Drinking Sugary Sodas and Fruit Juices May Raise Your Odds for Kidney Stones

Do you like to drink sodas and fruit drinks?  A new study finds that drinking large amounts of sugary sodas and fruit drinks may raise your odds for painful kidney stones. The study was published online May 15 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Although drinking extra fluids usually helps to prevent kidney stones, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston have warned that different beverages may come with varying risks or benefits. Coffee, tea and water, for example, are associated with a lower risk of kidney stone formation.

On the other hand, “we found that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks was associated with a higher incidence of kidney stones,” study senior author Dr. Gary Curhan, a physician in the Channing Division of Network Medicine, said in a hospital news release.

The study involved more than 194,000 people tracked for more than eight years. The participants were questioned about their medical history, lifestyle, and medications. Information on their diet also was collected every four years.

The researchers found that those who drank one or more servings of sugar-sweetened soda daily had a 23 percent higher risk for kidney stones than those who drank less than one serving per week. The study showed that this also was true for those who drank sugary beverages other than soda, such as fruit punch.

“While there is no conclusive evidence to show that sugary drinks alone cause kidney stones, other associations with the consumption of sugary beverages has been reported,” said Dr. Michael Palese, associate professor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City. “This includes diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, which have also been linked to the formation of kidney stones.”

Nancy Copperman is director of public health initiatives at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y. She stressed that “adults need to consume 6 to 8 cups of fluid a day to maintain proper hydration” and help prevent kidney stones. Cutting sugar-sweetened beverages out of those fluids might also help ward off stones, she added.

The best way to get your fluids is to drink clean fresh filtered water.

There are a wide choice of low-cost counter-top water purifiers, an under-sink water purification systems, or whole house filtration systems available.

Depending on your water source, a simple carbon block filter which will remove chlorine and chemicals will work great, or you may choose reverse osmosis which will remove dissolved salts and metals, in addition to chemicals such as chlorine residuals.