Diet soda can destroy your kidneys

November 5, 9:00 AMWest Palm Beach Health ExaminerLisa Rinaldi-Kohl

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the West Palm Beach Health Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Diet Soda

health

For all of us diet cola drinkers, like myself, I think we're about to hit a snag. New research shows that diet, unlike regular soda, has a very severe impact on the kidneys. It's the real thing.

Over the past weekend, researchers from the Nurse's Health Study in Boston released findings that indicate women who drink two or more diet sodas a day experienced a 30 percent drop in kidney function over the course of a two decades long study. More than 3,000 women participated in the study, the median age being 67. Lead researcher Julie Lin, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a physician at Brigham & Women's Hospital,  says the outcomes were especially startling because the women surveyed all had health kidney function at the start of the research.

Those who drank two or more diet sodas daily had a significant dip in kidney function. The study showed no link between decreased kidney function and other beverages or any decreased function in women who had less than two diet sodas a day.

With some 26 million Americans suffering from chronic kidney disease, it's obviously become a national health problem. While studies to date on the relationship between kidney function and soda (diet or regular) have been small, they add more fuel to the fire for cutting soda intake, even if you're a diet drinker. When it comes to your health, water is always the best beverage. Hello, Smart Water...

My Contact: LisaRKohl@aol.com  Drop me a line. Tell us your story. Subscribe to my column.