The Most Inexpensive Way of Taking Care of Your Kidneys
I want to begin by recollecting a conversation with one of my clients. A hedge fund investor with a massive profile and a well-accomplished individual. He started by speaking to me about all the financial investments he made. I was looking at his health reports that showed a deteriorating kidney. If he did not change his lifestyle, his issues would escalate and he would need to be on dialysis soon.
I told him his financial investments were fantastic. But what is your investment in his health? He said, “I did not have time to invest in my health because I was too busy investing and making money.” I said, “Great, but now it is time to complete the circle of success by starting to invest in your health.” His condition wouldn’t have reached this far if he had gotten the basics right.
Kidney disease is escalating every day across the country and world as you are reading this. I want to speak to you about the importance of your kidneys and the simple lifestyle changes you can make starting now to take care of them. And the best part is that these are inexpensive and easy to adopt.
When it comes to kidney disease, you must understand that very few changes are highly genetic. In our own experience consulting clients globally under our You Care Wellness Kidney Care Program, we have observed how most cases of kidney disease can be prevented only if the person going through only did the right thing at the right time. The kidneys, unlike other organs, don’t show too many symptoms when compromised until it is too late. This is why it warrants the right kind of care and attention. Prevention is better than cure.
Think of it as the Pareto principle. You invest in the top 20% and it looks after the balance 80%. It is the same way the human body works. Investing in your kidney health today can help you prevent many other diseases tomorrow.
What is the importance of the kidney and why does our life get into chaos when our kidney starts deteriorating?
- The kidneys are crucial detoxification organs, which are responsible for filtering out toxins from the body, maintaining blood pressure, controlling body temperature, and so much more.
- When we eat food or breathe in air, our body also generates residual waste, pollutants, and toxins. If that waste accumulates, it creates inflammatory conditions and diseases. Your kidneys help flush out this excess waste and fluids. All the toxins and impurities from your environment go through your liver and get processed in your kidney. The residual waste then collects in the bladder to be expelled. Your kidney, bladder, and urethra are interconnected and comprise your overall kidney health.
- Your kidney also regulates your pH levels. Some people get critically sick when their pH is out of balance, or they are highly acidic.
- Your kidneys also balance your salt, potassium levels, and electrolytes.
- Your kidneys produce hormones to regulate your blood pressure. When you have high blood pressure problems, you cannot stop by looking at just your systolic and diastolic pressure. You must assess your kidney function.
- Your kidney also has the very important function of activating a part of your Vitamin D into a form that helps absorbs calcium into your bones. Just popping calcium and Vitamin D pills will not increase your levels if your kidney isn’t functioning right. Your kidneys play a role in improving your overall bone density and your bone matrix. They also regulate muscle function.
Simple and inexpensive ways to care for your kidneys
Pay attention to what you eat. Keep it clean.
What you feed your body goes into each one of your trillion cells. Every one of your trillion cells uses oxygen from the air that you breathe and nutrients from the food that you eat to keep this amazing machine going. If you feed yourself the wrong food, you will have the wrong results that come out in the form of inflammation, high acidic levels, and toxic residual cellular waste. So cut down on junk, ultra-processed foods, and trans fats. Keep your meals clean and balanced. When you put the right food in your body you enable it and your kidney to function better.
Stay hydrated
The easiest way to mess up your kidney is by being dehydrated. Even a 1% drop in hydration can create numerous problems in the human body. Most of us think that dehydration only happens when you are sweating buckets in the gym or running a marathon. Let me tell you, 2 out of 3 people are dehydrated because they forget to drink water. Most of us are living and working out of air-conditioned environments and think why should we drink water if we do not get thirsty? Your kidney uses water as a medium to flush out uric acid and waste, and maintain your electrolytes and creatinine levels. If you have less water, your kidney cannot perform its basic function. So you got to stay hydrated.
At the same time don’t over-hydrate. Today people are drinking 7 to 8 liters of water. It is ridiculous because you are also flushing out most of your electrolytes and creating a bigger issue with your kidney and other vital organs. The quality of water matters. A lot of people get kidney disease because they consume poor quality or contaminated water with heavy trace minerals in it. Determine the parts per million (PPM) of your water. Ensure you install the right kind of water filter according to your location.
