Why can your kidneys hurt from alcohol?
To filter fluid, the kidneys have nephrons, which consist of small sections. The blood is purified as it moves through these sections. The destructive effect of alcohol is due to the fact that toxic compounds tend to accumulate and destroy nephrons.
People are interested in the question of why their kidneys hurt from alcohol. Here are the main ones:
- Alcohol-containing products have a diuretic effect. Beer can cause kidney pain, since after drinking it the urinary system is heavily loaded, as a result of which the kidney tissue becomes thinner.
- Filtration failures. Alcohol (alcohol) in the stomach is oxidized to toxic substances, which subsequently enter the kidney tubules. Because of this, primary urine is poorly formed, and the blood is cleared slowly. Electrolyte imbalance occurs. This is especially noticeable with a hangover. After drinking large amounts of alcohol, the amount of potassium in the body drops sharply. As a result, dehydration (dehydration) occurs. A person is constantly tormented by thirst, vomits, feels sick, and experiences pressure changes.
- Proteinuria appears. Proteins are abundantly washed out of the body. Even if the alcohol intake was only once, aching pain in the kidneys may appear.
Prevention of water deficiency in the body
To do this, just go to a general practitioner, who will confirm that you can drink a lot of water. Many people are afraid of edema, but in fact they are a sign of serious illness or an attempt by the body to stock up on fluid for future use. If you consume enough water every day (for adults this figure starts from 8 glasses, increasing if necessary for heavy, physical labor, or hot weather outside), then the excretory system will work like clockwork. This means that the metabolism will proceed correctly, and excess fluid will be removed from the body in a timely manner, removing toxins and decay products.
Why is the question still relevant: is it harmful to drink a lot of water? Because its quality in many regions leaves much to be desired, and also because of the prevalence of severe kidney diseases among the population, for which a water-salt diet is indicated.
How to understand that an organ has been seriously damaged
This will be shown by the symptoms that occur after drinking. A person exhibits the following symptoms:
- he is constantly thirsty;
- bruises and swelling form under the eyes;
- blood pressure drops sharply;
- the heart begins to beat rapidly;
- urine color changes;
- a person often runs to the toilet in a small way;
- severe pain in the back area;
- body temperature may increase;
- Photophobia and headache appear.
Usually, paired organs hurt after heavy drinking, when they are tired of performing their function. In those people who are obese or have a predisposition to arterial hypertension, the pressure often does not decrease, but increases.
Along with the kidneys, alcohol affects the pancreas, which is why it sometimes hurts in the hypochondrium area.
Treatment of kidney inflammation with folk remedies
Traditional medicine will help alleviate the patient's condition with inflammatory kidney damage. However, before using them, you should consult a doctor so that such self-medication does not lead to complications.
As treatment, agents are used that have a diuretic and cleansing effect. They help relieve inflammation, improve urine flow and make you feel better. It is recommended to use medicinal herbs as diuretics: immortelle, juniper, cornflower flowers, birch, chamomile, calendula, etc. To prepare the medicine, pour 1 tbsp. l. crushed raw materials with boiling water and leave to infuse. Strain the cooled drink and take throughout the day.
What alcohol and in what doses is harmless to the kidneys?
There is no alcohol-containing drink that is not harmful:
- Beer. Many people think that since there is very little alcohol in beer, there will be no negative consequences after drinking it. But beer hurts your kidneys quite often. While drinking, a person constantly wants to go to the toilet. This is the first sign of kidney overload. They try to remove toxins faster. Moreover, people get used to beer very quickly and a person can turn into an alcoholic. Doctors say that beer is much more dangerous for the body than a small dose of cognac or vodka.
- Champagne and wine. These aristocratic alcohol-containing drinks in small doses can increase blood pressure. Champagne contains a lot of gas bubbles, which increase the rate of intoxication. Many people wonder whether wine can hurt their kidneys. They can if they consume it in large quantities.
- Strong alcoholic drinks. Almost no holiday in Russia is complete without vodka. Only such a feast can end in severe poisoning for some.
- Alcoholic energy drinks. This type of alcohol is the most harmful and dangerous. After taking energy cocktails, the heart, stomach, brain and other organs suffer.
