• April 23, 2024

If you like to drink sugary sodas, you may be increasing your risk of kidney disease, new research suggests.

Employees at a university in Japan who consumed more than two soft drinks a day were more likely to have protein in their urine than those who drank less soft drinks daily. It is considered that having proteins in the urine is an early marker, although reversible, of damage to the kidney.

Sweet that harms your body ...

The new study showed an association between drinking soft drinks and an increased risk of kidney damage, but it did not necessarily prove that soft drinks were to blame.

The study included more than 12 thousand university employees who underwent annual check-ups at their health center. As part of the examination, the urine test was performed in search of evidence of the presence of protein.

Nearly 11% of employees who claimed that they drank two or more soft drinks a day had protein in their urine during the three years of follow-up. Conversely, 8.4% of those who did not drink soft drinks and about 9% of those who drank a can each day tested positive for protein in the urine.

A study related to this work and conducted with rats found that a moderate consumption of a type of sugar called fructose increases the sensitivity of the kidney to a protein that regulates the balance of salt. According to the researchers of the Case Western Reserve University , this leads to an increase in the reabsorption of salt in the kidney cells, which could explain why the consumption of soft drinks has been linked to diabetes, obesity, kidney failure and hypertension.

Can not you resist them?

Both studies were presented on Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology in Atlant to. Research presented at meetings is generally considered preliminary until published in a medical journal reviewed by professionals.

The experts said that the new findings join the body in increasing evidence about the unhealthy side effects of drinking too many sodas.

Proteins in the urine could be a marker of more than just kidney disease, he said. Dr. Orlando Gutiérrez, kidney specialist in University of Alabama at Birmingham . "Now we understand that the presence of proteins in the urine could be a really early marker of heart disease, stroke and heart failure," he said.

"We can assume that it is a healthy population, so I think the results are relevant for the healthiest people, not only for those suffering from kidney disease," Gutierrez said.

The Dr. Anil Agarwal, kidney specialist at Ohio State University , he agreed. "The new study suggests that even individuals with normal kidney function are at risk of harm if they drink too many sodas," he said.

And sodas sweetened with corn syrup with a lot of fructose can be the most dangerous.

"Fructose is sweeter than glucose, and does not cause the feeling of fullness," he said. It could cause damage by a route other than glucose. Instead of increasing blood sugar levels, fructose could affect the kidneys, he explained.

The guidelines of the American Heart Association (American Heart Association) They claim that the recommended daily intake of sugar is nine teaspoons for adult men, five for adult women and three for children. A 12-ounce can of non-diet soda has about seven tablespoons of sugar, Agarwal explained.

The Dr. Jaime Uribarri , renal specialist in Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, c He noted that the new findings "reaffirm the association between soft drinks and health problems." He added that diet sodas can also cause health problems.
 

Video Medicine: Sugar and Health —The Sweet, the Sour, and the Sticky! (April 2024).