Contents:
- Medical Video: Study Shows Food Restriction Prevents and Reverses Polycystic Kidney Disease in Mice
- 1. Control your blood sugar, tension, and cholesterol
- 2. Eat healthy foods for the kidneys
- 3. Do regular exercise
- 4. Monitor your drug use
- 5. Stop smoking and drink alcoholic beverages
Medical Video: Study Shows Food Restriction Prevents and Reverses Polycystic Kidney Disease in Mice
The kidneys are one of the important organs in your body. This organ functions in regulating fluid balance in the body, balancing blood pressure, removing toxins in the body, and much more. The presence of disorders of the kidneys, of course can affect your health. For that, you need to maintain the health of your kidneys to avoid the risk of kidney disease. The following are things you can do to reduce the risk of kidney disease.
1. Control your blood sugar, tension, and cholesterol
Other diseases can be a major risk factor for kidney disease. If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, you can be more at risk for kidney disease. So, to reduce the risk of kidney disease, you should control your blood sugar and blood pressure. High blood sugar levels, high blood pressure, and high blood cholesterol levels can damage your kidneys.
High blood sugar can damage blood vessels that lead to the kidneys and also damage the kidneys that filter blood. Meanwhile, blood pressure and high cholesterol can exert excessive pressure on the kidneys. So, the kidneys work harder and the essential nutrients that the kidneys should filter out instead leak out and are in your urine.
2. Eat healthy foods for the kidneys
Eating healthy foods with balanced nutrition can help you control blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol, so that your risk of kidney disease decreases. Some of the things you need to do are:
- Lots of consumption of vegetables and fruits. You are advised to eat 5 servings of vegetables and fruits per day. That way, you can fulfill the important nutrients you need for your health, especially vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
- Limit consumption of salt and salt-containing foods. Remember, some foods contain hidden salts, such as packaged foods, canned foods, preserved foods, fast food, and much more. You might need to get used to eating self-cooked food at home to make it easier for you to control your salt intake.
- Limit consumption of saturated fats and trans fats. Both types of fat are not good for health if too much in the body. For that, you need to reduce the consumption of foods that contain saturated fat and trans fats, such as fatty meat, packaged foods (see nutritional value information in packs), fried foods (especially with oils that have been used many times), fast food, and others.
3. Do regular exercise
Regular exercise can also help you control blood pressure, blood sugar levels and cholesterol levels. Exercise is also good for the health of your blood vessels. So, regular exercise is needed to maintain the health of your kidneys.
You are advised to exercise for 30 minutes per day. Start with light exercise, such as brisk walking, running, cycling and more.
4. Monitor your drug use
The use of drugs that are too frequent in large quantities can damage your kidneys. This is because the kidneys play a role in removing the remnants of the drug from the body. For that, you should take the medication according to your doctor's recommendations or instructions.
Do not ever carelessly consume drugs, especially nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin and ibuprofen. Kidney disease can be caused by too much or taking too long from the recommended medication.
5. Stop smoking and drink alcoholic beverages
Smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages, both of which can increase your risk of heart disease, which is associated with an increased risk of kidney disease. For that, you should stop these bad habits for your health.
