15 best ways to keep your kidneys healthy?

Healthy Kidney

 Kidneys are two bean-shaped and fist-sized organs located at the bottom of our rib cage on both sides of our spine. They perform several important functions in our body. They work as a natural filter in our body. They filter waste products, excess water and other impurities from our blood. These waste products are stored in our bladder and later expelled through urine. Kidneys regulate pH, salt, and potassium levels in our body. They also produce hormones that regulate blood pressure and control the production of red blood cells. Kidneys are also responsible for activating a form of vitamin D that helps our body absorb calcium for building bones and regulating muscle function.Maintaining kidney health is important to our overall health and general well-being. By keeping our kidneys healthy, our body will filter and expel waste properly and produce hormones to help your body function properly.

Here are 15 ways that help to keep your kidneys healthy:

Control blood sugar: Many of us who have diabetes do not know they have diabetes. High blood sugar is a symptom of diabetes that can develop kidney damage. When our body’s cells fail to use the glucose (sugar) in our blood then our kidneys are forced to work extra hard to filter our blood. Over years of exertion, this can lead to life-threatening damage. By controlling our blood sugar levels we can reduce the risk of damage. If the damage is caught early, the doctor can take steps to reduce or prevent additional damage.

Control blood pressure: High blood pressure has a bad effect on our body. It can cause kidney damage. The normal blood pressure reading is 120/80 mmHg. Prehypertension is between 120/80 mmHg and 139/89mmHg. When our blood pressure readings are consistently above 140/90mmHg then it is considered as high blood pressure. Lifestyle and dietary changes may help to lower our blood pressure. If it falls to lower our blood pressure then our doctor advises us for taking medication.

Maintain a healthy weight: Overweight directly affects our kidneys. The excess weight forces the kidneys to work harder than usual and to filter out waste products. Long-term working in this way increases the risk of kidney disease. It increases the risk of chronic kidney disease such as diabetes and hypertension that can damage our kidneys.

Eat a healthy diet: Our kidneys are work as a filter. It filters everything that we eat or drink including anything that is bad for us such as a lot of fats, salt and sugar. A bad diet can lead to high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes that can damage our kidneys. A healthy diet contains a lot of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and few processed foods. A healthy diet can help to maintain ideal body weight, reduce blood pressure, prevent diabetes, heart disease and other conditions that are associated with chronic kidney disease.

Drink enough water:  Water plays an important role to keep our kidneys healthy. Drinking enough water will help our kidneys to function properly. A healthy person in a comfortable climate condition should drink approximately 2 litres of water. This amount needs to be adjusted in severe climate condition if someone has a kidney, heart or liver disease. It helps to get nutrients to the kidneys and move waste to our bladder in the form of urine. If we do not drink enough water then the tiny filters inside the kidneys can get stopped up and lead to kidney stone and infections. Mild dehydration can damage our kidneys if it happens often enough.

Exercise: Regular exercise is good for kidneys. It helps to keep your kidneys healthy.It can reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease. It also helps to lower blood pressure and boost heart health. Exercise can control our blood sugar levels that cause diabetes. High blood pressure and diabetes are two factors that can damage our kidneys.

Skip herbal supplements: Herbal supplement use is often unsafe for those who have kidney disease. Some herbal products are harmful to our kidneys and make our kidney disease worse and our kidney can not remove waste products from our body. Some herbal supplements contain aristolochic acid that is harmful to kidneys. It may interact with prescription medicine.

Don't hold the urine: Holding urine for a long period of time can cause urinary tract infections due to bacteria build-up. It increases the possibility of kidney disease. Holding the urine can weaken the bladder muscles and lead to urinary retention a dreaded condition that prevents us from being able to fully empty our bladder when we urinate.

Get enough sleep: Kidneys can suffer from the long-term consequences of poor sleep. People who have chronic kidney diseases and sleep less have a chance to decline kidney function more rapid. Lack of sleep can enhance high blood pressure. Our body’s ‘living organisms’ cannot function properly without sleep. The hormonal balance of the body can be disturbed. If we do not get enough sleep, the risk of diabetes increases. Prolonged sleep deprivation or insufficient sleep disrupts insulin production in the body. So to keep our kidneys healthy we should aim for 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.

Limit alcohol intake: Alcohol has a significant impact on our kidneys. Drinking too much alcohol can increase our blood pressure and that helps to damage our kidneys. It causes changes in the function of the kidneys and makes them less able to filter the blood. It also affects the ability to regulate fluid and electrolytes in the body.

Immediate treatment for infections: Kidney infections need immediate treatment. If left untreated, it can lead to chronic kidney disease. Severe or repeated kidney infections can permanently damage the kidneys. Kidney infections can spread bacteria to our bloodstream, which can be life-threatening.

Limit salt intake: Salt affects people in different ways. It can raise the amount of protein in the urine. It also can make our kidney diseases worse if we already have it. Salt raises the chance of high blood pressure that causes kidney diseases and kidney stones.

Avoid smoking: Smoking is harmful to our health. It creates multiple problems in our body. It slows down blood flow throughout our body and to our kidneys. Less blood flow to the kidneys decreases their ability to function normally. Smoking creates an increased risk of kidney cancer.

Avoid overuse of painkillers and antibiotics: Overuse of painkiller pills and antibiotics is harmful for the kidneys. It can damage the Kidneys. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkiller such as Ibuprofen and naproxen can damage the kidneys if it taken regularly. Taking just a few doses can do harm to the kidney. Using proton pump inhibitors for a long time can raise the chances of chronic kidney disease. Bacteria fighting drugs such as penicillin, sulfonamide and cephalosporin can damage our kidneys if we use these too often. It can happen even we are perfectly healthy and more serious if we have kidney disease.

Test kidney function: A healthy person should be tested for kidney function at least once or twice a year. Kidney disease is a silent killer and no symptoms appear until the kidney function is greatly reduced. Regular kidney function tests help us to know there is any problem in our kidneys and if there is any problem initially that can be solved by proper treatment. But when the function of the kidneys greatly decreased, there is no way to get better through treatment.