Soft Drinks and Kidney Disease

According to a recent cross-section study, drinking two servings of regular soda daily may increase the risk of kidney damage in women.

The authors evaluated data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES). They analyzed the association between high intake of high fructose corn syrup in soft drinks and kidney damage in 9,358 participants who were 20 years of age or older.

The researchers found that 16.8% of the participants drank at least two sugary soft drinks daily. Women who drank two or more regular sodas daily were 1.86 times more likely to have high amounts of the protein albumin in the urine (called albuminuria), which is an indicator of early kidney disease.

However, this association was not observed in men or in overweight individuals. The authors also concluded that, "moderate consumption of one or fewer sodas does not appear to be harmful."

This study is limited by its cross sectional design. The authors also note that it is unclear if the high fructose corn syrup or excessive sugar in sodas or other factors contributed to these results. Additional research is needed before firm conclusions can be made.

For more information about kidney disease, please visit Natural Standard’s Medical Conditions database.

Comments

[Leigh Jacobs]

Ugh – I am drinking a Coke as I read this! If you consider this alongside evidence from a 2007 review done by researchers at the University of Maryland, which concludes that “HFCS does not appear to contribute to overweight and obesity any differently than do other energy sources,” it seems like HFCS alone may not be to blame. (Though I find it hard to believe this statement, also from U Maryland abstract: “The fructose:glucose (F:G) ratio in the U.S. food supply has not appreciably changed since the introduction of HFCS in the 1960s.” It seems like everything you hear these days is all about how corn syrup is pervasive in nearly every processed food you can put your hands on. Looks like once again Americans are fixated on finding the silver bullet, instead of acknowledging that the biggest issues are that we eat too much and exercise too little.

[Rich]

Hmmm. If "it is unclear if the high fructose corn syrup or excessive sugar in sodas or other factors contributed to these results," then how can they conclude that "moderate consumption of one or fewer sodas does not appear to be harmful"? As far as I can tell, the researchers don't know what caused the results. Maybe soda intake correlates with some other factor that is causing the higher numbers of protein albumin. And why might this not show up in men?

[FDR]

Drinking too much soda is obviously not good for you. I would be curious as to whether or not the researchers continue to follow these patients to see if they actually do progress to some sort of kidney disease because, ultimately, that's what's important. What about diet soda? How did that measure up?

[Bia]

I wonder if there is a difference if the people are drinking diet sodas or regular sodas?

[Cara]

It really surprises me that there was a difference between men and women in kidney disease. If you are consuming the same beverage, it would make sense that the kidney would react to it the same way.

[Megan]

They didn't specify if the patients were healthy or had any medical conditions. If the subjects had diabetes, it could have influenced the results because with the progression of diabetes, you start developing albuminuria.

[Peter]

I think that consumption of water has something to do with it. I don't think a person will develop albuminuria from drinking soft drinks if they are constantly flushing their kidneys with water.

[Ashe]

This is very interesting. I wonder why the researchers used signs of kidney disease as an outcome. Anyway, maybe research like this would help reduce the intake of sugary soft drinks, which also increases our risks of diabetes and increases the intake of components that are not healthy to the human system.

[Sally]

It is amazing how the risk of albuminuria was higher in women and not significant in men or overweight individuals. You know, many think that if you are overweight, you are worse off in life, but at least this one study will make many think being overweight might have some benefits to a certain degree.

[Joe]

I am also interested in the effects of diet soda and whether or not it may affect kidney function. It would also be interesting to know the average age of the participants because we would expect that the older the participant, the more likely that the participant may have albuminuria.

[alex]

I think it's interesting that the association with high fructose corn syrup was not observed in men. However, did the women in the study have other risk factors for kidney disease? What were their exercise habits, etc.? I believe that all these other factors of their health and lifestyles would contribute greatly to the overall picture. A brief summary of their medical and social histories would be more helpful to readers.

[Simeon]

This article is interesting in light of the recent advertising of high-fructose corn syrup. There are a few commercials now, if you haven't seen them, that try to tell us that the syrup isn't actually that bad. And now this. We are constantly bombarded with contradicting information.

[laurie]

Here’s another scary fact: pop that is in aluminum cans has been shown to increase the rate of Alzheimer’s disease. That’s because the aluminum seeps into the pop. For ages studies have shown aluminum as a link to Alzheimer’s.

[Rachel S.]

Soda will also make you thirstier rather than quench your thirst. So then you drink more of it, and the companies make more money. Soda actually dehydrates you rather than hydrating you. It becomes a vicious cycle. Then you drink more pop, consume more calories, gain weight and get thirstier.

