Sugar-sweetened drinks are linked to an increased risk of developing kidney stones, according to a recent study.
Adults who drink at least one sugar-sweetened drink a day are slightly more likely to develop kidney stones than people who rarely drink them, according to the research study conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. While the recommendation for kidney stone prevention has been to drink a lot of fluids, the study suggests that it’s not just the amount of fluid but the type of drink that also matters.
Dr. Gary Curhan, senior author of the study, said in the abstract: “Consumption of sugar-sweetened soda and punch is associated with a higher risk of stone formation, whereas consumption of coffee, tea, beer, wine, and orange juice is associated with a lower risk.”
Researchers collected data from three massive surveys of nearly 200,000 people. The questionnaires surveyed participants every two to four years and asked about diet, lifestyle and health, including how much they drank certain beverages and whether they developed kidney stones. None of the people in the study had kidney stones at the start. They found that certain drinks are more effective than others in preventing the recurrence of kidney stones.
Results of the analysis revealed that people who drank just one sugar-sweetened cola per day were at a 23 percent increased risk of kidney stone formation compared to people who had a maximum of one per week.
Twenty percent of men and 10 percent of women in the U.S. suffer from kidney stones at least once in their lives. Dr. Curhan also said, “Our study found that the relation between fluid intake and kidney stones may be dependent on the type of beverage consumed. We found that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks was associated with a higher incidence of kidney stones.”
