August 4, 2023 – A brand new study suggests that avoiding sugary drinks and foods could help prevent kidney stones.
The more sugar people eat and drink, the more likely they're to develop kidney stones, in response to recent findings published today within the journal. Limits of nutrition. The people within the study who ate essentially the most added sugar had a 39 to 88 percent higher incidence of kidney stones than those that ate less added sugar.
Kidney stones are made up of minerals and salts and may affect any a part of the urinary tract, from the kidneys, where they form, to the bladder. They normally form when urine becomes concentrated and minerals then crystallize and stick together, in response to the Mayo Clinic.
Chinese researchers have linked the chance of kidney stones to added sugar after analyzing data from 2007 to 2018 from 28,303 people within the U.S. ages 20 and older, 10% of whom had kidney stones. The average age of study participants was 48, and 48% were male. The data got here from the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
As a part of the survey, participants provided details about their food plan for 2 24-hour periods. Then, researchers estimated how much sugar each participant consumed based on the estimated amount of added sugar they ate or drank. Added sugars included within the study were brown sugar, cane syrup, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, dextrose, fructose, fruit syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, pancake syrup, raw sugar, sorghum syrup and white sugar. Naturally occurring sugars in milk and fruit weren't considered added sugars.
On average, participants consumed 272 calories from added sugar. US Dietary Guidelines suggest that not more than 10% of every day calories come from added sugar, which is about 200 calories in a typical 2,000-calorie food plan. The American Heart Association suggests even less – not more than 100 calories a day for ladies and 150 calories a day for men. (In general, added sugar is linked to quite a few health problems, including heart disease.)
The 25% of people that ate the least added sugar and were least prone to develop kidney stones ate a mean of 58 calories of added sugar, while the 25% of individuals within the study who ate essentially the most sugar and were most definitely to develop kidney stones ate a mean of 542 calories of added sugar. A 12-ounce can of Mountain Dew soda incorporates about 176 calories of added sugar, and a full pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream typically incorporates greater than 300 calories.
Of the 25% of study participants who consumed the least sugar, 9.6% had kidney stones throughout the 11-year study period. In comparison, of the 25% of study participants who consumed essentially the most sugar, 11.7% had kidney stones. This increase in kidney stone frequency represents a 39% increased risk, the researchers said.
“Our study is the first to establish a link between consumption of added sugar and kidney stones,” said researcher Shan Yin, MD of the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College in Nanchong, China, within the journal Press release. “It suggests that limiting intake of added sugars may help prevent the formation of kidney stones.”