Health

Coke Causing Kidney Stones?

by LauraFries.com | January 24, 2008 at 06:58 pm

4162 views | 11 Recommendations | 10 comments

ATLANTA, Georgia, January 24, 2008

This short-but-high-fructose-corn-syrup-sweet article from NYTimes.com highlights a study which found increased risks of kidney problems among cola drinkers:

Colas contain high levels of phosphoric acid, which has been linked to kidney stones and other renal problems. [...] In a study published in the journal Epidemiology, the team compared the dietary habits of 465 people with chronic kidney disease and 467 healthy people. After controlling for various factors, the team found that drinking two or more colas a day — whether artificially sweetened or regular — was linked to a twofold risk of chronic kidney disease.

But drinking two or more noncola carbonated drinks a day, they found, did not increase the risk.

The authors of the study say more research is needed, but their findings support the long-held notion that something about cola — the phosphoric acid, for example, or the ability of cola to pull calcium from bones — seems to increase the risk of kidney stones, renal failure and other conditions affecting the kidneys.

Yikes.

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politisite

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 00:19 on January 25th, 2008

LauraFries.com,Good stuff. Are you sure no one will hunt you down in Atlanta for blaspheming Coke? Have a coke and a smile and a sharp pain in your side!

LauraFries.com

at 00:23 on January 25th, 2008

I think we might have a misunderstanding, politisite.

The blockquote above is a direct quote from NYTimes.com. Apologies if this is unclear; I will add an additional link within the body.

Mountaineer

at 00:35 on January 25th, 2008

Don't mess with my new friend Politisite...lol

politisite

at 01:14 on January 25th, 2008

you should be in bed sleeping girl. Dont you have school in the morning LOL

politisite

at 01:12 on January 25th, 2008

Oh, I new it was from the new york times. I am from Augusta Georgia my brother was an editor at the AJC for years. He is now a city counselman for Avondale Estates. Since your a techie he is an exec at Caspio inc. I was just having fun with you. I am now based in Columbia SC. Have a good night. Al

The referance to a sharp pain in your side was from the kidney stones... I know dry.

Jordan Yerman

at 07:05 on January 25th, 2008

At first I had to dilute cola drinks (preferably with rum and/or lime juice), but now it's too sweet for me... but to hear that Coke/Pepsi/RC et al can lead to renal blockage... ow. My ten-year-old self would be so ashamed. (The study doesn't say how large the servings of cola were: are we talking cans, or those big 7-11 cups?)

politisite

at 11:20 on June 22nd, 2008

Jordan, as long as you diluted them with alcohol in some form, you kept stones from growing and lowered your cholesterol as well. Alcohol can help desolve other things as well, like relationships.

medstudent (not verified)

at 12:07 on October 30th, 2008

i know this is months after anyone posted anything here, but i just saw the alcohol comment. actually, according to my pharmacology prof, one alcoholic drink a day increases HDL levels, but more than one a day sharply decreases HDL and increases LDL levels. So, one glass of red wine or a beer during dinner is good, but dont overdo it, at least not often (lets not get into the awful neuro effects of thiamine deficiency due to overconsumption of alcohol, and cirrhosis of the liver).

phoquess

at 16:06 on January 25th, 2008

medstudent (not verified)

at 12:15 on October 30th, 2008

the kidney stones and phosphoric acid can be explained by the following: calcium is stored in our bodies, in our bones as hydroxyapetite, a precipitate of calcium PHOSPHATE and hydroxyl groups, and our bodies are good at preventing the precipitation of calcium phosphate in the rest of our body, aka where we have high free-bound calcium, we have little phosphate. we also have a lot of calcium-binding proteins that prevent precipitation in our cells. however, when we have a great amount of phosphate aka phosphoric acid in our blood that filters into our kidneys along with other cations like calcium, and overwhelms them, precipitation can occur, build up, and form stones.

sorry, just procrastinating my studying for an upcoming biochemistry exam, and saw this discussion...but i am a hypocrit haha, i drink diet coke often