Red wine is a relatively safe alcoholic drink, but if you drink a little, no more than 1 glass per day. If you want to drink something stronger, it is better to give preference to good branded alcohol than dangerous substitutes. To avoid kidney pain after drinking alcohol, you can drink only 1 glass of good strong alcohol per day. This dose is considered relatively harmless.
In order to get rid of kidney inflammation, it is recommended to use one of the following methods:
• Grind the dandelion root. Pour 250 ml of boiling water over a tablespoon of raw material and let it brew. Strain the resulting drink, divide into three equal doses and drink throughout the day. • Combine and chop the following herbs: horsetail, lingonberry leaves and bearberry. 1 tsp. collection, pour 2 liters of boiling water and leave to steep for two hours. To speed up the process or get the most concentrated drink, use a thermos. Add 0.2 g of mumiyo to the resulting infusion and stir. Take the medicine three times a day, half an hour before meals. The course of treatment is 21 days. • Pour two teaspoons of crushed knotweed plant into 250 ml of boiling water and brew. After cooling, strain the drink and drink in small portions throughout the day. • Pour one hundred grams of birch leaves with half a liter of warm water and leave for 5 hours. After the allotted time, strain the medicine and take 100 ml before going to bed.
A decoction of marshmallow root or cinquefoil root in milk will help to cope with kidney inflammation. These drugs have a diuretic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect.
Tea or infusion or rose hips will be useful. To prepare the drink, you should use seedless berries.
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How to restore kidneys after alcohol
After a feast, people are interested in the question of what to do if their kidneys start hurting from alcohol. The organ can recover fully only when drinking alcohol does not become regular, which leads to chronic alcoholism. Kidneys need to be treated comprehensively: adjust your diet, completely eliminate any alcohol, eat right and drink a lot of water.
When your kidneys continue to hurt severely, you need to visit a nephrologist or urologist, who will prescribe an examination and proper treatment.
Restoration of water and electrolyte balance
If your kidneys hurt after beer or another alcohol-containing drink, you need to drink enough water. Water flushes toxic substances from the body. It is advisable to drink clean still water after a feast, 1 glass once an hour.
It is better to avoid strong tea, carbonated and other drinks, as they will only further strain the kidneys. Water can be replaced with chamomile, mint or lemon balm tea.
If a person suffers from vomiting or nausea, you can drink water with Regidron to restore electrolyte balance. This drug contains salts necessary for the body. It is precisely for its replenishment that the powder is intended.
Medicines to relieve symptoms
To help your kidneys remove toxins faster after drinking alcohol, you can drink enterosorbents: Enterosgel, Polysorb, Carbolong, Sorbex or regular activated carbon.
There is no need to take anti-vomiting medications, since it removes harmful substances from the body. If there is nothing in the stomach, the person vomits clear liquid, but the urge remains, you can take pills that suppress the gag reflex - Anestezin and Metoclopramide.
The drug Biotredin will help with kidney pain after alcohol. It has a symptomatic effect, relieves pain, reduces the desire to drink alcohol, and improves metabolism.
Pharmacies sell effervescent tablets for the kidneys after drinking alcohol. They significantly improve a person’s condition, cleansing the body of accumulated toxins and helping the kidneys to normalize.
Kidney cleansing in the clinic
If a person is severely poisoned by alcoholic beverages, it is better to undergo treatment in a hospital. Dialysis is prescribed there. This is the use of a special apparatus through which accumulated harmful substances are removed from the body.
Drinking and diet
Kidney pain after drinking alcohol often lasts for a long time, especially if the person drank a lot. During the treatment process, you must adhere to diet No. 7. This is split meals up to 5-6 times a day. You only need to eat boiled food. You need to get up to 3500 kcal per day. Limit salt intake to a few grams per day. If a person has high blood pressure, they should avoid salt altogether. Fish and fatty meats, canned food, smoked foods, legumes, cheese, spices, spicy foods, and any alcohol are prohibited.
You should also drink enough fluids to help your kidneys recover. To avoid the appearance of edema, you can drink up to 1000 ml of still water, cranberry juice or rosehip decoction daily.
Treatment at home
If your kidneys hurt after drinking alcohol, you should give it up completely. It will take about a couple of months for the kidneys to fully recover from alcohol. This is the only organ that can recover from serious damage.
