In recent years, many people have been protecting their kidneys through various medications. In fact, the various poor dietary and lifestyle habits formed in life are constantly harming your kidneys, you just haven't noticed it yet. Therefore, to protect your kidneys, you must start by changing poor dietary and lifestyle habits.
Not drinking enough water
Most men are not very interested in drinking water, and don't even think it's important, but this can easily cause significant physical harm. The metabolic waste in our bodies is mainly processed by the liver and kidneys. The kidneys, which account for only 1% of body weight, receive a quarter of the body's cardiac output, and 1 to 2 liters of blood pass through the kidneys every minute. Therefore, the kidneys receive far more waste than other organs. The most important function of the kidneys is to regulate the balance of water and electrolytes in the body, metabolize the waste produced by physiological activities, and excrete it in urine. However, when performing these functions, sufficient water is needed for assistance.
Solution: Developing the habit of drinking more water can dilute urine, allowing it to be excreted quickly. This not only prevents kidney stones but also helps to dilute urine when too much salt is consumed, thereby protecting the kidneys.
Loving to drink beer
If you already have kidney disease and drink beer without restriction, it will cause uric acid to deposit, leading to renal tubular blockage and causing kidney failure.
Solution: If a blood test reveals kidney problems, the kidney function may already be severely damaged. Instead of waiting for a blood test to understand your kidney condition, it's better to have regular urine tests, as urinalysis is the simplest and quickest way to understand kidney function.
Improper consumption of vegetables and fruits
It is a common belief that eating more vegetables and fruits is healthy. However, for people with chronic kidney dysfunction, vegetables and fruits, which are usually considered to help naturally lower blood pressure, contain high levels of potassium. Long-term consumption can actually damage their kidney function. In fact, for people with poor kidney function, potassium is also a component that increases the workload on the kidneys and is very harmful to them.
Solution: If you have chronic kidney dysfunction, you should pay attention to consuming vegetables and fruits appropriately to avoid affecting the kidneys. Avoid drinking overly concentrated vegetable juices, hot pot broth, and vegetable soup. Your diet should be light.
Using beverages instead of water
Most men don't like the bland taste of plain water. In comparison, carbonated drinks like soda and cola, or beverages like coffee, have naturally become the best substitutes for plain water. However, the caffeine in these beverages often leads to high blood pressure, and high blood pressure is one of the important factors that harm the kidneys.
Solution: Try to avoid drinking too many beverages and replace them with plain water. Drink 8 glasses of plain water daily to promote the timely excretion of toxins from the body.
Eating too much meat
The American Food Association once recommended that the daily protein intake for humans should be 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. This means that a person weighing 50 kilograms can only consume 40 grams of protein per day, so you should not eat more than 300 grams of meat in a day to avoid causing too much damage to the kidneys.
Solution: If protein is found in the urine and you have eaten too much meat, long-term consumption will damage kidney function. The intake of meat and bean products per meal should be controlled to about the size of a palm and 0.5 cm thick. If you have chronic nephritis, this amount should be further reduced.
Abuse of painkillers
Studies have shown that long-term use of mixed painkillers can force the body's blood flow to slow down, thus seriously affecting kidney function. In addition, it is worth noting that patients with kidney failure caused by painkillers are more likely to develop bladder cancer.
Solution: Regardless of which type of painkiller you take, it is only suitable for occasional use and absolutely cannot be taken long-term. If you need to rely on painkillers for a long time, you must seek medical attention for a thorough examination.
Eating too much salt
Salt is a major culprit that increases the burden on the kidneys. 95% of the salt in our diet is metabolized by the kidneys. Consuming too much salt forces the kidneys to bear a heavier burden. Furthermore, the sodium in salt makes it difficult for the body to excrete water, which further加重 the burden on the kidneys, leading to a decline in kidney function.
Solution: The scientific daily salt intake should be controlled within 6 grams, of which 3 grams can be directly obtained from daily food. Therefore, when seasoning food, it should be kept within 3 to 5 grams. It is worth noting that instant noodles contain a lot of salt, and people who eat them frequently should reduce their consumption.
Too much stress causing high blood pressure
High blood pressure has become a major threat to the health of modern people, largely caused by excessive life and work stress, which indirectly affects the normal functioning of the kidneys. A common symptom of stress is insomnia. The average blood pressure of men is 5 to 10 mmHg higher than that of women, and insomnia on average causes blood pressure to rise by 2 to 5 mmHg.
Solution: Young people generally find it difficult to detect their own high blood pressure. Therefore, regardless of age, it is best to have your blood pressure measured regularly, and prevent staying up late and excessive stress from raising blood pressure.
Consuming unknown medicines and foods
It is not uncommon for acute kidney failure to be caused by eating strange foods such as snake gallbladder or grass carp gallbladder. Many people do it out of temporary curiosity or even blindly take traditional Chinese medicine for aphrodisiac purposes. In fact, many traditional Chinese medicines contain nephrotoxic ingredients such as aristolochic acid, which not only cause great harm to the kidneys, but some can even harm the whole body.
Solution: Although fish gallbladder or snake gallbladder are often claimed to have aphrodisiac effects, can clear heat and detoxify, or treat acne, even the fish or snake gallbladder used in traditional Chinese medicine must be specially processed to remove its toxicity. Do not take it blindly.