Kidney disease is one of the silent killers that can affect a lot of people around the world. Unhealthy eating habits, high blood pressure or family history of kidney diseases are some of the main reasons of kidney ailments. The more bad habits that you have, the higher is your risk of damaging your kidneys. To ensure that your kidneys stay healthy, you need to eliminate bad habits and follow a healthy lifestyle. On this World Kidney Day, we share some golden rules that you can follow to maintain kidney health. Read on.
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How to Keep Kidneys Healthy
These are the tips that can help you to keep the kidney healthy by the natural way:
Drink Enough Water
The first step to maintain your kidney health is to stay hydrated. The miracle drink can do wonders as your kidneys don’t need to work extra hard to remove the toxins from your body. However, avoid overhydration as drinking excess water can do more harm than good. Though many people recommend drinking 7-8 glasses of water a day, you need to consider a lot of things such as the weather, weight, physical activity, and gender to determine how much water is sufficient. Lastly, ensure that you install a water purifier so as to drink water that is free from impurities.
Keep your Blood Sugar under Control
Another way to maintain your kidney health is by keeping your blood sugar under control. Diabetes is one of the most common causes of kidney disease. Keeping this in mind, diabetes patients need to undergo kidney function test at frequent intervals. The chances of kidney damage may, however, reduce if it is detected early.
Avoid consuming Excess Salt
Your kidney health is adversely affected by excessive consumption of salt. Too much sodium in your diet is extremely harmful, especially if you have a family history of hypertension. Avoid canned food, junk foods or any other type of snacks that contain an excess amount of salt. Include fresh foods, nuts, vegetables and other homemade snacks to keep salt intake in control.
Exercise Regularly
Exercising regularly can go a long way in maintaining your kidney health and avoiding problems. Regular physical activity keeps your weight under control, thereby preventing diabetes and hypertension. However, make sure that you exercise in moderation, especially if you have any health problems. Exercising too much if you are not fit, will lead to excessive muscle breakdown and strain your kidneys.
Quit Smoking
There is a reason people advise you to kick the habit. Smoking slows down blood flow to the kidneys. Lack of blood flow has an impact on your health as the kidneys can’t function optimally. Smoking not only shoots up your high blood pressure but also increases the risk of kidney cancer.
Avoid Consuming Excess Proteins
Though it is necessary to consume proteins, including too much protein in your diet can affect your kidney health. The reason is kidneys release toxins such as nitrogen and ammonia when you include excessive protein in your diet. Excessive protein also causes the kidney to perform hyperfiltration and lead to kidney damage.
Excessive Dependency on Over-the-counter Medicines
Many common medicines that we take regularly consume may increase the chances of kidney damage if consumed for a prolonged period of time. Using these medicines if you have healthy kidneys doesn’t do much harm. However, if you have chronic pain or arthritis, you need to talk to a doctor to keep a check on your kidney function or find some alternative remedies to control the health issues.
You May Also Read: A Guide to Calculate How Much Water to Drink in a Day
Conclusion
Kidneys are extremely important as these natural filters in your body remove toxins to keep you healthy. As they perform the important function of filtering out toxins, you need to make a healthy move to keep the organs in optimal condition. This World Kidney Day, make a pledge to follow the tips mentioned above to maintain kidney health and avoid serious health problems.