About the Kidneys

Creatine and Bulging Veins

Veins are close to the surface of the skin and carry deoxygenated blood from tissues back to the heart. Although most women try to prevent bulging veins, especially varicose veins caused by damage and inflammation, men usually welcome them, for aesthetic reasons. Many bodybuilders and other athletes strive for bigger, stronger muscles and bulging veins. Increased vascularity is a visible sign that often implies hard work in the gym, strength and masculinity. However, some people are just naturally more vascular due to genetics. Those who...

All About About the Kidneys

Are Strawberries Good for the Bladder on a Diet?

Strawberries are generally considered a beneficial food choice for most adults. While diets tend to have their own individual philosophies on specific foods, fruits, such as strawberries, are a welcome addition to most weight l...

How Does Lemonade Affect Kidney Reflux?

Few things are more painful than seeing one of your children in physical distress. At times like that you’ll try anything to make them feel better. Given the enormous amount of false information on the Internet, this can ...

How to Get in Shape Before a Kidney Donation

The decision to donate one of your kidneys is an enormous one. It requires you to be mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially ready for the medical procedure and your life that will follow. To be a suitable candidate ...

Eucalyptus & Kidneys

You may be using products that contain eucalyptus and not even know it. Eucalyptus is an herb that is commonly used in mouthwashes, diaper rash creams, medicated chest rubs and inhalers to treat nasal congestion. While the use ...

Parsnips & the Kidney

Healthy kidneys are important; your kidneys perform critical functions in your body, including cleaning your blood by removing wastes. When something goes wrong with your kidneys, tweaking your diet can help put less stress on ...

Protein and Energy for a Kidney Transplant

Immediately after a kidney transplant, your body is under stress and energy and protein needs may be higher. However, your estimated needs normalize after the transplant and are similar to those of the general population, with ...

Benefits of Fenugreek for the Kidney

Preliminary scientific evidence also suggests that fenugreek may have beneficial effects on your kidneys. However, as with any supplement, consult with your doctor before using fenugreek to improve your health.

Goldenseal & Kidneys

Goldenseal is used for kidney and urinary tract issues in traditional medicine as well as many other purposes, such as treating colds and other respiratory tract infections. In fact, goldenseal is one of the most widely used he...

Senna and Kidneys

Senna's active compounds are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of constipation. Although generally safe when used as directed, senna can adversely affect the health of the kidneys and other crucial ...

Phosphorus in Soda & the Kidneys

Consumption of soft drinks in America has skyrocketed in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one-half of Americans drink sugar-sweetened beverages daily. High consumption of soda ra...

Does Cranberry Extract Clean Your Kidneys?

Kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs that filter blood and remove waste and excess water from your body. Factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and family history increase the risk of kidney diseases, such as kidney ...

Kidney Injury & Phosphorus

Although your body needs phosphorus to properly function, excessive levels cause adverse effects such as itching, the National Kidney Foundation says. Your kidneys usually help to regulate the levels of phosphorus in your body....

Does Yogurt Hurt Your Kidneys?

Although yogurt in moderation typically does not present problems for healthy kidneys, too much ingestion of yogurt and similar high-protein dairy products could affect the already compromised function of less-healthy kidneys.

Kidney Problems & Dark Soda

Your kidneys act as a major filtration system for your body, filtering minerals from your blood and releasing them through your urine. This means that the minerals you consume in your diet can affect your kidney health. If you ...

Does Taking Cinnamon Help the Kidneys?

Cinnamon has a long history of culinary and medicinal use. Its distinctive and exotic taste has made it a common ingredient in a wide array of both savory and sweet foods and beverages. From a medical perspective, it may also p...

Does Soda Really Damage Kidneys in Men?

Soda is so common, it's the fourth-largest supplier of all calories most Americans consume, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. That tasty concoction of carbonation, sugar and flavor, however, can contribute...

What Can Soda Do to Your Kidneys?

