Drinking coffee may reduce risk of acute kidney injury

American scientists recently wrote in the "International Kidney Report" that drinking coffee is associated with a reduced risk of acute kidney injury (AKI): drinking coffee every day can reduce the risk of AKI by 15%; drinking two to three cups of coffee a day can reduce the risk by 22%-23%.

"We already know that regular coffee drinking can protect against chronic and degenerative diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and liver disease, and now we have one more thing on the list -- it can reduce the risk of AKI," said Chirag Parikh, director of the Division of Nephrology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the corresponding author of the latest study.

In the latest study, Parikh's team analyzed data from the American Community Atherosclerosis Risk Study (ARIC), which included 14,207 participants aged between 45 and 64, with an average age of 54. They collected basic information about all participants, including age, gender, height, weight, diet, and history of treatment for chronic diseases such as hypertension. Over a 24-year period, participants were surveyed seven times about their daily coffee drinking: 0 cups, 1 cup, 2 to 3 cups, or more than 3 cups. During the survey, the researchers recorded a total of 1,694 cases of AKI.

The results showed that after taking into account demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, lifestyle influences and dietary factors, overall, participants who drank coffee had a 15% lower risk of developing AKI than those who did not drink coffee. Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was associated with a more significant reduction in the risk of developing AKI - a 22% to 23% reduction.

The researchers explain that the reduced risk of AKI from coffee consumption may be related to the bioactive compounds in coffee or simply due to the caffeine itself, which is thought to inhibit the production of molecules that cause chemical imbalances and excessive use of oxygen in the kidneys, thus perhaps helping the kidneys maintain homeostasis.