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Study: Diet Soda Drinkers Suffer Kidney Problems

NEW YORK (CBS) A study examined more than 3,000 women for 11 years, and found those who drank two or more diet sodas a day were at double the risk for kidney damage.

Even though a lot of folks try to stick to water these days, it's not tough to find die-hard diet soda drinkers.

Lien Pollio admits to how many times a day she partakes of the diet beverage: "Three times, lunch, dinner and nighttime."

"Probably about two 20-ounces a day depending on whether or not I'm tired," said Kelly Fox, another diet soda drinker.

And Sharilee Hill said, "I used to drink Diet Redbull but then I switched to Diet Mountain Dew. We drink a lot of it."

However, one study examined more than 3,000 women for 11 years, and found those who drank two or more diet sodas a day were at double the risk for kidney damage, CBS station WCBS-TV reports.

The researchers did not learn whether it was the soda or the artificial sweetener in the drink that caused the damage.

"You can't conclude that the sodas caused this problem conclusively but it suggests that there's an affect on kidney function so people have to be aware that there's a possible issue in doing anything in excess," said Dr. David Goldfarb, kidney specialist with NYU Langone Medical Center.

Goldfarb said this is one of the first studies on the effects of diet soda.. and a lot more needs to be done before people make drastic changes. "They should not be throwing out their diet soda at this point but like I said I think moderating their intake of diet soda is a reasonable thing to do."

The diet soda lovers we found said say the study is interesting but they plan to keep on chugging their favorite drink.

"There are so many other things that we can do that are a lot worse for us so we figure, if that's our only vice we're doing good," said Katie Blanch.

Two ladies said they've run five marathons in the last 6 months, so they're balancing things out with lots of exercise.

http://wbztv.com/health/diet.soda.kidney.2.1287353.html

 

If I had to wager solely on the info above I'd have to say thats the aspartame effect but not enough info in there to make a judgement. This flippin banana/apple junior will not call up anything on the net but the Atkins so someone around the CEO's table is an Atkins fan or this site too would also be barred! Another article in favor of water, or beer , or wine, or coffee etc.

 

I would wonder how many of those diet soda drinkers with the damaged kidneys are diabetic and the damage may have occured from the diabetes and not directly from the diet soda...I think they are making a gigatic leap in this one...

 

Interesting.. I won't be giving up my Diet soda.. I drink much less often than I used to but I still really love one with certain things.

 

there are probably several factors that could contribute BDB. I think if they considered the rest of the diet overall, it would also play a part in overall health of the organs. Just like those studies about sugar, or saturated fat, or or or or...they only give you one portion of it, and don't seem to consider the whole picture.

 

A lot of diabetics also have hypertension. Hypertension if poorly controlled can lead to kidney damage. I have personally known at least 8 diabetics on dialysis because of uncontrolled hypertension, and one who just had a kidney transplant.

 

I agree with Reba32, there are many factors that can contribute to kidney damage. It is something to think about.
Moderation may work for some, others aren't very good at being moderate. Why mess around with your health?

 

My favorite line: ""You can't conclude that the sodas caused this problem conclusively ..."

Really? You can't conclude conclusively but nevertheless you are going to blame diet sodas? Grrrr. Not because I love diet sodas but because I h*te bad science and overreached conclusions exacerbated by bad reporting. So there.

In this study, was a control group of 3,000 more women eating exactly the same things as the diet soda drinkers for 11 years? That's the only way you can pin it on the diet soda, which would be fine, if you can conclusively show it was.

Otherwise, what you've got is an intriguing suggestion that there might be a relationship. On the other hand, did the diet soda drinkers die less often from diabetes or have other defining characteristics?

It might have been good science but it was badly reported by CBS. Here's a better take:

"While more study is needed, our research suggests that higher sodium and artificially sweetened beverages are associated with a greater rate of decline in kidney function," Dr. Julie Lin, a kidney specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a statement.

The analysis relied on data from a long-running project called the Nurses' Health Study that gathered information on food consumption along with all sorts of other health information. *The study shows an association over 11 years and doesn't prove causation.*" [emphasis added] (http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/11/diet_sodas_may_hurt_kidneys.html)

According to the study, accessed from the link provided in the above story: "Median age was 67 years, 97% were Caucasian, 54% had HTN, 24% were diabetic." Statistically, all of that can be adjusted for...but I still would want more causal proof than is provided here.

Also, I was unable to quickly find what the actual risk was to start with. Is it doubling from 1% to 2% or from 25% to 50%? That makes a huge difference in the numbers of people affected.

My diet Pepsi is calling me! Gotta do something to relieve the stress...

And did you all see the story about mammograms not being all that helpful for some? Twenty-three years of supersquash endurance tests...and we just don't know whether it has been worth it. Gah. Of course, that's the problem with what's called aggregate data--the numbers from all of us put together. The percentages of breast cancer deaths might not be high in the aggregate, but if screening caught your cancer, or your mom's or sister's or wife's or daughter's....well, then it was worth it, no question.

Best,
Kathy

 

Marvelous post Kathy. I think that the days we are living in now are so hyper-reactive, over the top and alarmist. it is to the point that I just want to say I don't care, some of the time.

 

Don't they also need to consider what type fo foods these people were consuming? There may be a lot of processed foods in their diets, super low-calorie diets, etc. How can anyone be sure that that wasn't a part of the problem?
I'll still drink my diet soda when I want one. I have cut back dramatically, so I'm not terribly worried.
Just wondering.

Cheryl

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