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Eating lots of sugar may raise your risk of getting kidney stones, researchers find

By Mallika Marshall, MD

August 7, 2023 / 5:35 PM EDT / CBS Boston

BOSTON - If you eat a lot of sugar, you might be more likely to get kidney stones.

Kidney stones are common, affecting about 10% of the population, and passing one can be excruciatingly painful. The cause is not always clear, but diet and lifestyle factors may play a role. To study the possible impact of a high-sugar diet, researchers in China studied more than 28,000 U.S. adults and found that those who consumed the most sugar had 39% higher odds of developing kidney stones compared to those who consumed the least.

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day for women and 9 teaspoons for men.

However, the average American adult eats 17 teaspoons of added sugar daily.

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Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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