Your kidneys filter fluid and blood in your body, releasing the extra minerals you do not need and hanging on to the minerals you do. However, excess minerals like calcium, phosphorus and oxalate can build up in your body, caus...

Does Creatine Monohydrate Hurt Kidneys?

Your body makes its own creatine, an amino acid involved in providing energy to your muscles. Sedentary people have no use for creatine supplements, but athletes taking part in high-intensity resistance training may benefit fro...

Dandelion and Kidneys

The dandelion plant, generally considered a weed, has many medicinal uses. Both the leaves and the root of the dandelion might work as an alternative method for treating kidney problems naturally, but you should consult your do...

Kidneys & Dark Cola

Your kidneys serve as one of your body’s filtration systems, regulating the amount of minerals, such as sodium, magnesium and phosphorus in your blood and releasing the excess amounts in your urine. If your kidneys are no...

Does Creatine Put Stress on the Kidneys?

Forms of creatine are added to sports performance supplements to increase strength and muscle growth. You should not use creatine if you have kidney disease or impaired kidney function, although creatine will not damage your ki...

How Is Glucose Normally Processed by the Kidneys?

Your kidneys are comparable to a set of advanced multifunctional machines. They regulate your blood pressure, maintain your body's water volume, release essential hormones and, most importantly, filter about 200 qts. of blood e...

Is Pepper Bad for Your Kidneys?

Assuming that you have healthy kidneys, there are no evidence-based, peer-reviewed studies that suggest ground pepper is bad for you. Even if you have chronic kidney disease, you're safe seasoning your food with this spice. Mod...

Vinegar and Kidneys

The kidneys are vital to your overall health. For most, drinking plenty of water and following a healthy lifestyle will be enough to keep their kidneys in check. However, if you have kidney problems, you may need to take extra ...

Kidney Pain & Yohimbe

Yohimbe is an herbal medicine produced from the bark of yohimbe evergreen trees. These trees are native to Africa, and their bark contains a chemical called yohimbine that can be taken for several different benefits. But yohimb...

Does Excess Protein Injure the Kidneys?

While you may lose weight over the short term with a high-protein diet, it can eventually lead to weight gain and it can damage your kidneys if you have existing kidney problems. Carbohydrates are part of a balanced diet and if...

Exercises for Kidney Donor

Providing the gift of organ donation does not mean you can never return to exercise, activity and sports. Your one remaining kidney will pick up the slack of the now missing kidney and provide the functions necessary to resume ...

Is Lemon Good for the Bladder and Kidney?

Kidney and bladder health is a complex and varied area, with many different conditions and their respective treatments. For any medical condition or problem relating to your urinary tract or kidneys, you should consult a doctor...

Kidneys & Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are nutrients that break down into smaller glucose particles, which serve as energy for your cells. If you have a condition that affects your kidneys, carbohydrates typically serve as your chief nutrient source in...

Are Laxatives Safe for Kidneys?

Laxatives in small and infrequent amounts may help regulate your bowel movements and should not damage your kidneys or other organs, according to MayoClinic.com. If you use laxatives to lose weight, take them frequently or in h...

Atkins & Kidney Damage

With over two-thirds of Americans overweight, popular diets like the Atkins diet claim to offer healthy solutions for controlling weight. Being overweight carries numerous health risks, including an increased chance of heart di...

The Levels of Creatine in Your Kidneys

The kidneys regulate the blood levels of many substances in your body. They can excrete waste or excessive substances into the urine, and they conserve needed substances. In addition, your kidneys synthesize hormones and other ...

Are Carrots and Cilantro Good for Your Kidneys?

Medline Plus describes your kidneys as being two bean-shaped organs, one on either side of your body. Located near the middle of your back, kidneys are responsible for filtering out extra waste products and water. Like all aspe...

Watermelon & the Kidney

Watermelon hydrates your body and enables your kidneys to filter out wastes and toxins from your body. Watermelon also contains substances that play a role in kidney function and prevention of certain types of kidney disease. C...

