As we mentioned before your kidneys filter out waste products and extra fluids, the by-products then go into your urine and get disposed of when you pee. This helps to avoid building up excess and waste in your body. When you hold your pee in for long periods of time, ignoring nature’s call is actually one of the biggest factors that cause kidney problems.
The more time your urine stays inside, the more bacteria begin to manifest in it. When these bacteria reach a certain critical mass and begin to reach your kidneys, all sorts of trouble begin to unfold. This is actually one of the most productive things you can do for your kidneys, and it’s also one of the easiest since it’s not hard to find the motivation to pee when the need arises. Coming up: how cigarettes and processed foods are ruining your kidney health, explained.
Regular Exercise Promotes Kidney Health
According to The National Kidney Foundation (yup, it actually exists), doing some form of daily exercise helps lower blood pressure, improve sleep, and enhance muscle function.
According to a 2019 study, people with kidney disease who worked out for just 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise (that’s an average of 30 minutes per day for five days) have seen a substantial improvement in their health.
How a Healthy Social Life Can Improve Your Health
Most people know that we human beings are social creatures. We like to hang out with other people, talk to them, share with them, and more. Even introverts who pride themselves on their ability to thrive in solitude still need the occasional conversion, even if it's a virtual one. What scientists found about the subject of sociability is actually quite shocking, and you'll be running to tell your friends about it right after we tell you!
Having a good social life is officially linked to healthier kidneys unless you spend that time binge drinking with your friends. If you're a responsible and moderate drinker, you now have a great reason to spend some quality time with your friends this weekend!
A Bit of Exercise Goes a Long Way Towards Health
Back in the day, people used to mostly do labor-intensive jobs. Nowadays, there's not a lot of incentive to be physically active, with most jobs being desk jobs and most forms of entertainment including a screen or a couch. If you also add the fact that we're a lot busier today, you start to get the picture of why people tend to avoid exercising.
Fifteen minutes of daily exercise may lengthen your life by over three years on average when compared to people who don't exercise at all. “The truth is that if you’re exercising for health, it takes very little effort to see enormous benefits,” said Dr. Harvey Simon, the study’s author and an associate professor at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Luckily, everyone has fifteen minutes to spare - even the busiest people in the world can allocate a quarter of an hour for that, so go outside and take a walk. Your heart will thank you later!
Stay Away From Energy Drinks
Energy drinks are some of the most unhealthy types of beverages that you can drink. What makes them even worse than alcohol in certain ways is that they can be purchased by anyone, including an eight-year-old. These drinks, ranging from RedBull to Monster have extremely high amounts of sugar and caffeine in them, which is directly linked to high blood pressure, stress, and eventually kidney damage.
This was recently confirmed by a study in Frontiers in Public Health. There is currently little to no regulation by the Foods and Drugs Administration (FDA) despite recurring calls from various researchers to curb the damage they do to young children.