RELATED: Drinking One Glass of This Per Day Can Slash Your Stroke Risk, Study Says. The latest research comes from a team at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health that was recently published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Scientists examined 372 blood metabolites in almost 5,000 people, ultimately finding that 41 metabolites were associated with coffee consumption. Of all the metabolites detected, one—glycochenodeoxycholate, a lipid involved in primary bile acid metabolism—is considered potentially beneficial to kidney health. But two others—o-methylcatechol sulfate and 3-methyl catechol sulfate, which are involved in the metabolism of the preservative benzoate—were also found, which are also typically seen in the system after smoking cigarettes and can lead to renal failure. Researchers say the presence of these metabolites is closely associated with higher risks of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD). RELATED: If You Drink Your Coffee Like This, You May Be Increasing Your Cancer Risk, Study Says. “There were two other metabolites associated with coffee that surprisingly were associated with a higher risk of incident chronic kidney disease,” Rebholz added. “These compounds were also associated with cigarette smoking, which may in part explain why these compounds were associated with a higher risk of kidney disease.” This isn’t the only recent study to find a connection between coffee and the health of your kidneys. Research posted in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases on Oct. 21 analyzed genetic data from nearly 572,000 participants from the U.K. and Finland. Unlike the previous study, results showed that taking in a little more coffee could actually have a significant benefit. “Our findings strongly suggest that regular coffee consumption reduces the risk of kidney stone formation,” Susanna C. Larsson, PhD, one of the study’s leaders from the Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said in a statement. She added: “[…G]oing from, for example, one cup a day to 1.5 cups per day, reduces the risk of kidney stones by 40 percent.” The study’s findings uphold some previous research on the connection between caffeine consumption and overall kidney health. The research team explains that caffeine increases urine flow, saying it “represents an important protective factor against the development of kidney stones,” adding that it was still essential to match coffee intake with enough water as well to see this benefit. The team also added that caffeine “can also reduce calcium oxalate crystal adhesion to kidney cells” and that “coffee plants are rich in citric acid; urinary citrate is a known inhibitor of renal stone formation.” “Given the increasing prevalence of kidney stones in the United States and the associated morbidity, it would be great if this turns out to be a new prevention strategy that is both accessible and affordable,” Kerry Willis, PhD, chief scientific officer for the National Kidney Foundation, said of the findings. RELATED: Drinking This Kind of Water Increases Your Parkinson’s Risk, Studies Show.
