08/11/2022
6 drinking habits that are bad for your kidneys
1. Drinking a drink instead of water
Many people say they can't drink plain water because it doesn't taste good. In fact, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, fewer and fewer people drink enough water a day. On the other hand, the rate of sugar intake through beverages is increasing.
When you drink a drink instead of water, sugar and phosphate in the drink release a large amount of calcium from the body through urine. This increases the likelihood of kidney stones. Enjoying ion drinks instead of water can also be a problem. Ion drinks contain electrolyte ingredients that our bodies need, but various ingredients are added to make it sweet and salty. It's like adding sugar and salt to water. It is not helpful for kidney health because you eat sugar and sodium together with water.
2. Drink water only when you're thirsty
Thirst is a sign that the body lacks moisture. There are people who do not feel thirsty even though they lack enough water to color their urine. These people are likely to suffer from "chronic dehydration" symptoms in which dehydration, which causes a chronic shortage of water in the body, becomes chronic
Chronic dehydration refers to a condition in which the body lacks more than 2% of moisture compared to normal for more than three months. What's scary about chronic dehydration is that the water in the body has already become chronic and insensitive to thirst and is not aware that it is dehydrated. Some say that more than 70 percent of modern people suffer from chronic dehydration. In particular, elderly people are prone to chronic dehydration, as they often do not recognize when water is needed due to a decrease in the central nervous system of thirst.
Severe chronic dehydration can weaken the kidney function, which can lead to symptoms such as chronic fatigue, anxiety, and depression. It also increases the risk of developing diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cancer. Before you feel thirsty, develop a habit of looking for water first.
3. Drinking coffee and tea like water
Everyone knows that caffeine promotes diuretic action. It releases twice the amount of coffee and 1.5 times the amount of tea you drank. If you consume a large amount of coffee and tea every day that promotes diuretic action, it will strain your kidneys. And be careful because it can cause kidney stones by increasing calcium levels in urine.
4. Drinking water in a hurry
There are many people who drink cold water when they are thirsty. When a lot of water enters the body at once, the cells in the body are not hydrated, but the cells are flooded and the body swells up. This does not mean that moisture is quickly transferred to the bladder and kidneys, so it just escapes to urine and replenishes moisture.
In particular, if you drink water in a hurry while your kidney function is poor, you may experience "Hyponatremia" due to dilution of sodium required for your body, and dizziness, headache, and dizziness can occur.
Not only those with poor kidney function, but also healthy people, need to drink water slowly to replenish water properly.
5. Drink soft drinks after sweating
A research team at the University of Buffalo in the United States analyzed the effect of eating soft drinks after exercise on kidney health in 12 healthy adults in their 20s. People who drank soft drinks after exercising increased creatinine levels in the blood, which are indicators of acute kidney damage, and decreased glomerular filtration rates indicating kidney function. And he showed mild dehydration. It has been found that Sweet drinks after exercise do not play a role in replenishing moisture, but rather increase the risk of acute kidney damage.
I'm really worried about the kidney health of teenagers who drink fruit juice or soda, like water. It is recommended to drink soft tea such as water, barley tea, or lemon water instead of sweet soft drinks after sweating.
6. Drinking too much water
They say you need to drink a lot of water to improve your skin. However, if you drink a lot of water, you will urinate and the color will fade. As such a large amount of water is discharged out of the body, it can strain the kidneys. In the public, 15 ml of water is discharged from the kidneys, and drinking more water increases the amount discharged. It means that the kidneys have to work more to drain more water.
Rather than drinking water little by little and often, drinking water at once may be due to "Diabetes Insipidus", which appears as frequent urine, so you need to be careful.
Be careful not to drink more than 1L of water per hour, and if the amount of water you drink for no reason suddenly increases, suspect the possibility of a disease.
Don't forget that drinking just the right amount of water is a shortcut to protecting kidney health!