Do you like kidney stones? Great! Coke and Pepsi are the drinks for you. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found that drinking just two cans of cola per day doubles the risk of chronic kidney disease.
In a study published in the journal Epidemiology, the team compared the dietary habits of 465 people with chronic kidney disease and 467 healthy people. After controlling for various factors, the team found that drinking two or more colas a day — whether artificially sweetened or regular — was linked to a twofold risk of chronic kidney disease.
Drinks without high levels of phosphoric acid—seltzer and other “noncola carbonated beverages”—don’t seem to anger kidneys.
The Claim: Too Much Cola Can Cause Kidney Problems [NYT] (Thanks to Sacha!)
Carbonated Beverages and Chronic Kidney Disease [Epidemiology]
PREVIOUSLY: Is Drinking 12 Diet Cokes A Day Healthy? Coke Thinks So.
(Photo: So Cal Metro)
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@Pipes:
I hate it when people spout self-righteous BS at me and others all the time like that.
I’ve stopped drinking cola for periods of time (it interferes with certain medications, primarily pain relievers, so when you have your wisdom teeth out…), and have never noticed a difference for the better.
I’m quite aware that caffeine is a horribly addictive drug, though. The withdrawal from both the caffeine and the sugar is excruciating.
The end result is that I feel just like I did before stopping, but suffer the withdrawals and have a harder time waking in the morning and working through my 14 hour shifts.
I get the same rot about smoking, as well. I’ve stopped for months because I wanted the money more, and the only ‘benefit’ I noticed was that I felt far more stressed out while at work and ate roughly twice as much (which sort of killed the whole ‘saving money’ thing).
You can argue that cola and other soft drinks will make you gain weight. You can argue that smoking has a variety of health risks. You can’t argue that dropping them will suddenly free you of all your problems and make your crap smell like roses, though, and that’s what people want us to believe.
I don’t necessarily doubt the results of this study (but then, it isn’t like anyone is arguing that soft drinks are good for you), but until it is at least replicated, and at best replicated with a much larger group, I’m not going to just accept the results carte blanche.
@RvLeshrac:
Oh, and HFCS is used in nearly everything you consume, so I’m sick of people going on and on and on about how they can ‘feel’ it and ‘taste’ it.
There’s a taste difference between cane sugar and refined sugar. There’s no difference between refined sugar and refined sugar, however.
@elisa:
If you’re drinking eight glasses of water a day, you might as well stop eating. Drinking eight glasses of water in addition to what you get from the food you eat simply causes your body to flush the nutrients you’re consuming.
People like to spout that one, too. The original study specified that the human body needs 64oz of water a day, it said nothing about consuming 64oz of plain water. Further studies determined that consuming that much water in addition to your intake from everything else you consume (soups, vegetables, sauces, milk, etc.) overhydrates your cells, causing them to release waste material that contains more unprocessed nutrients.
The short of it is that if you pee and you can barely tell that it is yellow, you need to drink much less water.
@EmperorOfCanada:
Not difficult at all to enjoy healthy foods. “Healthy” doesn’t mean “bland.” Some people enjoy plain broccoli. Adding a light cheese sauce isn’t going to kill you, though. Doesn’t need to be swimming in it, of course…
You can also pick up bags of shelled edamame for not much more than peas, and steam them for 10-15 minutes. Steamed asparagus is great.
Spaghetti squash with marinara sauce… butternut squash soup… baked yams with some real butter (just skip the margarine, it doesn’t taste as good and isn’t really much better for you)… pot roast with veg… broccoli soup (made with some of the broccoli-water, not with milk/cream, and properly seasoned)…
You don’t have to be scared of seasoning the food to eat healthy. The main factor is time, which most of us don’t have. Eating healthy takes far longer, but tastes just as good.
I’d like to have a compiled list of all the things that contribute to my demise. Smoking, drinking, soda, HFCS, trans fats, etc. I wonder if they had such a list, and you avoided everything on it, would you live forever?
@xianzomby:
You might… but would you really be living or would you just be continuing to exist?
I have not read the Epidemiology article, but there are a few things to consider.
A) Association does not imply causality, which is a mantra of statisticians, esp. in medicine. (There is a link, for instance, between high homocystine levels in the blood and increased cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. However, reducing homocysteine levels with folic acid has not been shown to reduce these events!)
B) And again, I haven’t read the study…but, this type of study is really a terrible way to analyze a question. They group together a whole bunch of people who now have CKD and asked them how much soda they have had in the past. This type of study can be very, very biased based on “recall” and what patients are able to (or want to) tell you.
C) Again, study design: Patients who drink 2 or more sodas a day, may also be more likely to develop obesity. With the increased sugar and obesity, they may also be at an increased risk for Diabetes, which is a MUCH larger risk factor for developing CKD than soda would be. In such a small study of 800 total patients, it would be very difficult to control for things such as Diabetes, obesity, etc, though they may have tried…Just something to look at.
Personally, and I’ve said this before: as a medical professional, I don’t really appreciate Consumerist’s sensationalistic attitude towards medical stories when the editors often don’t understand the true issues being discussed. Either get a medical professional to help with the stories, or stop publishing such articles.
I’ve tried to quit drinking sodas but I can’t seem to get past the horrible headaches I get while at work when I don’t have them.
I drink a lot of sodas at work because I’m bored and need to stay awake. On days I work I go through 7-10 cans a day and if I go out later that night then add 4 more to that. I have a soda problem. :
Already knew this. My urologist told me. When I passed my first kidney stone. At age 18.
