Top 10 Common Habits that Damage Your Kidneys

Looking for treatment after the illness is too obvious but have you ever tried to find the reason behind your illness. It is sorrowful but in today's time, there is a rapid spurt in health issues. Though we have made the advancement in technology, our life style and eating habits are deteriorating the quality of life.

Kidney diseases have been listed in the category of common and life threatening diseases. Kidney diseases are referred as silent diseases, the decay of kidneys can be steady and remained unnoticeable for years because kidneys can even perform their job with 20% of capacity.

Kidneys are the bean shaped organs in our body which are responsible for filtering blood, absorb minerals, produce urine, produce hormones, eliminate toxins and neutralize acids. Impairment in kidney function affects your over all health so take care of your kidneys before it is too late.

Here we are going to discuss common habits which are capable to destruct the kidney health.

1. Insufficient Water Intake

Drinking plenty of water helps the kidneys to eliminate sodium and toxins from the body. So, insufficient water intake can cause huge damage to your kidneys. When our body is deprived of enough water then blood in the body becomes concentrated, due to this blood flow to kidneys also gets reduced. Further it hinders the kidneys' ability to eliminate toxins from the body and more toxins in the body means more health problems.

2. High Salt Consumption

High salt intake in the diet can cause great damage to kidneys as well as other organs also. Kidneys work is to metabolize about 95 percent of the sodium consumed through food. When salt is high in our meals then kidney have to work harder to expel the excess salt. This in turn can reduce kidneys functioning. It leads to water retention in body which can a cause rise in blood pressure and accelerate the risk of kidney disease.

3. Overdoing of Painkillers

Generally most of us have a habit of taking painkillers for fever, pain and inflammations. But just the avoid use of any of kind of analgesics (painkiller) because it can cause direct damage to your kidneys along with other body parts.

Such medicines reduce blood flow to the kidneys and decline kidney functioning. Additionally heavy or long-term use of over-the-counter analgesics can cause acute renal failure or chronic kidney disease known as chronic interstitial nephritis.

Important Note – In the case of decreased kidney functions, do not take painkillers without doctor's prescription. However, in the case of normal kidney functions, try to use the analgesic with minimum dosage.

4. Not Emptying Bladder Timely

Sometimes we feel lazy to urinate. When nature calls, you should listen. If you are habitual of delaying the urination then refrain your habit because you will hold yourself responsible for kidney damage.

Retaining urine in your bladder is a bad idea which can damage your kidneys. The fullness of your bladder for a long time or postponing the urge to urinate is one of the leading reasons behind kidney damage. Urine retention in bladder creates the pressure on the kidneys, can lead to renal failure. On the other hands, harmful bacteria can also grow which can cause urinary tract infections or kidney infections.

5. High Protein Diet

Though protein is good for our health but too much consumption of red meat and other protein-based foods can upsurge the risk of developing kidney diseases.

Kidneys help in metabolism and excrete nitrogen by products from protein digestion. High protein intake creates the metabolic burden on kidneys and increases the risk of kidney diseases.

6. Alcohol Consumption

Alcohol consumption is another leading cause of kidney damage. So just think before you heavily drink. Alcoholic beverages have the high amounts of uric acid which get deposited in renal tubules and may lead to tubular obstruction. Alcohol is an extremely dehydrating agent which can cause the dehydration and disrupts the normal kidneys functions.

7. Smoking

Smoking is not cool it kills you so just quit this bad habit. Smoking is bad for almost every organ of the body including the kidneys.

Smoking raises blood pressure and reduces blood flow and constricts the blood vessels in the kidneys. This result in loss of kidney functions whereas in the case of existing kidney diseases it may worsen the condition.

8. Sleep Deprivation

In Today's inappropriate life style, people have forgot importance of sound and good sleep. A good sleep helps in the regeneration of body tissues. Awake nights may result in the high blood pressure and clogging of the arteries which in turn increases risk of kidney disease.

9. Too Much Caffeine Consumption

Taking Caffeine in moderate amounts does not result in health problems for most people. Consuming drinks which contain caffeine like tea, coffee, soft drinks, energy drinks, chocolate and cocoa can cause high blood pressure, which in turn will create the strain on your kidneys and can damage them.

10. Lack of Exercise

Lack of Exercise is another reason that can damage your kidneys. In some research studies it has been found that sitting for long periods of time is linked to the development of kidney disease. Reason behind this is physical activity helps to maintain the healthy blood pressure and glucose metabolism which are important for kidney health.