Kidney Inflammation and Bromelain

Bromelain may go a long way toward relieving some types of Inflammation, but that doesn't mean this applies to renal disease. Inflammation of the kidneys is best treated with conventional medicine because it can be indicative o...

Gluten Intolerance and the Kidneys

Gluten intolerance is an autoimmune disorder that affects your digestive tract. The same immune mediator that causes gluten intolerance may also be responsible for immunoglobulin A nephropathy, an autoimmune disorder that affec...

Fruits Good for Kidneys

Fruit nourishes you with fiber, minerals and vitamins, but some can be better than others for keeping your kidneys healthy. In general, look for fruit that's rich in antioxidants -- such as flavonoids and vitamins A, C and E --...

Excessive Creatine in the Kidneys

Your body is continuously producing waste that can be toxic to your body if not removed. Your kidneys filter out this waste to be removed in the urine. Your doctor may measure your kidney function by checking the level of creat...

Does Soda Hurt Your Kidneys?

Think of your kidneys as the filter that fits over your faucet -- the kidneys remove all the minerals you don't need from your blood and leaves the good parts to continue circulating. However, if your kidneys become blocked, yo...

Is Niacin Cleared Through the Liver or the Kidneys?

Niacin is a B vitamin, commonly referred to as Vitamin B-3. It is a water soluble vitamin, which means that it dissolved completely in water and that any excess is excreted from the body. Water soluble vitamins are not stored...

Is Potassium Bad for the Kidneys?

Potassium is a mineral present in many healthy foods, especially fruits and vegetables. While it has many beneficial effects for the kidneys -- including helping to prevent kidney stones -- it also can have drawbacks if you hav...

How to Lower Protein in the Kidneys

If you have been diagnosed with kidney trouble or diabetes, one of your new health goals may be to reduce the amount of protein you consume. Your kidneys process the chemicals protein triggers in your body, and struggling kidne...

Can Kidney Transplant Patients Take Creatine?

Organ donor programs refer to the donated organ as the "gift of life." This name is especially applicable for kidneys. Given that the five-year survival rate for patients on dialysis between 2002 to 2007 was a mere 33.6 percent...

Is Glutamine Bad for Kidneys?

Any glutamine your body does not use immediately gets stored in your muscles and lungs. Therefore, a glutamine deficiency is unusual. Take supplements under your doctor's supervision. Despite being an over-the-counter product, ...

How to Prepare Beef Kidney

Beef kidneys can be inexpensive, and they are nutritious. One 4-ounce serving of kidneys contains 112 calories, nearly 20 g of protein, 3.5 g of fat and 1,579 IU of vitamin A. You can sometimes find beef kidneys sold by the pou...

How to Save Your Kidneys as You Age

Aging is a common cause of chronic kidney disease, in which the functioning of the kidneys deteriorates. Though the term chronic renal failure is also often used to describe this condition, the kidneys do not fail, they simply ...

How Thiamine Reverses Kidney Damage

Some promising but slim evidence suggests that taking high doses of thiamine may help prevent kidney disease in persons with diabetes. Very limited evidence points to the possibility of thiamine, or vitamin B1, reversing diabet...

Kidney Reflux in Newborns

Urine is produced in the kidneys, and is delivered to the bladder via the ureter. The urine is stored in the bladder until the organ is full, and is carried outside the body through the urethra. Kidney reflux occurs when urine ...

Kidney Care With Blackberries

As good as these may be, there's no evidence that they specifically help your kidneys. Moreover, eating too many blackberries can even be dangerous for patients with advanced kidney disease who have hyperkalemia,

Sodas & Kidneys

Regular consumption of some foods and beverages can have a negative effect on organs such as the kidneys. Your kidneys are responsible for filtering wastes from your blood, which are then diverted to the bladder and excreted th...

Parsley for Kidneys

Kidneys are the two bean-shaped organs located in the middle of your back. They are responsible for removing waste products and extra water from the body in the form of urine. Structural and functional damage to the kidneys can...

