Kidney stones are no fun. They can cause severe pain in your side for days. Urologists even speak of the worst pain there is. Victims crawl around on hands and knees and sometimes even vomit from misery. It now appears that the consumption of a lot of added sugars increases the risk of kidney stones.
Up to 15 percent of North Americans and up to 9 percent of Europeans suffer from kidney stones. This is often accompanied by severe shooting pains, nausea, vomiting, chills and blood in the urine. The occasional kidney stone is very annoying, but normally not a health hazard. However, if the attacks become more frequent, it can lead to infections, swollen kidneys, impaired kidney function and serious kidney disease. Known risk factors for developing kidney stones are obesity, being male, chronic diarrhea, dehydration, diabetes, gout and certain intestinal diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. But it also seems strongly that diet influences the formation of kidney stones.
Cut down on sugar
A recent Chinese research shows for the first time a clear link between eating added sugars and the development of kidney stones. The more of those sugars in the diet, the more the people studied suffered from kidney stones. Added sugars are mainly found in soft drinks, sweets, ice cream, cookies and cake. “This is the first study to show a link between consuming added sugars and kidney stones,” said lead researcher Shan Yin from Nanchong. “It strongly appears that moderating the daily amount of sugar can help prevent the development of kidney stones.”
Multiple risk factors
Yin and colleagues analyzed the diet and health data of more than 28,000 American adult men and women. All participants received one healthy eating-indexscore (HEI-2015). The researchers corrected as much as possible for factors such as gender, age, race, income, BMI, HEI-2015 score, smoking behavior and diabetes complaints. And even then, the subjects who consumed more added sugars were found to have kidney stones more often, but also a lower HEI-2015 score and a lower level of education. On average, they consumed 272 calories per day from added sugars, or 13.2 percent of their total daily energy intake.
Strong differences
The quarter of the participants who consumed the most sugar were almost 40 percent more likely to develop kidney stones than average. And the participants who got more than a quarter of their daily calories from added sugars were 89 percent more likely to get kidney stones than the group who got just 5 percent of their energy from added sugars.
The mechanism behind the relationship between sugar and kidney stones is not yet known. “Further research is needed to say more about the link between added sugars and a variety of diseases and disorders. We want to explore this in more detail in the future,” explains Yin. “For example: what types of kidney stones are most strongly linked to added sugars? And how much less sugar should we eat to reduce the risk of kidney stones? In any case, our findings already provide valuable insights for policymakers and healthcare providers.”
What exactly are kidney stones?
There are waste products in the urine that come out with urination. If these waste products do not dissolve completely in the urine, crystals or stones may form in the renal pelvis. These are called kidney stones. You pee out small stones without any problems. You probably won’t even notice. But if they are larger, they can get stuck in the urinary tract.
What are colic pains?
This can cause a kidney stone attack with colic pains. These are intense waves of pain in the side, caused by the squeeze of the urinary tract. The stone slowly moves down towards the exit, so that the pain can also be felt lower and lower on the side of the lower abdomen. A kidney stone can cause swollen kidneys or a urinary tract infection, but the symptoms usually disappear after a few days. The stone has then ended up in the bladder. Men are about twice as likely to have urinary stones as women.When to call the doctor?
A strong pain reliever, such as diclofenac or ibuprofen, helps the best against the pain. Call the doctor if the painkillers are not working enough, if there is pain when urinating or if there is a fever during or after the kidney stone attack.
2023-08-06 12:02:24
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