Sources say that more than 20 million Nigerians are living with kidney disease and no fewer than 20,000 of the number are coming down with End Stage Kidney Disease requiring dialysis and/or transplant to stay alive. This begs the question: what lifestyle changes can help you protect your kidneys? Consider the following:
Stay Hydrated
Drinking enough water helps your kidneys process waste products and also keeps blood vessels open so blood can flow smoothly to and from the kidneys. Your kidneys are self-cleaning and self-maintaining, capable of operating for a long time. However, you have a part to play in helping them do their work. A great deal of water must pass through your kidneys for your body to remain healthy. Adequate water intake is considered a primary means of preventing kidney infections and the formation of kidney stones. Drinking water also aids your digestive and cardiovascular systems. Doctors recommend that in addition to taking in other foods and drinks, each person should drink at least two quarts of water every day.
Adjust your Diet
Doctors suggest limiting your consumption of red meat, salt, and foods high in oxalate, which is believed to help form stones. These foods include nuts, chocolate, black pepper, and leafy green vegetables, such as spinach. Many packaged foods and restaurant items are loaded with salt. The kidneys can only process so much sodium, so too much salt in your diet can lead to high blood pressure.
Exercise Regularly
The human body needs regular physical activity to stay healthy. Many diseases, physical limitations, and mental health problems are affected by a lack of physical activity. Studies have shown that exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease. It can do this through decreasing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. More so, exercise makes your muscles stronger, which helps make your bones stronger. This is helpful because kidney disease sometimes weakens bones. All types of movement count, you do not necessarily have to go to the gym or get involved in heavyweight exercise.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep has a strong connection to kidney disease. Many a report suggest that people with inadequate sleep will develop more kidney problems. In patients already suffering from kidney disease, it is believed that poor-quality sleep can worsen the condition a lot faster. Fundamentally, you need sleep which is a period of repair and restoration for all body components, to help your kidneys repair, restore and function correctly. Sleep disruption is associated with diseases like hypertension and diabetes, all of which cause kidney diseases. Furthermore, the use of sleep pills for poor sleep can cause kidney diseases.
Stop Smoking and Drinking
Smoking can hurt your kidneys in many ways. The main problem is the disruption of proper blood flow to the arteries. Smoking causes a spike in blood pressure. If blood pressure is high all the time, these vessels become weaker and narrower. When this happens, they can’t deliver blood to the kidneys properly. Damaged kidney arteries reduce the kidney’s ability to filter blood. In turn, damaged kidneys can’t help the body regulate blood pressure, making the process a vicious cycle. As artery damage gets worse, the kidneys start failing.
Excess alcohol can have a toll on the kidney. Alcohol is primarily filtered through the liver. Because it is directly absorbed into the bloodstream, the kidneys will have to work overtime to try and pull the toxic metabolites that alcohol creates out of the system. Long-term effects of excessive drinking include kidney stones and kidney damage and possible failure. Alcohol can raise your blood pressure, and regular heavy drinking can cause chronic high blood pressure. This is another risk factor for kidney disease.
Manage Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and Heart Disease
If you have diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease, the best way to protect your kidneys from damage is to keep the blood glucose numbers close to your goal. Checking your blood glucose, or blood sugar, level is an important way to manage your diabetes. Also, keep the blood pressure numbers close to your goal. Check it regularly and get it under control to make sure your kidneys stay healthy. Take medications as instructed.
Annual kidney Check-up
Kidney diseases are often silent diseases and do not produce any symptoms until they reach an advanced stage. The most powerful and effective but, sadly, underutilized method for early diagnosis and prevention of kidney disease is a regular kidney check-up. Annual kidney check-up is a must for high-risk persons who suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity or have a history of Kidney disease in the family. If you love your kidneys (and, more importantly, yourself), do not forget to get a regular kidney checkup after the age of 40. A simple method for early detection and diagnosis of kidney disease is at least an annual blood pressure measurement, urinalysis and a test to measure creatinine in the blood.
