Too much salt or artificial sweeteners could raise your risk of kidney function decline, according to two recent studies reported by HealthDay News.

In the first study, lead researcher Julie Lin, MD, and her team from the Women’s Hospital in Boston examined diet and kidney disease in 3,000 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study.

Investigators found that in women with healthy kidneys, higher sodium intake was linked with a rapid decline in kidney performance.

In the second study, analysts evaluated the connection between sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages and decline of kidney function among the same participants from the first study.

This time, researchers discovered that two or more servings a day of artificially sweetened soda were linked to a two-fold risk increase of faster kidney function decline.

Also of interest is that there was no connection between sugar-sweetened beverages and decreased kidney function.

Researchers concluded that more studies should be done to better understand how artificial sweeteners influence kidney function failure.

Find a complete guide to kidney disease here.