Study: Drinking Diet Soda Can Double Your Risk of Kidney Woes

Tweet

I awoke to sobering news yesterday. The morning news shows took the fizz out of my dieting joy by mentioning a new study that indicates people who drink two or more diet sodas a day double their risk of kidney function decline!

Darn. On a good day I may drink as many as four 8-ounce servings of diet soda.

I've tried to go the water only route but I find I just need a touch of sweetness and taste to my liquid intake.

According to WebMD, "About 20 million Americans have some evidence of chronic kidney disease... Kidney disease diagnoses have doubled each of the last two decades."

This is scary news. Thanks to a glut of artificial sweeteners, low-cal diet drinks cram the shelves at the local market and convenience store.

To dieters like me it has always seemed like a no-brainer -- why buy a full-sugar soft drink when you can get pretty much the same taste and ZERO CALORIES?!

But suddenly that benefit doesn't seem so attactive. In fact, is that a twinge I feel in my lower back... a twinge brought on by looming kidney issues traced to diet soft drinks?

"There are currently limited data on the role of diet in kidney disease," researcher Dr. Julie Lin, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a news release about the new study.

"While more study is needed, our research suggests that higher sodium and artificially sweetened soda intake are associated with greater rate of decline in kidney function."

Until more info is available, the best course or action may be to slow down on your daily intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks.

Yes, it can be a pain if you are a Pepsi Max addict like me. But it's a pain you can live a longer life with!

For more on this breaking story, go to http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/food/632395.html


Author: John McGran

Weight Loss Tips

Tweet