[M.G.]

Additional study is required to better understand why women in this study were more likely to have higher amounts of albumin in their urine than men. I'm thinking there had to be other factors contributing to this outcome, such as diet and amount of exercise, but I guess drinking two sodas every single day can't be that great for you either.

[Danny B.]

I am not a fan of diet soda because of the taste, but I do wonder if there is benefit to switching over to diet. Other than calories, isn't consuming diet soda pretty much the same as drinking regular soda?

[Hugh]

Danny, from what I understand there are no calories, fat, protein or carbohydrates (including sugar content) in diet soda. However, I do not know what diet soda companies actually use to sweeten their drinks (perhaps artificial sweeteners?). But it appears that diet soda is better for your health than regular soda. This study seems to suggest that it is the high sugar content in regular soda that may cause a decline in kidney function, thus drinking diet soda may be an alternative if you like carbonated beverages.

[Anne]

Another scary thought is that while soda is apparently causing havoc with your kidneys, it is also having a negative impact on your bones, according to published studies. Osteoporosis is something that women -- and many elderly men -- have to consider. So, all together now, put down that soda can!!

[WH]

Not really. Some say it is actually worse for you. I am not sure of specific studies, but I have heard from people that the long-term drawbacks of the chemicals in diet sodas are actually worse than the calories. I suppose you just have to pick your poison or avoid it all together.

[Caili]

Soft-drinks taste great (except the diet ones). However, in general, they are detrimental to your health. A tip for everyone: every time you go to order a soft drink or buy a soft drink, think of an alternative (ex: water, juice, ect.).

[MHD]

My first reaction when reading this article was whether it is solely due to the high amount of sugar in soda. Abnormally high levels of glucose (which also comes from broken down high-fructose corn syrup) can destroy the glomerulus, and in turn, damage kidney filtration. However, the fact that women are more prone to kidney damage than men, even overweight men, is a very interesting point. I wonder if it has to do with some hormonal exchange, perhaps estrogen levels, that may be related to the glucose metabolism.

[CJ]

While juice is obviously a healthier alternative choice compared to soda, diabetics should still be aware of the fact that some juices contain high amounts of sugar.

[Tisha]

It is definitely interesting that these results only applied to women. MHD brings up a good point about kidney damage due to hyperglycemia. If that were the case, then it would likely affect both women and men, and those results were not seen here. I will surely stay tuned.

[Breigh]

Danny B.,

Diet and regular soda are not the same except for the calories. Have you ever took the time to read the ingredients? Most diet products are loaded with chemicals and preservatives that take the place of the sugar in the regular soda. So it depends what you are looking for — do you want fewer calories or fewer chemicals?

[PK]

Almost all of today’s products contain high levels of high-fructose corn syrup. It would be interesting to see if any of these patients were diabetic because diabetes increases the risk of kidney disease. I think that it would be important to monitor what type of diets these patients were following. It is also interesting that the study did not find an increased risk for overweight individuals.

[LW]

Breigh,

Could you provide us with more information on what chemicals you are referring to? And are there data that show the long-term effects to such chemicals? Thanks.

[Jenny Park]

In one university chemistry lab, the professor would not let students pour soft drinks down the drain because “it could damage the pipes.” At the Coca-Cola factories, they use the non-caramel portion of the Coke formula to remove the rubber tire marks from the shipping area floor. Epidemiology suggests that introducing soft drinks to a society causes cancer levels to spike after about 50 years.

I wonder of alcohol dehydrogenase (the enzyme responsible for metabolizing alcohol) is responsible in any way for the metabolism of soft drinks. I know women don’t have any in their GI tracts and that could account for increased apparent toxicity of soft drinks in women. Perhaps the female kidneys need to process a more toxic version of the soft drinks compared to men.

[Paul]

Like any other body part, the kidneys are very important organs. They remove the chemicals, toxins and waste products from our blood. The kidneys also help maintain water and electrolyte balance and help regulate acid concentration by excreting urine.

Some of the common kidney diseases are nephrotoxicity, kidney stones, kidney cancer,focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), Fanconi syndrome and glomerulonephritis. These conditions are caused by various reasons, including medications, exposure to toxic chemicals and genetics.

According to the Natural Standard monograph on kidney disease no clear association between kidney disease and soft drinks can be concluded. More evidence-based research must be done to conclude any association.

[jen]

The FDA is changing the labels on kidney disease medications: http://www.orderonlinedrugs.com/drug-news/2009/08/06/fda-demands-label-changes-to-immunosuppressant-drugs-used-in-kidney-transplants/