In recent years, many people have been protecting their kidneys with various medications. In reality, the various poor dietary and lifestyle habits formed in daily life are constantly harming your kidneys, you just haven't noticed it. Therefore, to protect your kidneys, you must start by changing these poor dietary and lifestyle habits.
Dislike for drinking water
Most men are not very interested in drinking water, and even don't think it's important, but this can easily cause significant harm to the body. The metabolic waste products in our bodies are 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. Every minute, 1 to 2 liters of blood pass through the kidneys, so 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 waste from physiological activities, and excrete it in urine. However, performing these functions requires sufficient water to assist them.
Solution: Developing a habit of drinking more water can dilute urine, allowing it to be excreted quickly. This not only prevents stones but also helps dilute urine when too much salt is consumed, thereby protecting the kidneys. Love for beer
If you already have kidney disease and drink large amounts of beer without restriction, it can cause uric acid to deposit, leading to renal tubule blockage and kidney failure.
Solution: If a blood test reveals kidney problems, it's likely that kidney function is already severely damaged. Rather than 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 assess kidney health.
Improper consumption of vegetables and fruits
It's a common belief that eating more vegetables and fruits is healthy. However, for people with chronic kidney dysfunction, these foods, which are often considered to help naturally lower blood pressure, are high in potassium. Long-term consumption can actually damage their kidney function. In fact, for people with poor kidney function, potassium is 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, or vegetable soup. The diet should be light. Replacing water with beverages
Most men dislike the bland taste of plain water. In comparison, carbonated drinks like soda and cola, or beverages like coffee, have naturally become the best substitutes. However, the caffeine in these beverages often leads to high blood pressure, which is one of the important factors that damage the kidneys.
Solution: Try to avoid drinking too many beverages and replace them with plain water. Drink 8 large glasses of 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 a person weighing 50 kg can only consume 40 grams of protein per day. Therefore, one should not eat more than 300 grams of meat in a day to avoid excessive damage to the kidneys.
Solution: If you find protein in your urine and have eaten too much meat, long-term consumption can damage kidney function. The intake of meat and soy products per meal should be controlled to the size of a palm, about 0.5 cm thick. For people with chronic nephritis, this amount should be reduced. Abuse of painkillers
Studies have shown that long-term use of mixed painkillers can force the body's blood flow rate to decrease, thus seriously affecting kidney function. Additionally, it's worth noting that patients with kidney failure caused by painkillers are more prone to bladder cancer.
Solution: Regardless of the type of painkiller, it should only be taken occasionally and absolutely not 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加重 the burden on the kidneys. 95% of the salt in our diet is metabolized by the kidneys. Consuming too much forces the kidneys to work harder. Furthermore, the sodium in salt makes it difficult for the body to expel 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 to less than 6 grams, of which 3 grams can be obtained directly from daily food. Therefore, when seasoning food, it should be kept between 3 to 5 grams. It's worth noting that instant noodles contain a lot of salt, so people who eat them frequently should reduce their consumption. Excessive stress causing high blood pressure
High blood pressure has become a major threat to the health of modern people, largely due to excessive stress from work and life, which indirectly affects the normal functioning of the kidneys. A common symptom of stress is insomnia. Men's average blood pressure is 5 to 10 mmHg higher than women's, and insomnia can cause blood pressure to rise by an average of 2 to 5 mmHg.
Solution: Young people generally find it difficult to detect their own hypertension. Therefore, regardless of age, it is best to have your blood pressure measured regularly to prevent high blood pressure caused by staying up late and excessive stress. Consuming unknown medicines and foods
It is not uncommon for acute kidney failure to be caused by eating strange foods like snake gallbladders or grass carp gallbladders. Many people do so out of temporary curiosity or even blindly take traditional Chinese medicine to enhance virility. In fact, many traditional Chinese medicines contain nephrotoxic ingredients such as aristolochic acid, which can not only cause great harm to the kidneys but can even be harmful to the whole body.
Solution: Although fish or snake gallbladders are often claimed to have effects like enhancing virility, clearing heat and detoxifying, or treating acne, even those used in traditional Chinese medicine must be specially processed to remove their toxicity. Do not take them blindly.