Mineral Restrictions in Kidney Patients

If you've just received a diagnosis of chronic kidney disease, your doctor no doubt explained to you that you'll need to make some changes in your diet. Because your kidneys no longer function well, they can't work to process c...

How Does Red Meat Affect the Kidneys?

Your kidneys filter your blood for the release of toxic substance in your urine. One example is the protein you eat -- the kidneys help to release toxins from the breakdown of these proteins. However, kidney disease can affect ...

Can Blueberries Be Bad for Your Kidneys?

If you're a fan of the little burst of flavor provided by blueberries, the good news is that they are not bad for your kidneys. Even if you have advanced kidney disease, blueberries are one of the few fruits that you can eat fr...

Kidney Health & Turmeric

Your kidneys are essential twin organs that work to clean waste and excess fluid from your blood. Positioned on either side of your spine, these vital organs help control your blood pressure, keep your bones healthy and make re...

Raw Spinach and Kidney Damage

Lauded for its crisp texture and nutritional abundance, raw spinach is a superstar among vegetables, containing compounds that may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Despite its health perks, spinach also co...

Kidney Problems From Oxalic Acid

Your kidneys are one of the body's major filtration systems, responsible for filtering toxins and minerals from your blood for excretion in your urine. If certain types of crystals are frequently present in your urine, they can...

What Can I Do to Clean and Detoxify Liver & Kidneys?

Detox diets are advertised as healthy body maintenance plans, and it makes sense. Your kidneys and liver filter toxins from your blood -- you clean out air filters, why shouldn't you clean out your blood filters? The fact is th...

How to Treat Kidneys With Spirulina

Some research suggests that spirulina may even have cancer-fighting properties. The antioxidants in spirulina can be particularly helpful for someone who is trying to detoxify his kidneys. Antioxidants can help improve kidney f...

Does Nettle Tincture Help the Kidneys?

The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs located on both sides of the spinal cord, and these organs measure around 5 inches long and 3 inches wide. The primary purpose of the kidneys is to filter toxins and waste from the blood t...

Niacin & Kidneys

Niacin comes in three basic types: niacin, niacinamide and inositol hexanicotinate. Medical uses for taking niacin include treating high cholesterol and improving hardening of the arteries. Niacinamide may treat type 1 diabetes...

Calcium for Kidney Patients

Kidney disease affects your body's ability to filter a number of minerals in your body including potassium, calcium and phosphorus. If your kidney disease severely affects your body's ability to filter minerals, your physician ...

Kidneys & Granulomas

The kidney is a vital organ. Without at least one properly functioning kidney, the human body cannot survive. Many different diseases affect how the kidney works and some, like diabetes and hypertension, can even lead to end st...

Kidney Damage & Caffeine

Caffeine consumed in moderation can lead to mild, stimulating effects that can help keep you temporarily more alert and awake; however; consuming more than 500 mg -- more than 5 cups of coffee -- a day can lead to side effects...

Are Raisins Rough on Human Kidneys?

Raisins are a valuable source of many nutrients. If you are healthy, they certainly do not represent a problem for your kidneys. Eating raisins indiscriminately would not make your kidneys get worse even if you were a kidney ...

Casein & Kidney Damage

Casein is one of the most commonly consumed proteins, making up anywhere from 70 to 80 percent of the protein found in milk. There are three or four different casein types in the milk of most mammal species, and these casein pr...

Does Exercise Eliminate Protein in Kidneys?

While exercise doesn't eliminate protein in the kidneys, very vigorous exercise might cause proteins in the blood to pass into the urine via the kidneys. While small amounts of protein in the urine are fairly normal, this shoul...

Caffeine and Polycystic Kidneys

Polycystic kidney disease is a hereditary condition that affects your kidneys and can cause severe kidney dysfunction and other health problems. If you have polycystic kidney disease, you may need to avoid consuming foods and b...

Coffee & Kidney Damage

The kidneys are located on both sides of the body in the lower back region. They are responsible for filtering your blood and removing toxins to be excreted in the urine. In some cases, conditions like infections, kidney stones...

