Regular Consumption of Soft Drinks Damages Kidney, Says Study

Are you a parent who listens to your little ones' stubbornness and grants them their wish to have a soft drink every time you go out? If yes, be careful and think twice before you give in.

Too much soft drinks and soda is not good for kidney, new research warns.

The findings are based on the studies conducted by Japanese and American researchers.  In the first study, researchers from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, in Japan looked at nearly 8000 university employees. The total participants were divided into three groups- with the strength of 3579, 3055 and 1342, Indian Express, reported.

Soft drink consumption among the participants and their kidney health was collected and recorded. At the end, lead researcher Ryohei Yamamoto and colleagues found that intake of minimum two soft drinks per day increased the risk of being diagnosed with proteinuria, the condition of having excess levels of protein in the urine. Proteinuria is considered to be one of the early signs of kidney disease. Of the total participants, 301, 272 and 144 from the three groups, were diagnosed with proteinuria during the study period.

For the second study, a team of researchers from the Case Western Reserve University in US, led by Agustin Gonzalez-Vicente initiated to find out the serious harm associated with a high fructose intake. They conducted experiments on rats and found that even moderate intake of the fruit sugar affected the function of a protein called angiotensin II that helps balance salt in the body.  The occurrence leads to the re-absorption of salt in the kidney, and further to obesity, hypertension, diabetes and kidney failure, they explained.

The studies were presented at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2013, in Atlanta, USA, last week.

The findings bring concern as soft drinks have become the latest trend among the younger generation across the whole world.

Previous research has shown that consuming too much carbonated drinks can pave the way for health problems like obesity, blood sugar, blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, tooth decay, bone structures and food addictions.

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney noticed primary symptoms of damaged eyes in children aged 12, who consumed soft drinks every day. Another study found that, teens who consume more than five cans of soda a week tend to be violent, leading them to carry a gun or a knife.  Apart from that, a scientific study published in a French magazine in 2012 reported that top brands like Pepsi and Coca-Cola contain about 10 milligrams of alcohol in every litre.