Top 5 Healthiest Drinks For Your Kidneys

11 Jun Top 5 Healthiest Drinks For Your Kidneys

Even though your choice of what to drink has a tremendous impact on your kidney function, most of us are actually plenty hydrated, all the time. So, the problem isn’t that our kidneys aren’t getting enough water, it’s that most people are getting their water through drinks that also contain a lot of sugar. I’m talking soda, juice, kool-aid, and sweet tea. These drinks contribute to obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure – all of which are risk factors for the development of kidney disease.

So, the key is not just to drink more water or fluids, but it’s to limit your consumption of these other dangerous drinks.

Now that you know what to avoid, here are the best 5 drinks to replace your sugary beverages. And they’re tasty too.

Top 5 Healthiest Drinks:

1. Black coffee. Every week or two a new study comes out touting the benefits of coffee. The latest study showed an extra cup of coffee had a protective effect against developing chronic kidney disease and may keep your kidneys filtering at a higher level. It has been linked to protective effects on cancer and cardiovascular disease as well, though we still need more data on all of it. Check out my tips for drinking black coffee if you can’t fathom the thought of going black. 

2. Unsweetened Green Tea – Green tea has been studied almost as much as coffee. A cup of green tea is full of compounds called polyphenols which function as antioxidants. The jury is still out on whether green tea will positively affect your health from a purely medical standpoint. However, there is something that is so relaxing about a cup of hot tea. So, a cup of tea made correctly and slowly, consumed while taking slow meditative breaths is certainly fabulous for your overall health and well being. The key is to make the tea perfectly and drink it mostly unsweetened.

How to make a perfect cup of green tea?

1. Use water that is not at a rolling boil, 170-180º is perfect
2. Steep for 2-4 minutes only
3. Add a cinnamon stick, and a splash of lemon juice to taste

3. Beet juice – beet juice is loaded with nitrates which convert to nitric oxide in the body. When consumed in high enough quantities, beet juice can lower blood pressure. Unfortunately, no one can regularly drink that much beet juice.

4. Seltzer water – this one is on here for all soda drinkers who can’t quit the carbonate. Carbonated water hydrates as well as still water – and gives you all the bubbly feels. It’s the perfect antidote to help you lower your soda intake. If you don’t like it plain, add a little fresh orange juice or a splash of cranberry juice; or fresh herbs like basil or mint.

5. Water

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