Excess Fluid in the Kidney

Under normal circumstances, your kidneys help maintain your body's fluid balance by collecting excess fluids in your blood and excreting them in your urine. However, if your kidneys fail, they will stop performing this vital fu...

Spinach Oxalates & Kidney Risks

Oxalates are naturally occurring substances in foods that are treated as a waste product in your body. If these oxalates combine with calcium in your urinary tract, it can lead to the formation of kidney stones. According to Dr...

Schisandra Berries & Kidneys

Schisandra berries -- the fruit of a vine native to China -- are revered in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where they are known as Wu Wei Zi, or "five-flavor fruit." Believed to support kidney health, schisandra berries are ofte...

Bodybuilders & Kidney Pain

Bodybuilding is a method of exercise that, when done in moderation, builds the skeletal muscles and can keep your body healthy. However, many bodybuilders are interested in bulking up quickly and to the extreme -- so they often...

Thiamine & Kidney Damage

Diet is an important part of treating kidney disease. While managing the intake of nutrients, such as thiamine, doesn't make the disease better, it does help manage the regulatory systems that go awry as kidney disease progress...

Is Soda Bad for Your Kidneys?

Since nephrologists often recommend that patients with advanced kidney disease avoid dark-colored soda, you might mistakenly assume that soda is bad for your kidneys. There are many good reasons to refrain from guzzling soda, b...

Is Turmeric Bad for Your Kidneys?

Turmeric is a yellow-orange spice widely used in Indian cooking. While there is no evidence that it has any negative effects on the kidneys of healthy people, check with your doctor if you have kidney disease because many other...

Could Caffeine Hurt Your Kidneys?

Caffeine can also potentially cause negative side effects like jitters, withdrawal headaches, stomach upset and anxiety. It can even hurt your kidneys, especially if you have kidney problems already.

Iodine and Your Kidneys

Iodine is an essential mineral found in seafood, iodized salt and some fruits and vegetables. Excess iodine is normally removed from your body by your kidneys. However, if your kidneys are unhealthy, iodine may build up in your...

Fenugreek & Kidneys

Fenugreek, an annual herb native to southern Europe and western Asia, was cultivated by ancient Assyrians and used by Egyptians for making incense. Fenugreek has a strong bitter flavor and is used more in commercial food prepar...

Does Splenda Aggravate the Kidneys?

A product of McNeil Nutritionals, L.L.C., Splenda is a leading competitor in a chemically engineered market of sweeteners that includes saccharine and aspartame. There is increased speculation that Splenda may aggravate the kid...

Why Does Creatine Have Possible Kidney Dysfunction?

A study published in January 2001 in the "American Journal of Kidney Disease" suggests that creatine supplementation has the potential to increase the stress placed on your kidneys, which may inhibit kidney function and cause k...

Eating & the Kidneys

The kidneys perform the tasks of keeping your blood chemically balanced and clean. They are a pair of bean-shaped organs located just below your rib cage, on either side of your spine in your lower back. The kidneys sift out ne...

Potassium Chloride for Kidneys

Potassium chloride is a safe supplement for most people to take. However, it can be fatal if used improperly or taken by the wrong people. These dangerous properties are why executioners use potassium chloride in the lethal inj...

Can a Person With a Kidney Problem Take Alli?

While maintaining a healthy weight is important for everyone, it is all the more important for kidney patients because they are at risk for cardiovascular disease. Given that heart disease is the leading cause of death among th...

Kidney Cysts and Calcium

Kidney cysts are small, liquid-filled sacs in the kidneys that are rather common, particularly in elderly individuals. The causes of these cysts are not known, but they may be due to calcium deposits in the kidneys or a genetic...

Roles of Sodium in the Kidneys

The kidneys help maintain a balance of sodium in your body. From that point of view, sodium's role in kidney function is passive. However, with either too high or too low a concentration of sodium in the blood, many basic body ...

