Don’t take your kidneys lightly! You may be doing these 5 kidney-damaging behaviors every day!

The kidney is an important "filter" in the human body. It silently undertakes a series of important tasks such as filtering blood, excreting metabolic waste, and regulating electrolyte balance. However, many people do things that hurt their kidneys without knowing it, and even overdraw their kidneys. Once the kidneys are damaged, it will take time to recover, and it may not be possible to fully recover. Today, let's take stock of those common behaviors that hurt the kidneys, hoping that everyone will learn from them.

1. Staying up late for a long time

In modern society, staying up late seems to have become a "standard feature" for many people. Whether it is for work overtime or indulging in entertainment activities such as mobile phones and computers, people often sacrifice sleep time. Little do people know that the kidneys are in a state of detoxification and self-repair at night. When the human body is in a sleeping state, the blood flow to the kidneys will increase, which helps to excrete metabolic waste from the body. Staying up late for a long time will prevent the kidneys from getting enough rest and repair, resulting in a gradual decline in kidney function. Staying up late for a long time may also cause chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes, which will further increase the burden on the kidneys, forming a vicious circle and accelerating kidney damage.

2. High-salt diet

Many people have a special liking for salty tastes and like to eat high-salt foods such as pickles, salted fish, and pickled foods. However, a high-salt diet is extremely harmful to the kidneys. After the human body consumes too much salt, the kidneys need to work hard to excrete excess sodium, which increases the burden on the kidneys. Long-term high-salt diets can cause renal vasoconstriction, reduce blood flow to the kidneys, and affect the normal function of the kidneys. In addition, a high-salt diet can also cause high blood pressure, which is one of the important factors leading to kidney disease. Under the long-term effect of high blood pressure, the kidneys' glomeruli will gradually harden and renal function will decline. Therefore, in order to protect the kidneys, we should try to reduce the intake of high-salt foods, and the daily salt intake should be controlled at about 5 grams.

3. Holding urine

In life, many people hold urine for various reasons, such as being busy at work or not being able to find a suitable toilet. Holding urine may seem like a trivial matter, but it is quite harmful to the kidneys. When there is too much urine in the bladder, the bladder will be overfilled, which will increase the pressure in the bladder, causing urine to flow back into the kidneys and causing hydronephrosis. Holding urine for a long time may also lead to urinary tract infection. Bacteria will retrograde through the urethra to the kidneys, causing diseases such as pyelonephritis, which seriously damages kidney health. Therefore, once you feel the urge to urinate, you should go to the toilet to urinate as soon as possible, and do not keep the bladder in a "high pressure" state for a long time.

4. Overwork

In the fast-paced life, many people often overwork themselves in pursuit of career success or life goals. Excessive physical fatigue will reduce immunity, easily lead to various diseases, and the kidneys will also be implicated. When the body is in a state of fatigue, the blood circulation of the kidneys will be affected, resulting in insufficient oxygen supply to the kidneys, affecting the normal metabolic function of the kidneys. In addition, overwork will also cause the body to produce a large amount of metabolic waste, and the kidneys need to work harder to excrete these wastes, thereby increasing the burden on the kidneys. Therefore, we must learn to combine work and rest, and arrange work and rest time reasonably, so that both the body and the kidneys can get enough rest and recovery.

5. Drug Abuse

Some people lack a correct understanding of the use of drugs, thinking that as long as they feel uncomfortable, taking some medicine will solve the problem. Little do they know that many drugs are toxic to the kidneys. For example, some antibiotics, antipyretics, and certain Chinese medicines, if abused or taken in large quantities for a long time, may cause drug-induced kidney damage. After the drugs enter the human body, most of them need to be metabolized and excreted by the kidneys. In the process of processing these drugs, the kidneys may be toxic to the drugs, leading to tubular damage, glomerular lesions, etc. Therefore, when using drugs, be sure to do so under the guidance of a doctor, follow the doctor's orders, avoid drug abuse, and protect the kidneys from drug damage.

The health of the kidneys is vital to our lives. Once there is a serious problem with the kidneys, it may cause a series of serious complications and even endanger life. Kidney damage is often irreversible, and it is difficult to recover once it is "overdrawn". Therefore, we must pay attention to kidney health, starting from the little things in daily life, avoid the above-mentioned kidney-damaging behaviors, develop good living habits, and create a healthy and comfortable "working environment" for the kidneys, so that the kidneys can perform their duties normally and protect our health.