Urological health is critical for overall health. The urinary system is made up of the kidneys, renal pelvis, bladder, ureters, and urethra—organs that are crucial in filtering your blood and creating urine.
With a healthy urinary system, your body is able to efficiently remove waste products of metabolism and balance body fluids and electrolytes. The body is also able to release hormones that control blood pressure and red blood cell production and to regulate calcium and phosphorous levels for healthy bones and teeth.
While many urological conditions are usually not life-threatening, they can dramatically affect quality of life. For instance, common conditions such as urinary incontinence, overactive bladder, urinary tract infections, kidney stones, and interstitial cystitis can be embarrassing, forcing you to have a limited social life.
Therefore, by keeping a healthy urinary system, you can prevent these awkward conditions, improve your quality of life and boost your overall health.
What are the 6 must-know urology wellness tips?
- Drinking plenty of water
Drinking enough water keeps your body hydrated and helps to flush out wastes and bacteria. In turn, this supports a normal functioning of organs of the urinary tract.
For instance, flushing out wastes prevents build up of minerals in urine and reduces the risk of kidney stones. This is especially important in hot climates like Florida. Likewise, washing out bacteria from the urinary tract prevents potential urinary tract infections that may result from bacterial multiplication in the urethra, bladder and kidney.
Just how much water is enough? Drinking 6-8 cups of water per day is considered sufficient for proper hydration. But you may need to increase your water intake depending on the weather and your activity level. In the summer, you can sweat up to 2 liters an hour during physical activity. So drinking 9-13 cups of water in the summer is recommended.
- Maintaining a healthy diet and weight
A healthy, balanced diet can prevent a number of urological problems. For example, reducing the amount of fat in your diet can lead to overall reduction of accumulated visceral fat around your vital organs. This helps to curb medical conditions like heart disease, type II diabetes, fatty liver, and poor urological health.
Similarly, since being obese or overweight can result in a heavy abdomen that puts extra pressure on your bladder, cutting down your weight is good for your urological health. In fact, losing weight is a very effective way of preventing urinary incontinence.
- Taking regular exercise
When you maintain an active lifestyle, you can keep your vital organs functioning optimally and ensure good urological health. Regular exercise also improves symptoms of urinary problems, such as pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence.
For example, including Kegel exercises in your routine can help to train your pelvic floor muscles. You can do so by performing these exercises 2-3 times or more per day.
And since pelvic floor muscles support the bladder and bowel, retraining them helps to relieve urinary incontinence, ease pelvic organ prolapse, alleviate overactive bladder, and boost sexual vitality.
- Reducing caffeine and alcohol intake
Certain foods and beverages have the ability to upset your urinary system. For instance, caffeine tends to upset the bladder and trigger urinary incontinence. So it is prudent to reduce your intake of coffee, tea, and even cola to prevent heightened bladder activity that may result in urine leakage.
Spicy and acidic foods, such as citrus fruits and tomatoes, can irritate the bladder. Reducing their consumption or replacing them with natural remedies like cranberry juice that support urological health is therefore good for your urological health.
Equally, alcohol is a diuretic. That means it promotes loss of water from the body and speeds up dehydration. With increased dehydration, there is a higher concentration of minerals and salts in your urine, which can cause kidney stones.
Limiting your alcohol intake is good for your urinary system. But if you have to drink alcohol, accompanying it with plain water is recommended.
- Quit smoking
Cigarette smoking is a contributor to urological ailments like kidney stones, interstitial cystitis, infertility, bladder cancer, and kidney cancer. In fact, using tobacco is a major factor in bladder cancer—smokers are 2-3 times more likely to have bladder cancer than non-smokers. So quit smoking to protect your urological health.
Also, getting enough sunshine is good for your urinary system. The ultraviolet light from the sun helps to make vitamin D. Since low levels of Vitamin D increases the risk of various urological issues, including enlarged prostate, overactive bladder, urinary tract infections, being in the sun often will protect your urological health.
- Monitor your urine for clues
Thirst is one of the most frequent signs of dehydration. And there are other signs such as fatigue and dizziness. However, before your body dehydration level is too high, your urine will already be showing signs.
Normal, well-hydrated urine is clear to pale yellow. But when you are dehydrated, the color changes to honey or golden colored. So by monitoring the color of urine, you can tell when you are dehydrated and need more water.
Urine that is orange or pink often means you have hematuria (blood in urine). Hematuria can be due to an enlarged prostate, kidney stones, urinary tract infections, or bladder cancer. Speak with your doctor when you notice an abnormal urine color that persists for 2 or more days.
Would you like to speak with a urologist about your urological health? At St Pete Urology we offer world-class diagnosis and treatment of urological disorders.
Our experienced urologists apply the latest tools and techniques to deliver safe, timely and effective urological care. For more information on how to care for your urinary system, visit the site “St Pete Urology.”
