Can drinking more water protect your kidneys? If you don’t want to hurt your kidneys, you should avoid the wrong way of drinking water.

A friend asked Huazi that he had seen an article saying that drinking more water and urinating more often can protect the kidneys, but doesn’t urinating more also increase the workload of the kidneys? If the kidneys work too much, won’t they be exhausted? Huazi said that the kidneys are the main organs for regulating the body’s water balance. Drinking more water will not damage the kidneys. On the contrary, it has a protective effect on the urinary system. But you have to pay attention to the correct way of drinking water.

1. Why drinking more water can protect the kidneys The human body has two kidneys, which are responsible for filtering the blood. After the blood enters the glomerulus, it is filtered to form primary urine. The difference between primary urine and blood is that it contains not only blood cells and large molecular proteins, but also the same components as plasma. When primary urine flows through the renal tubules, most of the water, electrolytes, glucose and other substances useful to the human body in the primary urine are reabsorbed back into the blood, leaving only metabolic wastes such as uric acid and urea, which together with some water and electrolytes form real urine and are excreted from the body.

What is harmful to the kidneys is not the amount of urine, but the concentration of urine. When drinking insufficient water, the urine will be concentrated, and the concentration of metabolic waste in it will increase, which may precipitate crystals and form stones, causing damage to the kidneys. Therefore, drinking more water and ensuring sufficient urine volume will have a protective effect on the kidneys.

2. Drinking more water will not harm the kidneys Many people worry that drinking more water will increase the workload of the kidneys and damage them. But in fact, the working capacity of the kidneys is underestimated by most people. The two kidneys of the human body have 1 million to 2 million nephrons, and only 25% to 30% of them need to be used to meet the metabolic needs of the human body.

Therefore, when you drink more water, the human body will open more renal units to work, and it will not burden the kidneys. Excess water will be excreted with urine, diluting the urine and preventing metabolic waste in the urine from crystallizing. The crystals that have already formed will also dissolve, which can prevent the formation of stones. Increased urine will have a "flushing" effect on the urinary system, reducing the chance of pathogens entering the urethra and preventing urinary tract infections.

3. Avoid incorrect ways of drinking water. Drinking a lot of water will not hurt your kidneys, but incorrect ways of drinking water may have a negative effect on your kidneys.

1. Don’t drink water only when you are thirsty: Many people are used to drinking water only when they are thirsty, but when people are thirsty, the body has actually begun to lack water. The brain will think that the body has entered a "water-deficient state", and the secretion of hypothalamic antidiuretic hormone (ADH) will increase, increasing the renal tubules' ability to reabsorb water. The urine will further concentrate, which may cause damage to the kidneys.

2. Don’t drink strong tea and vegetable soup often: 80% of kidney stones are calcium oxalate, which is formed by the combination of oxalic acid in urine and calcium. Green vegetables and tea leaves contain oxalic acid, which is easily soluble in water. Therefore, if you drink strong tea and vegetable soup often, you will take in too much oxalic acid and there is a risk of inducing kidney stones.

3. Do not replace water with beverages: Many beverages contain a lot of sugar for the sake of taste. Excessive intake of sugar can cause obesity, induce atherosclerosis, cause renal artery stenosis, and damage the kidneys.

4. The correct way to drink more water is to drink small amounts of water many times. The water in the human body is constantly lost through breathing, sweating, defecation, urination, etc. During normal activities, an adult will lose about 2000ml~2500ml of water every day. The vegetables, rice, and fruits we eat every day contain a certain amount of water, and some water is also generated when nutrients are metabolized. Therefore, the "Chinese Dietary Guidelines" recommends that Chinese adults drink about 2000ml of water every day to meet the body's needs.

However, it is not recommended to drink a large amount of water at once, otherwise a large amount of water will enter the circulation in a short period of time, which will increase the burden on the circulatory system. The correct way is to divide 2000ml of water per day into several portions and drink them every 1 to 2 hours. If it is hot or you sweat a lot during exercise, you should drink more water appropriately.

In summary, drinking more water will not only not harm the kidneys, but also has a good protective effect on the kidneys. Ensure that you drink more than 2000ml of water every day. When drinking water, be careful to avoid the wrong way of drinking water. The correct way is to drink water in small amounts and multiple times a day. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.