadrupled since German authorities announced their decision. Source>>
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