Some Coffee Drinkers May Be At Risk of Kidney Dysfunction, finds New U of T study

A new study from the University of Toronto finds that too much coffee in some cases could increase the risk of kidney dysfunction!

The study found that about half of the population has a genetic variant which means their body is slow at metabolizing caffeine.

So those who drink more than three cups of coffee a day and are also slow metabolizers are at risk of kidney dysfunction…

Kidney Dysfunction can impede on the organ’s ability to filter waste from the blood. Unmanaged, it can lead to long-term damage, such as kidney failure.  The researchers say “drinking a large amount of coffee which contains caffeine can lead to extra stress for the kidneys to work harder.”

Caffeine can become a toxin in the human body when it’s in a high concentration, the researchers explained. The key difference is slow metabolizers break down those toxins slower, which increases the likelihood of adverse effects.

For fast metabolizers, they found it didn’t matter how much-caffeinated coffee they consumed, there was no link to kidney dysfunction.