Studies highlight potential negative effects of soft drinks, sugar on kidney health

Two new studies highlight the potential negative effects that soft drinks and sugar can have on kidney health. Results of these studies will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2013 November 5-10 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

In one study, researchers led by Ryohei Yamamoto, MD, PhD (Osaka Univ Graduate School of Medicine, in Japan) found that consuming at least two soft drinks per day is linked with proteinuria-or increased excretion of protein in the urine, which is a hallmark of kidney dysfunction. Among 3579, 3055, and 1342 university employees with normal kidney function at the start of the study who reported that they drink zero, one, and two or more soft drinks per day, 301 (8.4%), 272 (8.9%) and 144 (10.7%) employees developed proteinuria during a median of 2.9 years of follow-up, respectively.

Another study led by Agustin Gonzalez-Vicente (Case Western Reserve University) and conducted in rats found that moderate fructose intake increases the kidney's sensitivity to angiotensin II, a protein that regulates salt balance. This leads to increased salt reabsorption by cells in the kidneys, a finding that might help explain why consumption of high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener may contribute to the epidemic of diabetes, obesity, kidney failure, and hypertension.

Highlights

• Consuming at least two soft drinks per day is linked with increased excretion of protein in the urine.
• Moderate fructose intake increases salt reabsorption by the kidneys.