- The wife of Rep. Tom McClintock died of a stomach inflammation last year, KHN reported.
- A coroner ruled the inflammation was caused by white mulberry leaf ingestion, KHN said.
- White mulberry leaf is often used as a dietary supplement to treat diabetes and high cholesterol.
A coroner has ruled an herbal supplement, white mulberry leaf, caused the death of a California congressman's wife, Kaiser Health News (KHN) reported on Wednesday.
Rep. Tom McClintock found his wife, Lori McClintock, unresponsive in their home in Elk Grove, California, on December 15, 2021, KHN reported. He had just returned from Washington, DC, where he was voting in Congress.
A Sacramento County coroner's report, obtained by KHN, concluded that the 61-year-old had died of dehydration due to gastroenteritison — an inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
The gastroenteritis was caused by "adverse effects of white mulberry leaf ingestion," the report said, adding that a "partially intact" white mulberry leaf had been found in her stomach at the time of her death, KHN reported.
White mulberry leaf is popular for weight loss and diabetes management, but not recommended by doctors
White mulberry is a tree that's native in certain parts of China and India and is often cultivated for its fruit, leaves, bark, and roots.
It is often used as a dietary supplement to treat diabetes and high cholesterol, according to WebMD and Healthline.
But it can also cause negative side effects such as diarrhea and nausea, KHN reported, citing a small 2017 research paper on 37 adult.
White mulberry leaf is widely available and typically found in capsule, liquid, or tea form, according to Healthline. (It is unclear how McClintock's wife ingested the white mulberry leaf. The coroner's report, issued on March 10 but not immediately released to the public, did not state the mode of consumption.)
Dr. Scott Isaacs, a board-certified endocrinologist with the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, said most clinicians would not recommend white mulberry leaf as a diabetes treatment.
"There's no clinical data to say that it works," Isaacs told Insider.
Isaacs added that it's "highly unlikely" the white mulberry leaf itself caused the dehydration or gastroenteritis, which is an infectious disease.
"I don't think that with the information that anybody can draw a definitive conclusion that the white Mulberry leaf was the cause of the dehydration," Isaacs said.
McClintock said his wife was 'carefully dieting' prior to her death
At his wife's funeral, McClintock said that a day before her death, his wife told a friend that "she was carefully dieting," NBC reported.
"She just joined a gym," he said, according to NBC. "At home, she was counting down the days to Christmas, wrapping all the gifts and making all the plans to make it the best family Christmas ever, and it would have been."
In an obituary posted to Facebook on January 1, McClintock's wife was described as a dedicated Christian who "was devoted to her family and was always the light and warmth and laughter and calm of the home she created."
"She made possible Tom's public service through the California legislature and Congress, but was always happiest when looking after her family," the obituary said.
McClintock is a conservative Republican who was elected to the 4th Congressional District in 2008 and has been reelected five times since.
McClintock's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.