Kidney failure, in its final stage, is a big cause of death around the world. When kidneys stop working, the only ways to stay alive are dialysis, which cleans your blood when your kidneys can’t, or a kidney transplant. It might surprise you, but even though over 10 million people need these treatments every year, less than half actually get the care that could save their lives. This means that right now, thousands of people are quietly suffering and losing their fight because they don’t have access to the medical help they really need. That’s why this information based on the expertise of Dr. RN Veller, a nephrologist, is so important.
The Silent Threat: Why Kidney Disease Often Goes Undetected
As a kidney specialist, I’ve seen three main reasons why most of my patients end up with late-stage kidney failure. It’s a real problem, and it often comes down to a lack of information and early detection.
Key Takeaways
- Late Diagnosis: Over 90% of people only find out they have serious kidney damage when they get routine check-ups, like blood or urine tests, or an ultrasound. These tests are usually for other reasons, like a work physical or checking out symptoms like being tired all the time or having back pain. When I see their test results and notice kidney problems, I often ask, “How long have you had kidney issues?” Their reaction is always the same: they’re surprised or think I’m joking. This happens because kidney failure is a silent problem. The first signs are so small that even doctors often miss them.
- Lack of Prevention Knowledge: Most people don’t know how to properly prevent kidney failure. There are natural ways to help clean and protect your kidneys, but many people don’t know about them. Also, patients and even some doctors don’t know enough about the things that hurt kidneys, making them worse faster. Today, I’ll show you the eight worst habits or mistakes people make that damage their kidneys. Knowing these is the first step to protecting these important organs.
- Uncertainty About What to Do: When someone already has signs of kidney problems, like waking up often at night to pee, foamy pee, kidney stones, or cysts, they don’t know what to do to stop the disease from getting worse or even how to make it better in some cases. So, my message is simple: not having good information is just as dangerous as diabetes, uncontrolled high blood pressure, and other health problems that lead to kidney failure. Knowing more about your body is the best tool to fight this and many other diseases.
Understanding Kidney Function and Early Warning Signs
Let’s quickly talk about the stages of kidney failure and the first symptoms that show up. Besides cleaning our blood and making pee, kidneys are like a hormone factory. They activate vitamin D, control blood pressure, and keep the acid balance in your blood. They’re also super important for bone health and making red blood cells, which helps prevent anemia. Kidneys have so many vital jobs, so when they fail, the effects aren’t just seen in your pee; they’re felt all over your body.
You need to know that kidney failure isn’t a disease by itself. It’s what happens when other health problems get out of control. The main ones are diabetes, uncontrolled high blood pressure, and many bad habits that cause inflammation in the body, especially eating foods with toxic stuff in them, which I’ll show you soon.
Kidney failure goes through five stages, with the first being the mildest and the fifth being the most serious, or end stage, where dialysis is usually needed. At the very beginning, there might not be any symptoms, but you should pay attention to these first signs:
- Waking up to pee more than once at night, or more than twice if you’re over 65.
- Waking up with a very swollen face and eyelids.
- Noticing any lasting change in the color of your pee. Normal pee is light yellow, but if it’s very dark, reddish, or any other color, it’s a warning sign.
- Noticing a lot of foam in your pee, like the foam you see when you beat egg whites. A little foam that goes away quickly is normal, but lots of layers of bubbles, like if the toilet water has soap in it, is not normal.
- Noticing swollen legs, especially your feet and ankles.
- Frequent muscle cramps, especially at night.
Other symptoms that might mean the problem is more advanced and you’re building up toxins in your body are being tired all the time for no clear reason, especially when it comes with body aches, muscle pain, and joint pain without a clear cause. Also, frequent nausea and throwing up, not liking foods you used to enjoy, intense itching all over your body, or wounds that take a long time to heal. Shortness of breath after walking just a few steps. And when the problem gets worse, you might start forgetting things often, or have trouble focusing. It’s like the person has a constant mental fog. This is often mistaken for dementia, but it could be kidney failure. With that said, let’s look at the eight worst mistakes or bad habits people make that lead to kidney failure. Pay close attention, especially to numbers 1 and 2.
