Tips and Tools to Help Protect Your Kidney Health
Tips to Help Manage Your Kidney Health
Kidneys and their importance to our overall health is not as obvious as some other organs. We feel our lungs breathe and our hearts beat. But our kidneys are vital organs that help regulate water, flush out toxins, produces hormones and help balance the bodies minerals.
It’s important we know what to do to keep our kidneys healthy and happy to help prevent kidney disease. Many people don’t show symptoms until the disease is very advanced so its important to know the risk factors. Diabetes and high blood pressure are among the leading causes of kidney disease. Indigenous peoples are among those most at greatest risk for kidney disease. In fact, one in three will be impacted by kidney disease in our lifetime.
Though there is no cure for kidney disease, there are things we can do to help maintain our kidney health. This includes maintaining a healthy weight, and lifestyle which includes managing blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
I am encouraged to know there are things within my control that I can do to help protect my kidney health. Outside of eating well and staying hydrated, I like to spend a lot of time in nature and take daily walks to help stay active and boost my mental wellbeing. These walks help reconnect me with mother nature but also serves as a mindful way to support my health.
The support I feel from my jaunts outside every day after work is endless. The best part about it is how accessible it is. In as little as five minutes a day, I can already start to feel the benefits that getting outdoors provides. During my strolls, I can feel my stress melt away, my heart pumping and my breathing regulating itself. I also like to express gratitude for another day of being alive and all the things I enjoyed about my day while mindfully appreciating nature around me. Switching up my environment is so good for my mental state; I find my mind racing less when I’m not sitting in the silence of my home for too long. For me, it’s about taking the opportunity to unwind, centre myself and feel rejuvenated.
For the times I can’t get outdoors, I am so glad that I can tune into the Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Wellness Hub at kidneywellnesshub.ca, it’s a free online platform filled with tons of videos and resources to help maintain one’s overall health and wellbeing.
I invite you to take a moment to check out the Kidney Wellness Hub. Your kidneys will thank you for it.