Drinking Coffee Reduces Risk of Kidney Injury, Study Finds

Researchers at John Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland have found that those who drink at least one cup of coffee per day are less likely to experience acute kidney injury (AKI) than those who don’t partake. The study, published earlier this year in the journal Kidney International Reports, spans 4,207 US adults aged 45 to 64 years who each enjoy varying degrees of coffee consumption.

The researchers found that those who drink coffee daily are 15 percent less likely to experience AKI than those who don’t. People who have two or three cups of coffee each day are even less likely to experience AKI, thanks to a decrease of about 23 percent. Even after adjusting for multiple variables like age, sex, race, education, physical activity, smoking, alcohol intake, diet, blood pressure, diabetes status, use of antihypertensive agents, and body mass index, the results remained largely the same.

While further research is required to determine why exactly coffee is so beneficial to the kidneys, researchers (at John Hopkins and beyond) have a few theories. Caffeine impacts kidney function in a number of ways, like sodium excretion, renal oxygen delivery, and blood pressure regulation. All of these are considered important factors in the development of AKI, especially in “high-risk populations with concurrent illness, injury, or comorbidities.” Coffee consumption has also been known to improve insulin sensitivity, boost heart health, and even reduce inflammation across the body. Together, these temporary biological “upgrades” have the ability to create an environment of increased renal success.

AKI, defined by Yale Medicine as an “episode of sudden kidney damage or failure,” often occurs in hospital settings. It’s sometimes seen alongside chronic kidney disease, heart conditions, severe dehydration, and diabetes, the last of which correlates with approximately 40 percent of recent US AKI hospitalizations. Treatment, while sometimes as easy as switching medications, can sometimes involve eliminating a risky infection or short-term dialysis. It goes without saying that AKI is a scary condition, and that nearly any way to avoid it is a welcome one.

Meanwhile, despite having adjusted for so many demographic variables, the researchers acknowledge that too many unknowns remain for coffee to be considered a safeguard against AKI. In the future, the researchers want to look into whether other caffeinated beverages, like tea or soda, have similar advantages for kidney health. They’d also like to investigate whether coffee additives like milk, half-and-half, or sweetener affect the beloved beverage’s renal benefits. (In the meantime, I’ll keep adding oat milk and syrup to my coffee, thank you very much.)

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