Kidney Day: Healthy food and herbs

The Kidneys are one of the primary avenues our body eliminates toxins, excess hormones, and many other wastes. They regulate our fluid and mineral balances in the body, activate Vitamin D, and play a crucial role in blood pressure regulation. Any swelling or "fluid" build up in the body, commonly seen in the legs, is an indication that the kidneys might need some help in filtering your blood.

In end of life care, we actually will monitor kidneys closely because prognosis goes way down the more the kidneys fail.

So how do we take care of these two funny shaped organs? What things should you be doing to make sure this extremely important system is functioning optimally?

I would first like to say that it truly depends on your kidney health and for the sake of this article, the recommendations that follow will pertain to simple kidney prevention. As a patient moves through various stages of kidney failure, the treatment and recommendations drastically change. Please make note of this and seek medical advice if you are in Stages 2-5 kidney failure.

Beverages

1. Lemon and Lime Water for Stone Prevention

The citric acid the lemons and limes offer can help prevent the formation of calcium crystals, a very common cause of kidney stones by preventing calcium from sticking to other surrounding minerals.

2. 4 ounces of unsweetened cranberry juice to prevent UTI's

Cranberry is rich in D-Mannose, a nutrient that actually can break down the cell walls of E. Coli, a common cause of UTI's. If you have an actually UTI, you will want to increase this dosage but obviously seek medical advice as you don't want UTI to get out of hand.

3. Aquaretic herbs for generalize maintenance and prevention