Episode Transcript
When you think of alcohol and your organs, you probably think of your liver. But there’s another pair of organs quietly working behind the scenes every time you drink — and paying the price.
Your kidneys.
In this episode of Trust Your Health, we’re talking about how alcohol strains your kidneys, what it really does to their function, and why even moderate drinking can make them work harder than they should.
Your kidneys are your body’s filtration system. Every day, they filter around 50 gallons of blood, removing waste, balancing your fluids and electrolytes, and regulating blood pressure.
But alcohol interferes with nearly all of those jobs.
First, alcohol is a diuretic — meaning it makes you pee more by reducing the release of an important hormone called vasopressin. When vasopressin drops, your kidneys don’t reabsorb as much water, and you lose more fluid in your urine. That’s part of why you feel dehydrated — and why your urine is so light after drinking.
But the problem doesn’t stop there. Dehydration makes it harder for your kidneys to filter your blood properly. When you’re dehydrated, the concentration of waste in your blood rises, and your kidneys have to work even harder to keep up.
Over time, regular drinking can contribute to high blood pressure, which is one of the leading causes of chronic kidney disease. And for people who already have kidney problems — or who take medications that stress the kidneys — alcohol can make things worse.
Alcohol can also directly damage tiny filters in the kidneys, called nephrons, and in some cases contribute to more serious conditions like acute kidney injury.
If you’ve ever noticed that your lower back hurts or you feel unusually tired after drinking, your kidneys could be feeling the strain.
So what can you do? Start by drinking water between alcoholic drinks, and avoid binge drinking — which puts the most strain on your kidneys in the shortest time. If you already have high blood pressure, diabetes, or known kidney issues, talk with your doctor about whether it’s safer to cut back even more.
The good news is, for most people, the kidneys can recover — but they can’t regenerate the way the liver can. Once there’s significant scarring or loss of function, it’s permanent.
So take care of these two hard-working organs. Every time you drink, they’re working overtime for you — and they deserve your respect.
In our next episode, we’ll talk about what alcohol does to your heart — and why even a little can hurt over time.
Thanks for listening to Trust Your Health. Because trusting your health begins by understanding your body.
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