104-year-old woman: 3 Dr. Peppers a day keeps real doctors away

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 20 (UPI) -- A Texas woman who celebrated her 104th birthday with a Dr. Pepper-shaped cake said she has had three helpings of the soft drink every day for the past 40 years.

Elizabeth Sullivan, 104, of Fort Worth said she marked her birthday this week with a cake shaped like a can of Dr. Pepper and she even received a gift basket from Larry Young, the chief executive officer of the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group.

"When you live to be 104 and still can talk to nice people, you deserve some Dr. Pepper, but I never expected this," Sullivan told KTVK-TV.

Sullivan said she became a Dr. Pepper fan in her 60s and she averages three of the soft drinks per day. "People try to give me coffee for breakfast. Well, I'd rather have a Dr. Pepper." Sullivan said.

"I started drinking them about 40 years ago. Three a day. Every doctor that sees me says they'll kill you, but they die and I don't. So there must be a mistake somewhere."

Sullivan said she is "feeling good."

"I'm glad I'm still here. I'm glad I'm not in a rest home. Glad I can read books and watch TV and have people come by and say hello," she said.

Sullivan said she doesn't know any secrets to long life other than, "you just keep living."