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He Drank Soya Sauce And Fell Into A Coma. What Happened?

A 19-year-old American teenager fell into a coma after drinking 946ml of soy sauce. What happened and what caused him to fall into a coma?

By suehanah — 11 Jun 2013, 03:56 PM — Updated almost 11 years ago

Cover image via

Never consumer too much soy sauce in a longer run?

Even if the salt does not kill you, other ingredients inside the soy sauce will. Soy sauce is made from kojic acid fermentation. Kojic acid, taken in long and consistent run, will deliver some ugly effects on your health.

He was dared to drink it

Soy Sauce Causes Boy to Fall Into a Coma. What Happened?

Image via nbcwashington.com

A 19-year-old American teenager fell into a coma after he drank 946ml of soy sauce after he was dared by his friends. He became the first person known to have deliberately overdosed on such a high amount of salt and survived with no lasting neurological problems.

The 19-year-old has been identified as John Paul Boldrick, a college student from Virginia.

After he drank the soy sauce, he began twitching and having seizures, and his friends took him to an emergency room. The hospital administered anti-seizure medication, and he was already in a coma when he was taken to the hospital.

Doctors determined that he had ingested 160 to 170 grams of sodium from the soy sauce, a potentially lethal dose for his weight and build. He was confirmed to be suffering from hypernatremia, a condition of too much salt in the blood.

The medical team flushed the salt out of his system by administering a solution of water and the sugar dextrose through a nasal tube. When they placed the tube, streaks of brown material came out. Within a half hour, they pumped 6 litres of sugar water into the man's body.

Hypernatremia: What is that?

Hypernatremia is a condition where there is too much salt in the blood. It dangerous because it causes the brain to lose water.

When there is too much salt in the bloodstream, water moves out of the body tissues and into the blood by the process of osmosis, to try to equalize the salt concentration between the two. As water the leaves the brain, the organ can shrink and bleed.

Salt overdoses can also occur without deliberate consumption. Recent UK research identified that sweet biscuits actually contain enough salt that regular consumption by children can result in toxic levels of sodium in the body.

Salt overdose - a suicide method in China

Image via blogspot.com

In China, a traditional method of suicide was drinking water saturated with table salt. One ounce of salt causes the body to hold six pounds of excess fluid. Salt in large quantities can be lethal.

Foods with the highest salt content

Tracking down the salt in food with Professor Saul T. Too much sodium increases your risk for high blood pressure, and high blood pressure is the leading cause of heart attack and stroke.

Image via cdc.gov

Overall, your biggest sodium bombs are going to be in:

Condiments
Beverages
Breaded items
Creamy dressings
Smoked/cured meats
Pastries

Asian food can be a tough one and most of their sodium hides in the sauces and condiments. Here are the things to avoid:

Battered or fried foods
Soups
Pickled foods
Chow mein/Lo mein

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