All this time you must adhere to diet No. 7. In addition to it, after a week you can drink ready-made herbal remedies (Uro Lax, Cysto Transit and others).
Lifestyle
Quitting alcohol is the best thing you can do for the normal functioning of your kidneys. Drinking alcohol leads to problems not only with the kidneys, but also with other organs. To normalize their work, you need to adhere to the following rules:
- Drink approximately 2 liters of fluid per day. Plain water can be replaced with juices, fruit drinks, jelly, and herbal decoctions.
- Limit your consumption of heavy and fatty foods and salt.
- Eat more fruits, fresh vegetables, berries.
- Try not to get too cold.
Diet food
Human kidneys work best when the owner leads a healthy lifestyle and eats a healthy diet. But there are foods that have the most beneficial effect on this organ. Scientists have found that their regular consumption reduces the risk of many kidney diseases.
Vitamin A has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the paired organ, but it is not recommended to use it in synthetic form without indications, since you can overdo it with the dosage, and this already causes harm to the body. The optimal solution is to consume foods high in vitamin A. Their intake does not need to be monitored, since they contain carotene, a natural provitamin.
Pumpkin is rich in vitamin A, its pulp is especially useful. This vegetable prevents the formation of sand and kidney stones. Pumpkin seed oil is also useful; it is well suited as a dressing for vegetable salads. There is a lot of this vitamin in carrots, cabbage, and bell peppers.
The work of the kidneys is facilitated by fresh herbs, almost any will do. This could be cilantro, parsley, leeks, celery, etc. Greens have a beneficial effect on all internal organs, nourishing their walls. You can add it to any dish - salads, soups, complex side dishes, meat or fish snacks.
To prevent kidney disease, the body requires minerals, which can be obtained from fish. However, in case of kidney failure, it is forbidden to eat fish, as it contains phosphorus in large quantities, which can negatively affect the functioning of the filter organ.
Watermelon, which has diuretic properties, cleanses the entire body and kidneys well. Its alkaline compounds have a mild anti-inflammatory effect. Effective as a preventive measure for urolithiasis due to the minerals and vitamins included in its composition.
But table salt negatively affects the functioning of the kidneys, but you can’t completely give it up either - it’s harmful to other organs. You need to salt food in moderation; for a healthy person, the daily dose of table salt is 5 g, and in the presence of kidney diseases it is reduced to 2-3 g per day.
Consequences of alcoholism for kidneys and other organs
If a person feels unwell after taking even the smallest doses of alcohol, he may have the following pathologies:
- renal degeneration or failure;
- oncology;
- urolithiasis disease;
- jade and others.
Subsequently, these diseases will worsen if you do not stop drinking alcohol. Moreover, consumption of alcoholic beverages affects other organs. Complete intoxication occurs, which is difficult to get rid of. As a result, the person becomes a chronic alcoholic, and it will take a very long time to get out of this state. Therefore, you should not let it get to the point where your kidneys start to hurt after drinking alcohol.
Since when is drinking water more important than breathing: get a taste of the water madness
In order to adequately perceive the further text, you need to sensually experience with me the absurdity of recommendations for the forced consumption of water. You can live without water for 5-10 days. Therefore, I do not deny its importance in the biological life of organisms. However, there is one element without which you cannot live even 5-7 minutes! What am I talking about? About the air.
From all corners they shout only about the importance of water and give hundreds of different formulas for calculating the need! But why do they ignore air intake recommendations? After all, you will appreciate the need for air radically earlier than the need for water if you are deprived of both at the same time. Why doesn’t anyone ask the question “How many liters of air should you inhale per day to lose weight?” After all, oxygen is much more important for burning fat than water. But every nameless network user can write a meaningless article about the benefits of water for weight loss and health in 5 minutes! And much more harm is done when these recommendations are taken up by doctors because patients trust them!
Nature has already decided how much you need to drink and breathe - trust your body
Glory to Mother Nature! She made breathing an unconditioned reflex. That is, the act of breathing occurs without our knowledge. If evolution had given people conscious control over breathing, everyone would have suffocated long ago. Because someone “smart” would immediately start giving advice on air consumption. If you hold your breath, then after 5 minutes the agony will begin. This will manifest the body's frantic signals about the need for oxygen. In the same way, it independently regulates water consumption. You call it the feeling of thirst. The body quenches thirst as easily as it breathes. Provided that no one disturbs him.
