Diet Soda May Harm Kidney Function
- Diet soda may harm kidney function. Researchers from the Harvard School of Medicine reported that women who drank two or more diet sodas a day had a 30% drop in kidney function.
· Researchers analyzed data from almost 3,300 women participating the long term Nurses’ Health Study between years 1989 to 2000. The participants had submitted dietary information which documented their intake of beverages such as sugar-sweetened soda, fruit juices, punch, iced tea, and artificially sweetened soda.
· Study authors found that 11% of the women had a decline in kidney function by 30% or more of the course of the study period. They further concluded that the decrease in kidney function was associated with drinking diet soda two or more times per day.
· This study is interesting in that it brings into question the safety of diet soda. Diet soda has, over the years, appeared to be a safe alternative to sugary drinks.
The mechanism of why diet soda would harm the kidney is not known. I suspect there are confounding factors that should be considered. People who drink excessive amounts of diet soda may unintentionally restrict free water intake which may harm the kidney. The bicarbonate in diet sodas may have a negative effect on the kidney. There may be toxic effect of the artificial sweeteners.
· The study results are interesting but in the big picture diabetes is a much more significant cause of
This study results should be further investigated with follow up studies. In the interim it would be wise to limit excessive intake of diet sodas
Cristopher Geiler, MD
ref. Annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology in San Diego 2009
Posted on November 5, 2009
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