Eight Habits That Harm Your Kidneys
⚠️8. Not Getting Check-Ups on Time
The best way to find kidney failure early is with a simple blood and urine test. It’s as easy as checking creatinine levels in your blood or seeing if you’re losing too much protein in your pee. Ideally, you should also get a kidney ultrasound to see if there’s any hidden damage. So, who should get these check-ups? Everyone with diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney stones, or many kidney cysts, or any problem in another organ like the liver, pancreas, or heart. Also, those who take medicines for a long time for any reason should get checked. Not just for their kidneys, but also because it’s super important to control those diseases that end up causing kidney failure. And for people who feel perfectly healthy, remember that kidney failure might not show symptoms in its early stages. So, if you often eat the foods I’ll tell you about next, or if you’re over 35-40 and have never had a check-up, now’s the time to do it.
⚠️7. Overusing Medicines, Supplements, or Vitamins Without a Doctor’s OK
Who hasn’t gone to the pharmacy with a headache or muscle pain and asked for an anti-inflammatory? And when the pain didn’t go away, they tried another medicine or doubled the dose on their own. Another example is antacids like Omeprazole. Who hasn’t felt heartburn and taken those over-the-counter medicines? There are also cases of colds or sore throats where people often take antibiotics without really needing them.
And just a fun fact: did you know that some vitamins can actually hurt your kidneys if you don’t use them right? These are important for health, but too much can be very dangerous. Two common ones are vitamin C, which, even though it’s known for being good, in huge doses (like supplements with 2000 mg or more) can lead to kidney stones. Or vitamin D, which in high doses can dangerously raise calcium levels in your blood, clogging the kidney filters and causing them to fail. These products seem harmless, but when used wrong, in high doses, or mixed with other medicines you might be taking, they often cause kidney failure. Believe me. My advice is to always talk to your doctor before taking any medicine or supplement, especially if you’ve had kidney problems before. Also, don’t self-medicate or overuse over-the-counter remedies, and most importantly, make sure to avoid the other mistakes and bad habits I’ll tell you about now.
⚠️6. Eating Too Many Foods That Make Your Body More Acidic
Common problems like kidney stones happen when certain things in your pee, like calcium, oxalate, or uric acid, get too concentrated and start to form crystals. It’s like tiny sand or rocks forming inside your kidney, which can cause a lot of pain or sometimes no symptoms at all. This happens more easily when your pee becomes acidic, which happens with diets very high in animal protein and especially frequent eating of ultra-processed foods, processed meats, fast food. Too much of these products and also daily eating of animal proteins like red meat, chicken, or fish make your pee more acidic, meaning they lower the pH. This creates a perfect environment for stones to form.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying eating meat is bad, just that you shouldn’t overdo it and, most importantly, vary your protein sources. You don’t need to eat meat every day for lunch and dinner. On the other hand, a plant-rich diet does the opposite: it makes your pee more alkaline, raising the pH. By eating more fruits, vegetables, and legumes, the acidity in our body goes down, and this prevents the formation of crystals that can turn into kidney stones. And this isn’t just my opinion; it’s science. Studies have shown that plant-rich diets protect kidneys by lowering the acid load in our body and can slow down kidney damage in people who already have problems. And unlike what many people think, eating more plants not only helps prevent and fight kidney stones but also makes your whole body work better.
Here’s a big question: Can I eat leafy greens high in oxalate if I already have kidney stones?
Leafy greens like spinach and kale, while full of good nutrients, do contain oxalate. And for some people, this can help form stones, especially calcium oxalate stones. However, a key way to enjoy these vegetables is to eat them with a source of calcium, like natural yogurt, tofu, or almonds, for example, at breakfast or lunch. The calcium from the food binds to the oxalate in our gut, stopping it from being absorbed and lowering the risk of kidney stone formation. People with kidney stones shouldn’t cut back on calcium, as many believe. Instead, you should increase your intake of this nutrient in a healthy way, ideally with foods rich in oxalate like leafy greens.
That’s why I say knowing about your body is the best tool to prevent and reverse diseases. It’s super important to point out that neither stones nor other kidney problems come from vegetables. Good habits and healthy eating are not the culprits. In most cases, stones form from eating too much salt, ultra-processed foods, sugary drinks, not drinking enough water, and a lifestyle that overloads the kidneys. By cutting down on these things, the risk of kidney problems goes way down. However, everyone is different, so you should always talk to your doctor to find the best approach for you.