(ThySistas.com) When it comes to taking care of your health and well-being, you – like most people – will probably have a holistic focus. You’ll think about how to improve your overall health and ensure you feel at your best, which is undoubtedly beneficial, but sometimes, it’s helpful to expand your remit and focus on certain aspects – or more specifically, organs – in order to achieve both a broad and narrow spectrum approach to health management.
In this piece, we’ve focused on an organ – or pair of organs, to be more specific – that often tend to be overlooked: the kidneys. For the most part, few people think about their kidneys at all, but kidney disease is surprisingly common:
- According to the CDC, around 30 million people in the US have chronic kidney disease.
- Kidney disease is the ninth most common cause of death in the USA.
- Around 468,000 Americans require dialysis.
- The Jim Plante Foundation For Kidney Transplant Research notes, over 100,000 people are currently awaiting kidney transplants.
For those seeking to improve and maintain the best possible health, the facts clearly demonstrate that kidney health requires special focus, and here are a few tips you may want to keep in mind in order to do just that…
#1 – Monitor your blood pressure and blood sugar
Kidney disease tends to be highly comorbid with hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes, so one of the best ways to prevent kidney issues is by ensuring you avoid them. Simple good health practices, such as eating healthy food and exercising regularly, can help to keep hypertension and diabetes at bay. Furthermore, scheduling appointments with a nephrologist in New Jersey or a professional in your area can help to manage these problems through medications and regular monitoring. This is advisable.
#2 – Stay hydrated
Hydration is crucial for health in general, but is particularly critical for kidney health. Drinking plenty of fluids helps to clear toxins from the kidneys, with aiming to drink around two liters of water per day generally advised.
#3 – Avoid NSAIDs
NSAIDs – nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory – medications are commonly available over-the-counter; ibuprofen and aspirin, for example, are both NSAIDs. Unfortunately, while NSAIDs are useful for pain relief, research has shown they can cause kidney damage when used long-term, so it’s best to only turn to NSAIDs very occasionally.
#4 – Limit your sodium intake
Excess sodium – particularly in salt – can be detrimental to kidney health, so try to ensure you are only eating around 2,300 milligrams per day. If you want to be particularly cautious, most calorie-tracking apps will calculate the amount of sodium in your diet, so you can be sure you don’t exceed the recommended amount.
#5 – Quit smoking
Most people are aware that quitting smoking helps to improve their health in a number of ways, and particularly helps to protect lung health, but your kidneys can also benefit from turning your back on cigarettes for good. Smoking causes the blood flow to the kidneys to slow, which impairs their ability to function as they should.
In conclusion
Hopefully, following the tips above will help to ensure that your kidneys are always in the best possible condition – much to the benefit of your health and well-being as a whole.
Staff Writer; Sherry Jacobs