Move
If you are sedentary for long hours of the day, you will have issues with your kidney. Just ditch the couch and move. Simple exercises can help you maintain kidney health, whether walking, cycling, dancing, swimming, yoga asanas, etc. Keep that blood pumping and enhance its circulation by staying active.
Manage your blood pressure and diabetes
Please know that your blood pressure can cause severe kidney disease, and your kidney issues can also cause blood pressure problems. If you have fluctuating blood pressure problems, you need to get your kidney function tested.
Similarly, look at your diabetes or blood sugar levels. We live in times when people think it is okay to live with blood pressure and blood sugar issues. While some people are forced to live with it because they cannot do anything about their condition, there is a whole other population that only needs to change their lifestyle. Yes, by doing this, they can get off their diabetes and blood pressure medication provided they keep their doctors in the loop.
I do not want to induce fear in you but motivate you to change your health. If you have a combination of diabetes and high blood pressure, this is a cocktail recipe for disaster for your kidney.
Don’t just jump from one pill to another. Address your root cause. The world will always have a pill for everything. But when you only suppress your symptoms after a while, a patient living with blood pressure and diabetes suddenly gets chronic kidney disease. So, focus on managing and reversing these. Know more about reversing Type 2 diabetes here and high blood pressure here.
Look at your weight
If you have a large waistline or excess abdominal fat, it is a problem for your kidney. Work with slow weight loss. You don’t need a fad diet and exercise plans. Make a sustainable plan with your integrative expert and maintain discipline and consistency. You will be able to reduce it over time.
Smoking and chewing tobacco
These are the easiest way to mess up or deteriorate your kidney function. Cut it down or give it up.
Over-the-counter medications
People today are popping NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like candy. They take painkillers even when they are not prescribed these. Most kidney diseases happen because people pop over-the-counter drugs/medication and painkillers when they don’t need to. These might give you momentary relief but they are destroying your kidney in the long run. So take them only under the advice of your doctor. Always inform your doctor about how many NSAIDs or painkillers you have taken. These include your tylenols, advils, ibuprofens, and more.
Get your kidney checkups at least once a year
If you are healthy and fit, get your kidney function tests done once a year. If you are unfit, you might want to get these done twice a year. Look at your creatinine levels and other parameters to ensure you catch any abnormalities at the right time and take corrective measures.
Be careful of gym supplements
I keep saying this over and over again because too many young people are pumping themselves with supplements, steroids, and anabolics. If your reason is that bodybuilders and celebrities do it, please realize that they do it under strict supervision and have access to top specialists and guidance. Don’t mess up your kidneys by doing this the wrong way. At the end of the day, there is no point in having a size zero figure and a six-pack if your kidney is failing. Make informed decisions always.
The bottom line
Most of the tips I mentioned don’t cost you money. These are ways to invest in prevention. I meet a lot of people today who have the wrong attitude. They say, “Oh Luke, my kidney’s failing, but I’ll be opting for a transplant.”
It shocks me. They speak about it as if they are changing a tire on a car. You may have all the money in the world to buy a kidney but it is not guaranteed that you will find a donor, a perfect match or that your body will accept that new kidney. Remember after all of that, you are going to be on an immunosuppressant for life.
Please just because you have money, don’t think you can go around buying organs when all you need to do is change your lifestyle. If you are in a critical stage that needs a transplant, go for it by all means. But if you have the scope of fixing your lifestyle, do it. I hope all of you can benefit from these simple tips. Stay safe and take care of your kidneys.
If you are struggling with maintaining the health of your kidneys, we help you find a way.
Our You Care Wellness Kidney Health Care program primarily looks after managing kidney health from a holistic perspective. It covers conditions ranging from high creatinine levels, nephrotic syndrome, glomerulonephritis, Acute Renal Failure (ARF), and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) to dialysis and Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy.
Our integrative team, specializing in renal care, spends time diagnosing the root cause of what led to a compromised kidney function. The team creates a personalized holistic program, which not only looks after the symptoms but also handles the side effects of conventional treatment thereby improving the quality of life and increasing the lifespan.
Set up a one-on-one call with our integrative experts by reaching out to us by calling 18001020253, or writing to us at info@lukecoutinho.com.
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