Soya spicy woman having died after drinking a bottle of soy sauce

False medical news can have drastic consequences

Currently, English media report a woman who followed a false report on the Internet and as a result suffered a brain death. Apparently the 39-year-old drank a whole liter of soy sauce, as she had read that this could draw poisoning from the body. The so-called "soy sauce colon cleansing" paid the woman with her life.

Dr. Bernard describes selected medical cases on his YouTube channel "Chubbyemu". In a recent video, he recounts a case in which a 39-year-old American was admitted to the Illinois Medical District hospital because she had recently drunk one liter of soy sauce.

On the Internet, a soy sauce cure for detoxification is recommended. Doctors warn that this is a hoax that has cost at least one woman's life. (Image: SENTELLO / fotolia.com)

How it came to this

According to Bernard, the patient suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was released from a psychiatric hospital shortly before the incident. She firmly believed that the government systematically poisoned the population. So she was looking for ways to detoxify herself. On the internet, she came across the soy sauce bowel cleansing method. This dangerous and half-truth theory says that soy sauce will rid the body of all toxins, as the salty liquid in the gut will pull all the toxins out of the body. Dr. Bernard warns in the face of the case decided against such false reports.

What actually happens when you drink a liter of soy sauce

As the doctor reports, the patient believed the wrong detoxification method and drank a liter of soy sauce. Shortly thereafter, she noticed a violent palpitation. A short time later she collapsed unconscious. Her husband immediately called the ambulance. When she was admitted to the hospital, her heart had already come to a standstill. It was revived in the hospital, but the high salt levels in the blood had already caused devastating damage.

Brain death could not be prevented

Bernard describes how physicians, after resuscitation, injected a glucose-containing fluid into the body to dilute the blood and lower salt levels. But the salt concentration in the brain was already too high. The salt deprived the brain of the fluid and caused a shrinkage that caused permanent brain damage. After a four-day coma, the woman regained consciousness, but she could not move, swallow, or speak. The treating physicians shortly after diagnosed brain death.

Salt is highly concentrated like a poison

According to the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (IfA) of the German statutory accident insurance already the intake of 0.5 to 1 gram of salt per kilo of body weight can lead to toxic reactions with symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, severe thirst and mucosal damage in the mouth and digestive tract. A strong salt concentration increase in the blood leads to the increase of the blood volume with simultaneous dehydration of the tissues. This leads to symptoms such as muscle weakness, blood in the vessels and in the brain, changes in blood clotting, high blood pressure and nerve disorders. In severe cases, collapse, convulsions, cerebral edema or pulmonary edema are possible.

How much salt is in soy sauce?

According to the IfA data, an amount of salt of 40 grams or more may be toxic to an 80-pound adult. However, soya sauce contains between 100 and 200 grams of salt per liter, depending on the variety. How much salt is actually healthy? The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) recommends a salt intake of at most 6 grams of table salt per day.