Kidneys are one of the most important organs of our bodies. They are located at the bottom of our rib cage, on both sides of the spine. Most importantly, they perform various essential tasks such as filtering waste products, regulating pH level, producing hormones and many more. So it is crucial to keep your kidneys healthy by any means.
However in recent days, the rate of kidney disease is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide. Maintaining kidney health is the only effective way to reduce the risk of potential kidney damage. Proper health awareness about healthy lifestyle can help us get rid of such kidney ailments. Here in this article, we are going to describe 7 effective ways to improve your kidney health:
Follow A Healthy Diet
A healthy balanced diet is the key to keep your kidneys healthy. Whenever you consume food, your kidneys break them down inside your body. If the things you eat contain excessive fat, salt or sugar, that may lead to severe kidney diseases. You can consult with a dietician to help you guide properly on what do’s and don’ts.
Accordingly, build the habit of eating foods that are low in sodium. If possible, take different kidney healthy foods for example:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Cold water fish like salmon, sardines
- Canola oil, walnuts
Some of these foods contain omega-3 fatty acids that are good for your kidneys. And, they contain less saturated fats and cholesterol. So consuming them helps your kidneys function properly smoothly.
Control Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is extremely harmful to our health. Especially when you have diabetes, high blood sugar level or cholesterol level as well, your kidney functions may fail to perform. In recent days, many young people are experiencing high blood pressure due to their irregular daily routine. It is a major concern indeed, developing health issues even before reaching the middle age mark.
Therefore, try to bring change in your daily lifestyle. And take medication treatment to prevent any long term effects on your kidneys. You can even visit a specialist doctor to get better consultation on your duties to stay fit.
Stay Hydrated
Water takes around 70% of our full body weight. So it shows how essential water is for our health. It does the work of moving waste to your bladder in the form of urine. Moreover, your blood vessels remain open for water so that blood can travel to your kidneys with proper nutrients.
Once you become dehydrated, the whole system collapses. As a result, you may feel tired and fail to perform your daily activities. So always stay hydrated by drinking at least 2 liters of water in a day. That is quite sufficient for an adult person to allow the body functions to work.
Increase Physical Activity
Physical activity is a fundamental rule to improve your kidney health. A healthy lifestyle requires regular regular exercise to stay fit. The lack of exercise makes many of us overweight. And, we suffer terribly in our day-to-day life due to obesity.
If you stay active and exercise regularly, it lowers the risk of any kidney disease. On top of that, you will be able to keep your blood pressure and cholesterol level under control.
Therefore, perform the physical activity of your preference. You can try walking, running or cycling everyday for around 25-30 minutes. Also, you can use different gym accessories to start exercising. Even if you can’t do so, go for free hand exercise. It can bring health benefits as well. Once you increase physical activity on a regular basis, your body weight will decrease. And, you will experience a massive change in your health.
Quit Smoking and Alcohol Consumption
Smoking and alcohol intake bring no benefits to your body. Every time you smoke, it degrades your body organs a bit more. It works as a vital risk factor in causing both kidney and heart disease. In most cases, smoking prevents the blood from flowing to our organs. As a result, the blood circulation process throughout our body is hampered heavily. Also, the arteries become hard due to excessive smoking which results in coronary artery disease. So you might even become a victim of kidney failure.
Similar to smoking, alcohol consumption can have severe effects on your health. Drinking alcohol excessively works as a potential threat to your kidney damage. So quitting the habit of smoking and alcohol is the best step that you can ever take. Once you refrain from these bad habits, the risk of kidney disease decreases tremendously. And, you will feel much better than ever.
Minimize OCT Pill Consumption
Many patients take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen and naproxen for pain mitigation. But taking too many medicines like these can create issues with your kidney. If you frequently take over-the-counter (OTC) pills for medications without doctor’s consultation, you might be in big trouble.
So talk to a specialist doctor if your kidney is fine enough to function despite taking these pills. If you have no kidney disease symptoms, you are safe. However, it is always better to look for alternative ways to keep your pain under control.
Get Regular Health Checkup
It is never too late to consult a kidney specialist to avoid severe kidney damage. Regular testing is the best way to identify your risk of confronting any kidney disease. If your health history has high blood pressure, diabetes or cardiovascular disease, early treatment is the best way to prevent further health problems.
So never hesitate to get regular health checkup if you are in one of the following groups:
- Over 30 years old
- Born at low weight
- family with cardiovascular disease history
- Family members having a history of high blood pressure
- Obesity issue
Final Words
About 850 million people over the world are suffering from a variety of kidney diseases. Millions of patients are finding it hard to deal with chronic kidney disease, kidney infection, kidney failure and other kidney related diseases. Hence, many people have to opt for the dialysis method when their kidneys fail to function properly.
So the best thing you can do is to take care of your body and maintain a healthy daily routine. A regular kidney test is the most effective way to have a regular check on your kidney health. Eat healthy, exercise regularly and maintain your weight – That’s all you need to do to keep your kidneys healthy.
