Want to protect your kidney health? 6 lifestyle changes you can make for a healthier 2021
For most people, January is the ideal time to make new resolutions. While we generally make big promises to ourselves on how we will finally start the new workout regime to shed those extra pounds or to work towards the career goals that we set for ourselves, we often tend to ignore our health issues until we experience more severe symptoms - so, what about our kidney health?
Maintaining kidney health, perhaps, is as important as taking care of other organs in the body. Optimum kidney health ensures that the body can filter waste properly and produce hormones that ensure its smooth functioning. This year, let your New Year’s resolution focus on kidney care.
Tips to improve your kidney health
The following tips suggested by Dr Bishwaranjan Mohanty, consultant nephrology and transplant physician at NephroPlus Dialysis center at Jyothi Hospital, Odisha, can help keep our kidneys healthy.
- Follow the golden rule of hydration: We all know drinking water is essential to good health, but drinking too much water can be just as problematic as drinking too little, especially if you have kidney failure. Don’t worry so much about the 8-glass a day prescription and focus on drinking enough so your urine is light yellow or colourless.
- Eat for better (kidney) health: Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading causes of kidney disease, so choosing healthy, low-sodium, low-cholesterol foods that help control these conditions are also good choices for your kidneys.
- Keep fit: Exercise helps keep many kidney disease risk factors in check. A regular exercise routine will help you maintain a healthy weight, prevent diabetes and heart disease and control blood pressure and cholesterol. Your kidneys will thank you for every drop of sweat, and so will the rest of your body. (Just don’t forget the golden rule!)
- Be a filter for your kidneys, and they will return the favour: Kidneys are responsible for removing harmful substances from the blood, including smoke and alcohol, so give them a break and cut back on the bad stuff. They also filter prescription and over-the-counter medicines, so never take more than what is prescribed and avoid medicines you don’t need.
- Consider your personal kidney profile: It may not be you; it may be your kidneys. Some people are more prone to kidney disease and they need to be more diligent when it comes to care. We know diabetes and high blood pressure are the biggest red flags, but there are many other factors to consider - heart disease, obesity and smoking also top the list, along with age and family history
- Schedule a kidney check-up: Kidney disease is known as the “silent killer” because patients can lose 90 per cent of kidney function before symptoms appear. The best defence is sometimes a great offense, and if you’re one of the 26 million who unknowingly suffer from kidney disease, early intervention may just save your life.
While it is important to follow all these points mentioned above we need to remember to get our kidneys checked if we suffer from diabetes, hypertension, and obesity or if you have a history of chronic kidney diseases.