Added sugar consumption may increase risk of kidney stones

Now, a study in Frontiers in Nutrition has shown for the first time that elevated consumption of added sugars should probably be added to the list of risk factors for kidney stones. Added sugars occur in many processed foods, but are especially abundant in sugar-sweetened sodas, fruit drinks, candy, ice cream, cakes, and cookies.

Yin et al. analyzed epidemiological data on 28,303 adult women and men, collected between 2007 to 2018 within the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Participants self-reported if they had a history of kidney stones.

The researchers showed that after adjusting for these factors, the percentage of energy intake from added sugars was positively and consistently correlated with kidney stones. For example, participants whose intake of added sugars was among the 25% highest in the population had 39% greater odds of developing kidney stones over the course of the study.

Similarly, participants who derived more than 25% of their total energy from added sugars had a 88% greater odds than those who derived less than 5% of their total energy from added sugars.

The results also indicated that participants from ‘Other’ ethnicities – for example Native American or Asian people – had higher odds of developing kidney stones when exposed to greater-than-average amounts of added sugars than Mexican American, other Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, and non-Hispanic Black people. People with a greater Poverty-Income Ratio had greater odds of developing kidney stones when exposed to more added sugars than people at or slightly above the poverty level.

Reference: Association between added sugars and kidney stones in US adults: data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2018, Frontiers in Nutrition, DOI 10.3389/fnut.2023.1226082