If you get the gist of my argument, here's a fun idea for you. Next time someone smart tells you to drink more water, ask them to give you breathing advice! Copy his blank expression and blank gaze and sincerely ask him to tell you about his oxygen intake regimen! Try to do this reliably, so that the smart guy buys into your trick and begins to invent breathing recommendations for you on the fly. Don't rush to laugh because that's only half the fun! You can't split, otherwise you won't get the rest of the humor. Involve him in the idea: “If drinking a lot of water is good for you, then breathing a lot is even better for you!” When you have captured his attention and trust, ask him to show you clearly how to breathe in order to get enough oxygen.
Watch with a serious look as he begins to breathe more often and deeper. After a few minutes of frantic breathing, the smart guy will bring himself to hyperventilation of the lungs and hypoxia of the brain. In response to this event, the brain will turn off consciousness and faint, so that this talented primate will stop damaging the body. There is no need to panic - this is not a coma yet. You can bring a citizen back to his senses with the help of ammonia, a slap or a pinch. When he regains consciousness, you can laugh it off to your heart's content. You just watched life save itself from Darwin Award winners.
Even the elixir of youth can be poisoned: what is the insidiousness of water feeding
Why did I describe this fun with air above? To show in an artistic and fun way how wisely living bodies are structured and that everything is good in moderation. Air is not just good, but vital. Lack of air is fatal. And too much! Therefore, when breathing excessively, a protective mechanism is triggered that turns off the dangerous setting: “breathe more often.” When breathing is insufficient, another protective mechanism is triggered, which activates the “breathe more often” program. These decisions are made without your volition.
The same thing happens with drinking water. The body constantly monitors the constancy of the internal environment. If there is not enough water, your brain turns on the feeling of thirst. And when there is too much water, it leaves the body with urine, vomiting and diarrhea. All this happens without your participation. The problem with the abuse of water is that the harm from this absurdity has a cumulative effect and is not as obvious as the harm from excess air, which can be recorded after a few minutes in the form of loss of consciousness.
How our body works
Even a schoolchild knows that 2/3 of our body is water. But it actually depends on age. The older a person is, the less fluid he has.
According to statistics, 70-75% of a child’s body weight is water, in children 1-10 years old it is already only 60-65%, but by the age of 50 it remains only 50%.
It is this factor that scientists explain the aging process. Over the years, our cells lose the ability to absorb and retain water.
Even more interesting is the distribution of water mass throughout our body. 2/3 of its total amount is contained inside cells, the rest is outside them.
At the same time, the fluid in the human body is constantly in the process of circulation, which is what supports the vital activity of all organs. For example, the brain contains 75% water, so its lack is expressed in headaches. The least fluid is contained in adipose tissue - 12% and in bones - 20%.
Is it harmful to drink a lot of water?
Nutritionists have answered this difficult question. No, it's even useful. Pure water can dull the feeling of hunger, which helps people with obesity. It is also needed after physical activity, to replenish the body’s water balance and prevent cardiovascular diseases. In such cases, neither juices, nor teas, nor other drinks are suitable, because the body perceives them as food.
It seems that everything is simple, and there are many benefits and no calories, and water is available to everyone. But you need to know that a large amount of water, more than 6 liters per day, will not have only a positive effect. Such a volume of water will begin to wash minerals out of the body, disrupt the salt balance, increase the load on the kidneys, and there will be a constant desire to go to the toilet, which at night will lead to sleep disturbances and, accordingly, disturbances in brain function. Is it necessary to torture your body like this in pursuit of illusory ideals?
There is another factor why you should not oversaturate yourself with water. Large amounts of fluid can cause hyponatremia or cerebral edema, due to the inability of the kidneys to process all this water. Once there was a case when a woman, having drunk more than ten liters of water in a period of four to five hours, died. Death did not occur immediately; the first symptoms were dizziness, disorientation, and convulsions; this was due to a sharp decrease in sodium levels in the blood.