Sugary Soft Drinks Linked to Kidney Disease

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—People who drink two or more soda drinks per day increase their risk of kidney damage that could lead to kidney disease; the strongest risk was associated with lower-weight women and with drinking non-cola sodas, according to data published in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Underweight women who had body mass index (BMI) of 18.7 kg/m² or less were more at risk. No association was found with men, with diet soda or with one serving of sugary soda per day.

The potential cause of the association is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). A link between HFCS and kidney disease is of interest among health officers and nutritionists. Kidney disease, along with diabetes and obesity, has been increasing in the United States since manufacturers switched to HFCS as a soft drink sweetener more than three decades ago.

In this present study, David Shoham and colleagues studied 10,000 people to examine the association between daily soda intake and the level of protein markers, known as albumin and creatinine, in the subjects' blood. A high ratio of albumin to creatinine is used to detect early development of kidney disease.

The findings strongly suggest that drinking one or less sodas per day does not affect kidney disease progression, while drinking two or more is positively linked to the occurrence of renal disease. The type of soda also mattered; sugary non-cola drinks had the strongest association, while diet sodas were not associated with albumin levels.

The authors suggest "additional studies are needed to assess whether HFCS itself, overall excess intake of sugar, or unmeasured lifestyle and confounding factors are responsible."