Pain relievers are only meant to be taken only when needed. Our reliance on pain relievers is not good for our health as it may incur a heavy debt on our kidneys as they decrease blood flow to the kidneys, and the more you take, the more severe this effect will be, resulting in poor kidney activity which in worse cases can kidney failure.
The New England Journal of Medicine found that heavy use of painkillers such as Advil and Tylenol resulted in over 5,000 cases of kidney failure in the United States annually. As a precaution, painkillers should never be taken never on an empty stomach.
Avoid Excessive Sugar Consumption
High amounts of sugar often lead to energy imbalances, mood irregularities, lower cognitive performance, weight gain, poor sleep, and more negative effects. In addition, high amounts of sugar raise your blood sugar levels, which according to the American Diabetes Association, force the kidneys to filter too much blood and cause your kidneys to develop diseases over time.
Researchers from the University of Montreal found a direct link between sugar, diabetes, and kidney disease. The three create a feedback loop that only causes more damage to the body. Excess sugar often causes diabetes, and diabetes causes kidney disease. Where this gets really bad is that kidney disease can also cause diabetes, thus perpetuating the health issue and making it even worse. It’s important to get your blood glucose checked regularly to prevent diabetes and avoid eating an excessive amount of sugar. Up next: What about artificial sweeteners and alcohol? Learn how they affect your kidneys in the next entry.
Adopt the Habit of Staying Hydrated
Someone who’s dehydrated stands at a much greater risk of suffering from kidney failure, as proven by the National Hydration Council report which claimed that most kidney stones are the result of chronic dehydration.
Dehydration causes a high density of minerals to accumulate in your urine, which can eventually formulate themselves into a crystal, which will then grow in your kidneys into a stone. It’s not that hard to avoid this, just make sure that you drink enough. It’s much easier to get dehydrated than to cause any actual damage from overhydration, so it’s always better to drink up just to be on the safe side.
Stand Up Whenever You Can, Especially If You Work a Desk Job
Sitting for more than six hours per day makes you 40% more likely to die within 15 years than someone who sits for less than three hours. If you’re working at a desk job, this is especially important for you to pay attention to, because the risks also affect your kidneys. A recent study done in PLoS One found that just an extra hour of non-sedentary activity reduces your chances of kidney failure by a great deal.
Researchers believe that one of the biggest reasons that sitting contributes to vastly higher rates of kidney disease is that prolonged sitting lowers your blood pressure while increasing your glucose and cholesterol levels. These are all directly correlated with higher rates of kidney failure, likely explaining the phenomena.
More Benefits of Sleeping Eight Hours a Day
A 2014 research that was conducted over ten years found that one of the most consistent habits in people with healthy hearts is getting proper sleep. This habit was also mentioned in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology as one of the bedrocks of a healthy heart, which also translates to kidney health, as the two are intimately connected.
Another piece of evidence that came from the National Sleep Foundation is a report that deep sleep activates various brain chemicals that help lower heart rate and blood pressure, leading to better functioning kidneys. They also found that long periods without sleep increase the risk of heart attack and heart disease by more than 50%. It's important to make sure you get at least seven hours of sleep every night.