Can I Go Swimming After a Kidney Transplant?

A kidney transplant constitutes a major surgery where a foreign kidney from a donor is placed in your body for better organ function. Despite the procedure and what it entails, the recovery period is fairly short in comparison ...

Myoglobin & Kidney Protein

If your muscle tissue gets damaged, this protein can accumulate in your bloodstream and travel to your kidneys. Inside your kidneys, myoglobin breakdown products can trigger the onset of several types of damage.

Can Kidney Patients Take Tamiflu?

If you have kidney disease, you may have difficulty processing medications because your kidneys have a reduced ability to filter the medication and excrete it. Medications may stay in your system for longer amounts of time and ...

The Role of the Kidneys in Calcium Metabolism

Your kidneys are two organs near the upper part of your urinary tract. Kidneys play an important role in removing waste products from your body. Kidneys filter excess minerals, including calcium, out of your bloodstream and dep...

Is Coffee Bad for Kidneys?

Coffee has often gotten a bad rap, with people believing it causes conditions like sleeplessness, high blood pressure and diabetes. Because many people drink coffee and the Centers for Disease Control and prevention reported 4....

Kidneys & Creatine

It is a legitimate nutritional supplement whose effects on the kidneys and other organs are well-documented. Although this supplement appears to be harmless in healthy individuals, do let your doctor know you are taking it.

Protein for Kidneys

Regardless whether you are sick or well, issues regarding protein consumption and kidney health abound. The amount of protein you can safely consume is determined, in part, by the health of your kidneys. Unlike other organs, th...

What Does Soda Do to the Kidneys?

Other conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, can contribute to developing this disease. What you may not expect is the detrimental effect that sodas -- even diet ones -- can have on these vital organs. Understanding how...

How to Strengthen the Liver & Kidneys

Your liver and kidneys are organs that play a vital role in your health. Your liver is responsible for aiding in the digestion of foods, absorbing nutrients from the foods you eat and helping your body get rid of toxins. If you...

Potassium and Kidneys

Healthy kidneys keep serum potassium levels within a very narrow range regardless of how many high-potassium foods you eat. Kidneys of people with advanced kidney disease are less able to perform this function, so potassium lev...

Licorice and the Kidneys

Although licorice is safe for most people, it contains some substances that affect the kidneys. If you have kidney disease, licorice may make your symptoms worse; it also can cause your kidneys to excrete too much

The Kidneys and Salt Substitutes

In addition to filtering blood, kidneys help regulate blood pressure. Kidney patients are invariably hypertensive, because impaired kidneys are less able to perform this function. In addition to blood pressure medications, neph...

Kidney Tests & Creatinine Readings

Kidney tests, especially for individuals with diabetes or hypertension, are important for assessing the health of your kidneys. The National Kidney Foundation states that blood pressure, glomerular filtration rate and ur

What Strengthens the Kidneys?

Kidneys are the waste and fluid management system of the body. They are so important that two are standard equipment. Keep them strong and healthy by using the same concepts as you use to keep muscles and bones healthy. Feed yo...

Is Watermelon Good for the Kidneys?

Watermelon is frequently included in various "kidney cleansing" regimens. Such regimens are invariably based on pseudo-scientific ideas as to how the kidneys work. While watermelon is a cooling, nutritious treat in the hot day...

Is Coca-Cola Bad for Your Kidneys?

Remembering the admonition from their nephrologist to stay away from Coca-Cola, many kidney patients mistakenly believe that this soda is bad for their kidneys. Even if you have impaired kidneys, drinking Coca-Cola won't affec...

Exercise for Kidney Yang Deficiency

Traditional Chinese medical beliefs hold that health means a balance between levels of yin and yang energy in your body and mind. A deficiency or surplus of yin or yang, also referred to as 'essence' by some practitioners, lead...

Does Soda Affect Your Kidneys?

