Sugar: Cakes, fizzy drinks and ice-cream will cause kidney stones, top doctor warns

Scientists have warned that food with added sugars – such as soft drinks, ice-cream and cakes – will likely increase the risk of developing kidney stones.

Researchers have found that people with the highest intake of added sugars had nearly 40 per cent greater odds of developing kidney stones.

Lead author Dr Shan Yin, a researcher at the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China, said: “Ours is the first study to report an association between added sugar consumption and kidney stones.

“It suggests that limiting added sugar intake may help to prevent the formation of kidney stones.”

One in 11 people will get stone symptoms during their lifetime, according to The British Association of Urological Surgeons. Known risk factors include obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, and being an adult male.

For the study, the Dr Yin and colleagues analysed data from more than 28,000 people who were part of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) survey.

Each person’s daily intake of added sugars was estimated from their self reported food and drink consumption.

They also received a healthy eating index score (HEI-2015), based on the food they ate, whether it was beneficial foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, or less healthy options such as refined grains or saturated fat.

The researchers adjusted for factors such as gender, age, race or ethnicity, income, body mass index, HEI-2015 score, smoking status, and whether the people taking part in the study had a history of diabetes.

The researchers said people who received more than 25 per cent of their total energy from added sugars had a 88 per cent greater odds than those who had less than five per cent of their total energy from added sugars.

Results also showed people below poverty levels had greater odds of developing kidney stones when exposed to more added sugars than those at or slightly above poverty levels.

Dr Yin said: “Further studies are needed to explore the association between added sugar and various diseases or pathological conditions in detail.

“For example, what types of kidney stones are most associated with added sugar intake?"