Drinking too much soda doesn’t just increase your risk of stroke, obesity, and diabetes only. It also increases the likelihood of experiencing kidney stones, which symptoms include frequent urination and pain. A recent study by the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephology concluded that people who drink soda and other sugary drinks everyday have a higher risk of developing kidney stones than those who drink them more infrequently. So, does soda cause kidney stones?
Study- Does soda cause kidney stones
A total of 194,095 experts were used in a study where they filled a food frequency questionnaire for eight years between 1986 and 1991. In the course of the study, those who consumed more than one serving of sugar-sweetened cola per day had a 23% higher risk of developing kidney stones than those who consumed less than one serving of cola per week. The team also found a 33% increased risk of kidney stones for artificially sweetened non-cola with 18% higher risk for fruit punch. Phosphiric acid is a organic mineral chemical in soda also used as food additive, dispersing agent, fertilizer feed stock and component of many cleaning products at home.
An association between high consumption of coffee with one or more cups per day reduced the risk by 16%. Fluids that were reported to reduce the risk include orange juice-12%, beer- 4%, tea-11 %, beer-44% and wine 31-33%.
Effect of different drinks
Soda contains large quantities of fructose which has the tendency of increasing the urinary excretion of major components of the kidney stones such as uric acid, oxalate, and calcium. On the other hand, orange juice is rich in potassium citrate which reduces the risk of stone formation. It increases citraturia that offsets the effects of fructose in the kidney. Tea has loads of phytochemicals such as chlorogenic acids which have great antioxidant properties while coffee, beer and wine increases diuresis aiding the excretion of calcium and magnesium from the body.
In conclusion, it is clear that increasing fluid intake reduces the risk of kidney stones. Contrary to many people’s belief – not every fluid out there is equally beneficial. Experts advise people to drink more fluids spread throughout the day to maintain the balance between stone promoters and inhibitors. So, be sure to reduce the intake of very sugary drinks such as sweetened cola and fruit punch. You may replace them with coffee, tea, wine, and water to maintain the balance and reduce the risk of kidney stones. One kidney stone home remedy is to drink lemon and water everyday.
