A new report by the National Kidney Foundation has been released on a disorder that affects over 500,000 people each year.
Coffee's health benefits continue to be uncovered, and it appears that we can now add another to the list. Researchers used a new method to study how coffee can help avoid a highly painful ailment that affects 15% of the population, according to a new study published in the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation.
Continue reading to find more about what a group of European experts discovered concerning coffee's influence on kidney stones.
Coffee and Kidney Stones: A Research Study
According to a news release from the National Kidney Foundation, the American Journal of Kidney Diseases published an important new study last week.
Susanna C. Larsson, PhD, of the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, and Shuai Yuan, BMed, MMedSc, of Sweden's Uppsala University conducted the study which analyzed genetic data from almost 572,000 participants from the United Kingdom and Finland.
The Results
"Our findings strongly imply that frequent coffee drinking reduces the risk of kidney stone formation," Larsson said, adding, "[...G]oing from one cup to 1.5 cups per day, for example, reduces the risk of kidney stones by 40%."
Why Is It Important?
According to the study, over 500,000 people seek emergency treatment for kidney stones each year, contributing to the disease affecting roughly 15% of the population.
This isn't the first study to find a link between coffee consumption and a lower incidence of kidney stones. According to the researchers, the study was the first to look at how genetics affects the association between coffee and kidney stones.
"The elegant design of this study, which takes advantage of genetic variations associated with higher coffee and caffeine use, enhances the evidence that coffee and caffeine can prevent kidney stones," Kerry Willis, PhD, chief scientific officer for the National Kidney Foundation, said.
The Effect of Coffee on Kidney Stone Formation as Explained by Scientists
The researchers suggest that coffee may help prevent kidney stones by increasing urine flow, which "represents an essential protective factor against the development of kidney stones," according to the researchers. (It's important to remember that they said this caffeine consumption should be accompanied by plenty of water.)
Caffeine "may also diminish calcium oxalate crystal adherence to kidney cells", and "coffee plants are rich in citric acid; urinary citrate is a known inhibitor of renal stone formation," they noted.
To Go: Coffee and Kidney Stone Wisdom
Willis went on to explain why this information could be useful to a large number of individuals. "Given the rising prevalence of kidney stones in the United States and the related morbidity, it would be fantastic if this could turn out to be a new, accessible, and affordable preventative tool," she said.
According to the researchers, more research is needed, and some previous studies have suggested that coffee can increase the risk of kidney stones. It's always a good idea to check with your doctor before making any dietary changes.