How do you keep your kidneys healthy? By drinking enough water and not eating too much salt, for example. New advice may be added in the future: drink a few cups of coffee every day.
Coffee drinkers will be happy the results of the PhD research of Annie van Westing at the Department of Human Nutrition and Health of Wageningen University & Research (WUR). Van Westing analyzed data from tens of thousands of Dutch test subjects and found a link between drinking coffee and kidney health.
Kidney damage often goes unnoticed
‘We often forget about our kidneys,’ says Marianne Geleijnse, food scientist at WUR and supervisor of Van Westing’s research. ‘Some people don’t even know where they are. Yet they are important organs.’
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs located under the ribs in the abdominal cavity. They perform several important functions: they purify the blood, regulate blood pressure, play a crucial role in vitamin D metabolism and play a major role in the production of bone and blood.
Kidney function starts to decline around the age of 35. Certain habits, such as smoking and eating a lot of salt, can cause the kidneys to deteriorate more quickly. But because reduced kidney function causes few or only subtle symptoms, chronic kidney disease is often noticed at a late stage – sometimes with fatal consequences.
Is coffee good for the kidneys?
Can Drinking Coffee Help Protect Our Kidneys? Previous studies seemed to tentatively point to that connection, and the new study seems to confirm this. Van Westing used the data of almost eighty thousand Dutch test subjects who were followed over a long period of time.
The more coffee someone drank, the less kidney function seemed to deteriorate over time. This effect peaked at around four to six cups per day. No additional health benefits were measured in people who drank more. The health effect also seemed to be greatest in people with diabetes, a group whose kidney function usually declines more sharply.
Why coffee seems to have this effect? Researchers are working hard to find an answer to this, says Geleijnse. ‘Coffee contains a lot of plant-based substances. Research is now being conducted into the beneficial effect that these different substances may have on certain parts of the body. But they haven’t figured it out yet.’
Omit sugar
To be clear: this is black coffee. According to Geleijnse, adding sugars, syrups or whipped cream is not recommended for those who want to keep their organs healthy. And although a strong link has been found between drinking coffee and healthier kidneys, it has not yet been proven that one leads to the other. ‘We have strong suspicions,’ says Geleijnse, ‘but to prove that it is only the coffee, a clinical experiment must take place.’
Myrthe Prins has been working as a journalist for over ten years – she wrote travel stories for Traveler, was a reporter for the PZC and interviewed numerous researchers for her science column in National Geographic Magazine. In addition to her work as an online editor, she writes poetry and prose, learns new languages and helps her team escape from escape rooms.
2024-02-13 16:07:29
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