Kidney Health: 5 Tips to Make Sure You’re Drinking Enough Water to Keep Your Kidneys Healthy.
Our kidneys stay healthy when we drink enough water. Every part of our body needs water to function properly; it constitutes between 60 and 70 percent of our body weight. Urine generated from waste products in our blood is one way that water supports kidney function. Keeping the blood vessels open allows blood to flow freely to the kidneys and provides them with important nutrients. However, this delivery system has a harder time working if you become dehydrated. When we work or exercise extremely hard, especially in hot and humid weather, it is crucial to drink enough fluids to prevent dehydration from damaging our kidneys. Here are 5 tips to make sure you’re drinking enough water to keep your kidneys healthy:
Does drinking more water improve kidney health? That is how
• The requirement of 8 glasses of water per day for everyone is not a guide. This is just general advice based on the fact that our bodies are constantly losing water and that we need adequate water intake to survive and optimal amounts to thrive.
• When the kidneys fail, patients rarely or never excrete water. In fact, water intake for patients undergoing dialysis treatment must be severely restricted.
• Although this is rare in the normal individual, athletes such as marathon runners can consume large volumes of water, which can reduce the salt content of the blood and cause hyponatremia, a serious condition.
• Being “water smart” for the average person means consuming enough water or other healthy fluids, such as unsweetened juice or low-fat milk, to quench thirst and keep urine light yellow or colorless. You are dehydrated if your urine is dark yellow in color.
• Two common medical problems that can damage the kidneys are kidney stones and urinary tract infections (UTIs), for which adequate hydration is crucial. When there is enough water to prevent stone-forming crystals from sticking together, kidney stones form less often. Medications used to treat urinary tract infections are most effective when dissolved in water. Also, drinking enough water helps flush infection-causing bacteria through the urine stream.
(Inputs: Dr. Neelakandan R. MBBS, Urologist (MS. MCh) at Pristyn Care)
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