Maintain Your Body's Critical Waste Filters

Kidneys are the organs that maintain our water balance and help manage the pH of our bodies. While we generally think of kidneys as organs that get rid of water, they actually conserve water by filtering waste products into urine while returning the rest to the blood stream. Approximately 100 quarts of liquid are filtered through the kidneys daily with only 1 quarts passing out of the body as urine.

High protein diets are hard on the kidneys. Uric acid, a by-product of protein metabolism, must be eliminated by the kidneys. If too much protein is consumed, the kidneys get overloaded with waste which can result in high blood pressure, joint problems, and fluid retention. Many of the herbs used for kidney conditions help to neutralize uric acid so that it can be eliminated.

Traditional Chinese medicine views the kidney as a major energy channel or meridian in the body. Imbalances along this energy channel tend to affect other parts of the body related to this energy channel. Accordingly, kidney imbalances may relate to dry mouth, lung congestion, low back or hip pain, knee and ankle pain or proneness to injury, and/or hemorrhoids, hernia or tailbone pain. Working with kidney-strengthening herbs can help alleviate symptoms along this energy channel.

Kidney stones and calcification in the kidneys are problems partially caused by excess calcium in the urine.

Read the rest of the article

December 12, 2009