**** you pepsi.
One more thing: Chronic Kidney disease (CKD) is not the same thing, at all, as kidney stones. CKD refers to decreased renal function on a long-term basis that eventually requires hemodialysis. Kidney stones may be linked to soda use, but that is not what is being referred to here by Chronic Kidney Disease.
Coke / Coca Cola taste good, especially when I was overseas. Take the taste test yourself if you don’t believe me (buy some foreign coke that they sell at a Bodega (with Spanish print) / Asian market (with the Asian print) VS. the US retail Coke / Coca Cola).
That is the difference for me in the real sugar vs. HFCS debate.
I don’t believe the radical or real media “hype” but I do believe my own taste buds. REAL sugar may or may not be healthier for me but it sure tastes better to me.
Regardless of that though, I am now down to only only 1 can per week nowadays and this was primarily due to the news program where they use Cola to clean porcelain toilets. If it can clean – and I mean CLEAN to sparkly white CLEAN – toilets, you have to imagine what cola can do to your teeth, insides, etc.
Don’t have to be a scientist to figure that one out.
Hmmm. Now how long before Congress passes a law prohibiting the disparagement of soft drinks???
I think if you add rum & a lime to the cola, you are shielded from the bad stuff. That’s the theory I’m sticking with.
@8abhive: “I wonder at what point the healthcare costs from the vast numbers of junk-drink consumers will outweigh costs from nicotine.”
Ah yes. The favorite bludgeoning instrument of the safety-nazis in their quest to legislate away the rights of people who want to enjoy their lives.
@sleepydumbdude:”I’ve tried to quit drinking sodas but I can’t seem to get past the horrible headaches I get while at work when I don’t have them.”
Not a soda problem, a caffeine problem. Take it from someone who knows.
IANADNDIP1OTV (I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV) but I -believe- that, caffeine being a vasodilator, the headaches are caused by the loss of caffeine from the blood vessels in your brain. That’s my uneducated theory, but I’ve personally found that ginkyo (another vasodilator) helped take the edge off the headaches whenever I’d go cold turkey.
@xianzomby:”Smoking, drinking, soda, HFCS, trans fats, etc. I wonder if they had such a list, and you avoided everything on it, would you live forever?”
That’s not the real question here. The real question is… would you even want to?
@faust1200:
“let he who hath the cola, pass the first stone”
Hi-larious
has anyone seen what Coca-Cola is now putting on their boxes? something that tells consumers that Coca-Cola and soft drinks are thirst quenching and hydrating. YEAH! ’cause we all know CAFFEINE HYDRATES YOU!!! I think if you were to look in any health book it would say that you should drink a certain amount of water per day, and that includes anything EXCEPT caffeinated drinks or alcoholic drinks. WHO THE FUCK DO THEY THINK THEY’RE FOOLING?! Oh right…we Americans are stupid and gluttonous.
@darious: thanks have to try that
@cashmerewhore: I stand corrected. Good argument.
@8abhive: Can’t get much more natural than corn. Molecules are molecules, don’tcha know.
Hate to break it to those who hit ANY carbonated drink heavily, but you need to RTFA.
Kidney stones are not the same as kidney disease.
“Carbonated beverage consumption has been linked with diabetes, hypertension, and kidney stones all risk factors for chronic kidney disease.“
Frequent drinking of anything carbonated can cause kidney stones – it caused mine. Switching to from Coke to 7-UP won’t help. Sure, you might not have chronic kidney failure, but you’re still at risk for the stones according to my urologist.
I don’t care how inaccurate the study is, I’m sending it to my mother in my never-ending quest to get her to stop drinking four two-liters of Coke every week.
The note about how it pulls calcium from bones seems more frightening to me :
@dvsman:
Thanks to HFCS, most soft drinks in the USA are nasty. Especially after spending a few years overseas. The real thing they ain’t. I’m beginning to like water a lot lately.
<– Screwed.
i can somewhat believe this. i produce dime size kidney stones every three years and have to have them surgically treated. one of my favorite drinks (although i drink water more often) is coke. I love it! Since my kidney si free and clear of stones, now is a good time to part ways with coke and see if that was what was causing the stones.
Many members of my family have what can best be described as an allergy to phosphoric acid. Most of us get sick from sodas that have it. Some of us can’t even handle what you get from creamy salad dressings.
Maybe it’s a natural defense mechanism!
Interesting. For one of my New Year’s Resolutions I decided to stop drinking pop for the year. So did hubby. Now that I’m reading this, I might just stop drinking it forever
@Sunflower1970: So did my wife and I! (although we do cheat and have 1 every 2 weeks or so but the craving is no longer there for it)
We also made it a requirement that we drink 2-3 14oz glasses of water a day (in addition to other drinks). Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I felt this good. The soda companies can keep their HFCS and phosphoric acid – I’ll stick to water, coffee, and alcohol.
Speaking as a person who has had repeated kidney stones.
This is very true. Coke/Pepsi and RED MEAT are large contributers of kidney stones.
Not surprising at all
@RvLeshrac:
I love to add Braggs Liquid Aminos to my dishes…yum!
The study article does not talk about kidney stones. It’s talking about chronic kidney disease, which actually has nothing to do with kidney stones. CKD is when your kidneys begin to fail (there are many causes), and you need to be put on dialysis.
@axiomatic: red meat is a contributor of a certain ingredient that can make up kidney stones.. red meat produces uric acid which can make stones in the kidney if your body doesn’t metabolize uric acid correctly (in that case you can take a pill).. it is important not to assume if you have a stone that it was caused by red meat (or for soda, for that matter, which is rumored to produce a calcite based stone). is much more important to have your urologist send the stones and your urine in for testing. your urologist will tell you what foods and things to avoid and then tell you that you need to drink more water. i just wanted to point that out. so ends my public service announcement.