Is Coffee Bad for Kidneys

Is Coffee Bad for Kidneys?

Is coffee bad for kidneys? Research has shown it to be both bad for your kidneys and great for your health. Eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly have a strong effect on the relationship between coffee consumption and your kidneys. 

Coffee is a risk for kidneys because significant scientific studies linked calcium oxalate stones (the most common form of kidney stones) with regular coffee because it contains oxalate and other scientific studies revealed coffee to be a risk factor for polycystic kidney disease (PKD) progression (Chauhan).

 

PKD is inherited due to abnormal genes in the family line and complications lead to high blood pressure, cysts growing larger, chronic pain, aneurysms in the brain which can lead to ruptures, developing mitral valve prolapse, diverticular disease, and the worst progression of the disease leads to kidney failure with transplants or dialysis needed for survival (Mayo Clinic).

Calcium Oxalate Stones

Food and drink enter the body, after your body uses what it needs for energy it disposes the waste through the bloodstream to your kidneys and removes it through urine, too much oxalate for example and not enough liquid in the urine can turn into crystals forming a solid mass (calcium oxalate stones) (National kidney foundation). 

Consuming a Healthy Diet

In my opinion, I think a proper diet would curb the effects of forming crystals in the urine. It doesn't mention how heavy the coffee drinkers were or if the coffee was strictly black. Creams and sugars in the coffee along with heavy use and improper dieting, which most people consume, probably is at a higher risk than folks who consume 1 or 2 cups of black coffee a day and consume a healthy diet regularly. A healthy diet along with consuming enough water everyday would consist of less waste in the urine. A lot lower risk for calcium oxalate stones I would think. 

Benefits of Coffee Drinking

Coffee is linked to reducing the risk of prostate cancer. Research has shown coffee to help stop the spread of cancer and prevent it from forming. Great at fighting type 2 diabetes and preventing diabetes altogether. 

Coffee has benefits for the liver according to the British Liver Trust. It prevents liver cancer, lowers the risk of cirrhosis and fibrosis, and slows liver disease progression. In addition, the positive effects of coffee include:

• fighting depression 
• prevents Alzheimer's by preventing the buildup of amyloid protein in the brain
• prevents different cancers besides prostate cancer according to the American Cancer Society 
• studies since 1968 revealed coffee drinkers were less likely to become diagnosed with Parkinsons disease 
• just by drinking 2-3 cups of coffee a day lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease

Is coffee bad for the kidneys? Definitely if you consume an unhealthy diet and have a family history of PKD. It will build up waste in your urine and too much waste and not enough liquid can cause kidney stones. 

Consuming a healthy diet along with drinking black coffee will benefit the entire body. Coffee will prevent a lot of serious diseases and ailments when combined with a nutritional diet. It will pack your body with antioxidants and anti-inflammatories fighting off disease instead of creating them with unhealthy consumptions.  

Works Cited 

Chauhan, Veeraish. “Can Drinking Too Much Coffee Give You Kidney Disease?” Verywell Health, 24 May 2022, www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-coffees-effect-on-the-kidneys-4147536.

Mayo Clinic. “Polycystic Kidney Disease - Symptoms and Causes.” Mayo Clinic, 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/polycystic-kidney-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20352820.

National kidney foundation. “Calcium Oxalate Stones.” National Kidney Foundation, 16 May 2016, www.kidney.org/atoz/content/calcium-oxalate-stone.