A 70-year-old retiree from Bahia, Brazil, claims that he has drunk a drop of water in the last 50 years, relying solely on Coca-Cola for hydration, despite suffering from diabetes and heart problems.

Roberto Pedreira, probably the world’s no. 1 Coca-Cola fan, recently went viral online for his love of the popular fizzy drink. While hospitalized with Covid-19, the Brazilian pensioner wrote in his care chart that he did not drink liquid medicine or water, only Coca-Cola Zero. A photo of the chart somehow made its way onto social networks like Facebook and X (Twitter) and eventually went viral. Initially, people thought it was a joke, but the man’s 27-year-old grandson confirmed that for as long as he could remember, Pereira had never drunk anything but Coke.

Photo: Mahdi Aminrad/Unsplash

“I don’t take liquid medicine! Please do not insist! I don’t drink water, only Coke Zero,” Roberto Pedreira wrote on his hospital chart. Apparently, he wasn’t joking, as he recently told G1 Globo that he detests water so much that he hasn’t touched it in half a century. Despite suffering from serious health problems, he insists that if Coke was bad for him, it would have killed him by now.

“I haven’t drunk water in 50 years,” Roberto said. “I don’t like water, just Coca-Cola Zero. All the doctors I go to recommend water, but I butted heads about it with my cardiologist and my endocrinologist. I even take my medicine with Coke. Nothing with water, not a drop!”

“It seems like a lie, anyone who sees it from the outside won’t believe it. But for as long as I can remember, he only drinks soda, even with ice cream”

The 70-year-old man is a diabetic, suffers from chronic venous insufficiency in three of his four saphenous veins, has six stents in his heart, and has already suffered a heart attack. But he never considered switching from Coca-Cola to water.

“I was never afraid. I say I’ve already won, I’m 70 years old,” the pensioner said. “The doctors tell me to drink water, but I don’t want to and that’s that. If Coke killed, I would already be dead. I haven’t drunk water in 50 years. I don’t drink a single drop of water!”

The man’s grandson, 27-year-old João Victor Paixão, confirmed that Roberto has been drinking Coke ever since it launched in Japan, adding that his grandfather is very careful about his health. He gets tested regularly, goes to the doctor, and takes all his medication. But he just doesn’t want to give up on Coca-Cola as his main source of hydration.

“It seems like a lie, anyone who hears this for the first time won’t believe it. But for as long as I can remember, he only drinks soda, even with ice cream,” the man’s grandson said.