'I drank EIGHT litres of Irn-Bru a day': Father halves his fizzy drink consumption after undergoing a quadruple heart bypass (but he still gets through 4 litres a day)



Andrew McSherry, 52, has spent £35,000 on Irn-Bru in the last 20 years

He drank the equivalent of 150 teaspoons of sugar a day

In 2011 he nearly died of heart disease and had a quadruple heart bypass

He has only manged to halve his Irn-Bru consumption since his illness

However, he says he has now switched to sugar-free diet Irn-Bru



A father addicted to fizzy drinks has halved his intake after undergoing a quadruple heart bypass.



Andrew McSherry, 52, nearly died from heart disease while he was drinking eight litres of fizzy drinks a day.



During the last 20 years he has spent an estimated £35,000 on Irn-Bru.



Andrew McSherry used to drink eight litres of Irn-Bru a day - in the last 20 years he has spent £35,000 on it

He was downing the equivalent of 150 teaspoons of sugar a day and suffered catastrophic artery damage.



After life-saving surgery, Mr McSherry briefly gave up his favourite drink before going back to it - this time to the sugar-free diet version.



The father-of-three now says he has cut back and is down to four litres a day – his wife Margaret, 46, however, is not happy with his efforts.

Mr McSherry said: ‘I did give up for a few months but I just couldn’t live without Irn-Bru.



‘I shouldn’t drink it. The doctors have told me not to - but I just can’t help it.



‘My wife is always moaning at me but there are worse things to be addicted to. I don’t drink alcohol, for instance. Mind you I don’t drink any water, either.’



In 2011 Mr McSherry almost died of heart disease and because his arteries were so clogged he had to have a life-saving quadruple heart bypass

Mr McSherry almost died from heart disease when his addiction was at its height in 2011.

He started to suffer from shortness of breath and tests revealed he had severely clogged arteries.

As a result, he had to have major heart surgery to prevent a heart attack.



He was so dependent on Irn-Bru he would suffer withdrawal symptoms if he didn’t down a two-litre bottle during the night - and still tops himself up through the small hours.



He was taking in 2,400 calories day - the recommended healthy amount for a man - from the drink alone.



Mr McSherry, a former labourer, said he was also eating three meals a day but maintained a normal weight despite his sugar-heavy diet.

Mr McSherry drank so much Irn-Bru he was consuming the equivalent of 150 teaspoons of sugar a day

Mr McSherry, from Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, added: ‘I always have a two-litre bottle by my bedside because I need to top up the levels through the night.



‘I have my first proper drink when I wake up at 6.30am - then I just carrying on drinking throughout the day.



‘I’m amazed I haven’t turned orange. I can’t remember how long I’ve been drinking it - years and years.



‘Even when I was younger and I was going to the pub I’d only drink Irn-Bru - about seven or eight cans a night.



Mr McSherry's doctors told him to give up the drink but he found this too difficult. As a result, he still drinks four litres a day - but he has swapped to the sugar-free diet version

‘But when I started drinking it again I thought I need to be careful, so I switched to Diet Irn-Bru. At least that’s cutting out the sugar.’



The diet version of Irn-Bru contains around seven calories a litre - meaning Mr McSherry now gets 28 calories from the drink each day.



His Irn-Bru habit was featured in the 2012 BBC Scotland series ‘Addicted to Pleasure’, hosted by actor Brian Cox.



A spokeswoman for Irn-Bru manufacturers A. G. Barr said: ‘Irn-Bru can be enjoyed in regular and sugar-free variants as part of a balanced diet and a healthy, active lifestyle.

