By Tanya A. Crosby
You’ve got it, thanks to one of two recent studies conducted by Julie Lin M.D. and Gary Curhan M.D. of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. The study, titled, Associations of Sweetened beverages with Kidney Function Decline, followed the impact of sweetened drinks on kidney function in 3,256 participating women. The results were presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s annual meeting in San Diego, California.
What the Brigham and Women’s Hospital study revealed?
Women who consumed two or more servings per day of artificially sweetened soda were twice as likely to experience kidney function decline. On the other hand, drinking sugar-sweetened beverages was not linked to kidney function decline. Also, according to research presented, women who drank two or more diet sodas a day also had a 30% drop in a measure of kidney function during the lengthy study follow-up.
The study did not deduce why drinking artificially sweetened beverages raised the risk, but who needs to know why something is happening, as long as you know it ‘s happening, and can stop it.
The first study also showed a strong correlation between higher sodium intake and the decline in kidney function.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 26 million Americans suffer from kidney disease.
June 10, 2010 at 11:38 am
It would be great to see some manufactures start using Stevia. Its natural and does not have the after taste of other artificial sweeteners