A mother has spoken of her anguish and surprise when her 28-year-old daughter who was ‘the epitome of health’ died of a heart attack - and she believes a popular drink is to blame.
Lori Barranon said her daughter was in great health before she suddenly had a heart attack while out with friends in 2021.
Her daughter, Katie Donnell, was rushed to hospital and spent 10 days on life support before the painful decision was made to switch off the support on August 9, 2021.
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The mother, from Florida, has spoken out about what she believes was the cause of her daughter's death and warned people about the potential dangers of a common drink.
Lori explained that Katie did not have any known underlying health or heart conditions and was ‘fitness mad’.
But, the mother has claimed her daughter consumed a dangerous amount of energy drinks and other caffeinated products which she believes contributed to her death.
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Lori said: "She would start with a pre-workout before she went to work to supposedly wake up or she went to the gym and did cardio at five in the morning.
"I didn't realize how much she was drinking until after she passed. Her boyfriend said she would buy a four-pack every two to three days.
"Not to mention she was drinking a lot of coffee and doing the pre-workout.
"One of her friends said she'd hardly see Katie without an energy drink in her hands. When I cleaned out her car after she passed it was full of cans, at least three or four in there.”
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Lori now wants the drinks banned and has warned of the dangers around excessively consuming them.
Energy drink consumption can cause cardiovascular issues, including high blood pressure, heart arrhythmias and even heart attacks if drunk to excess, according to Healthline.
With that said, in Katie's case doctors did not conclusively say energy drinks were to blame and health experts have said while there is a link between heart issues and energy drinks there isn't enough trusted evidence to determine a cause-and-effect relationship.
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Both the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) consider a daily intake of up to 400 mg of caffeine to be safe, according to the health information company. Despite this, some energy drinks contain more than 500mg, which can cause caffeine toxicity.
Speaking about the heartache of losing her daughter at such a young age, Lori said: “At 28, you just don't see people dropping dead of a heart attack.
"She was a workout queen, she ate real clean, she ate organic food, she was the epitome of health other than [having energy drinks].
"Doctors said they see this happen a lot with people that do a lot of pre-workout or energy drinks but they wouldn't give the cause of death to that. I know for a fact that was what was wrong with her.
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"I beg people to counsel your kids and watch what they're doing, I think energy drinks should be banned."
Gerrard Kaonga