
24. Not going to the toilet.
The feeling is familiar. You find yourself needing to go to the toilet but unable to. You don’t like using a public restroom at the mall. So, you resolve to hold it in until you get home. Alternatively, you have to attend to a customer and can’t go to the toilet right then. Many people hold in their urge to urinate until the very last moment before making a mad dash for the bathroom. They do it for a variety of reasons. Some believe that it strengthens the bladder muscles. Others believe it helps them to put mind over matter. Whatever their justification might be, the ugly truth is that holding it in is bad for your kidneys. It can damage them over the long-term.

When the kidneys produce urine, they do so to expel and excrete toxins and other by-products from the body. Excess salt and other harmful substances need to be removed from the body as waste. When you ignore that âcall of nature,’ you do so at the peril of your kidneys. The toxins your kidneys were trying to flush may remain behind in the body when you finally go to the toilet. That can cause infection and other damage to the kidneys. It gets so bad that the urine in the bladder can back up into your kidneys in some cases. It’s advisable to urinate as soon as your bladder tells you it’s time to go.