Food Choices Key To Healthy Kidney — Expert

A public health expert named Dr Jonathan Dangana has urged Nigerians to embrace healthy food choices and adopt the right behavioural patterns to maintain healthy kidneys.

Dangana gave the advice on Thursday while speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Dangana, who is also a lecturer in the Department of Public Health, Babcock University, said the kidney is an essential organ in the human body with a strategic function that aids life processes.

He also said that the kidneys, located below the rib cage with one on each side of the spine, remove waste products from the body as the body carries out processes of breaking down substances.

“The kidneys also remove drugs from the body.

“When drugs are ingested or taken, they go through a process of metabolism which you can refer to as breaking down, and what is no longer required has to be removed from the body, hence the kidney serves as means of this removal through the urethra as urine.

“The kidneys balance the body’s fluids and release hormones that regulate blood pressure.

“The body in its natural function secretes a number of hormones aimed at aiding body functions, one of such is renin, which is expected to keep body pressure normal.”

He, however, said that it is important that for humans to function well and stay healthy, proper care of the kidney must be prioritised.

This, he said, is by making healthy food choices which can only be ensured by eating a balanced diet.

“Take part in physical activity. Engage your body in intentional physical activities; apportion time and possibly a venue where you can engage in a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes daily, five times a week.

“Keep fit. In this part of the world, we often say that a “pot belly” is a sign of good living or arrival of making money.

“Maintain a healthy weight commensurate with your health expectation,” he advised.

Dangana added that adequate sleep is a natural means of recalibrating the body and allowing it to work without breaking down.