New Study:  Bruce Lee Died Due To Drinking Too Much Water

The martial arts icon and actor Bruce Lee passed away in Hong Kong at the age of 32 in 1973, just six days before the release of his international blockbuster "Enter the Dragon".

The doctors found he had swelling of the brain (cerebral edema), but the causes of his death remain unclear. Theories range from assassination by gangsters to a family curse, cocaine use, epilepsy or heatstroke.

In a recent study published in Clinical Kidney Journal, researchers claim that Bruce Lee died of kidney failure as a result of the inability of his kidneys to excrete excess water.

Bruce Lee's wife Linda Lee, 77, stated at the time of his death that Bruce had consumed a fluid-based diet of carrot and apple juice before his death. Matthew Polly, who wrote the biography entitled Bruce Lee, A Life, appears to have referred to Bruce's repeated intake of water on the evening before he died.

According to a team of experts in the Clinical Kidney Journal: "In other words, we propose that the kidney's inability to excrete excess water killed Bruce Lee. We hypothesize that Bruce Lee died from a specific form of kidney dysfunction: the inability to excrete enough water to maintain water homeostasis, which is mainly a tubular function."

"This may lead to hyponatremia, cerebral edema (brain swelling) and death within hours if excess water intake is not matched by water excretion in urine, which is in line with the timeline of Lee's demise... It is ironic that Lee made famous the phrase, "Be water, my friend," but excess water seemingly killed him."