If the rationale for this recommendation is not explained, some patients wrongly conclude that soda affects the kidneys. However, this is not entirely true. Some types of soda become off-limits for kidney patients with advanced d

Creatine & Kidney Problems

Phosphocreatine is transformed into creatine, a process that gives energy to muscle and nerve cells. Because of this ability to provide energy to muscle cells, body builders use creatine to build muscle mass. The kidneys make c...

Soda and Kidney Damage

Patients with advanced kidney disease are often perplexed by their nephrologist's recommendation to avoid "dark sodas." As odd as this recommendation may sound, it is based on solid science. While not all dark sodas have to be ...

Potassium & Problems With the Kidneys

If you have advanced kidney disease, a little potassium can go a long way. Nephrologists routinely monitor serum phosphorus levels to make sure they are in a healthy range. If levels become elevated, as they often do in the la...

Post-Kidney Transplant Exercises

The two bean-shaped organs called kidneys are fist-size filters located below your rib cage and in the area near your middle back. The kidneys filter blood and remove waste, including urine, from your body. Kidney failure, whic...

Is Chocolate Bad for Kidneys?

This recommendation isn't made arbitrarily, and it doesn't mean that chocolate is bad for the kidneys. Such advice is regularly given to patients whose serum phosphorus levels are elevated. By limiting intake of high-ph

Colas & Kidney Damage

For example, patients are often told to avoid dark sodas, such as colas, and drink clear sodas instead. There are good common sense reasons for this kind of restriction. Avoiding colas and other high phosphorus foods is importa...

Does Creatine Hurt Kidneys?

Some athletes take creatine to help increase their athletic performance. However, there is concern that taking supplements of the naturally occurring compound can harm your kidneys. In general, creatine is safe to take but you ...

Excess Protein & Kidney Health

There is no one-size-fits-all advice for these patients. Dietary advice requires looking at the patient's individual labs, blood pressure, age and overall health status. By actively partnering with your kidney doctor, or nephr...

Potassium & Kidney Damage

Your kidneys perform the essential work of keeping your blood clean and chemically balanced. The most common causes of chronic damage to the kidneys are diabetes and high blood pressure. When your kidneys become damaged, they b...

Is Creatine Bad for the Kidneys?

Creatine, which is often taken by athletes, can potentially cause problems for the body, particularly the kidneys. You should talk to your doctor before taking any sort of supplements to make sure that you are healthy enough f

What Is the Meaning of Kidney Bun Levels?

Urea is a non-toxic waste product produced by your body to remove toxic ammonia produced by biochemical reactions. The BUN value from your blood test indicates how efficiently your kidneys are removing waste form your body.

Yoga & Kidney Alignment

The kidneys are at the back of the body near the lower part of the rib cage. The kidneys are responsible for filtering the blood. Specific yoga poses might help the kidneys function better, but some poses, if not done with prop...

How Is Potassium Related to My Kidneys?

Kids and older adults are often encouraged to eat bananas to prevent potassium deficiency. While it's true that bananas contain potassium, the advice fails to take into account that potassium deficiencies are very rare. Problem...

Is Creatine Bad for Kidneys?

Creatine is a compound synthesized in the body from the amino acids arginine, glycine and methionine. It is found in foods, such as red meat and fish, and is available in supplement form. Athletes and bodybuilders use creatine ...

Is Lots of Protein Bad for the Kidneys?

Among their many functions, the kidneys of healthy people prevent protein from entering the urine. If you are healthy, the kidneys will perform this function even if you eat a lot of protein. This is not necessarily true for ki...

How to Use Hydrangea Capsules As a Kidney Cleanser

The kidneys are paired organs that work tirelessly to filter up to 200 quarts of blood every day. Waste material and toxins are then excreted out of the body in the urine. In some cases, the kidneys are at risk of developing mi...

What Happens to Your Kidneys While Exercising?

The kidneys are organs located on either side of the body that filter out and remove waste. According to the National Kidney Foundation, the kidneys process about 200 quarts of fluids every single day. About two quarts of the p...

Is Protein Hard on the Kidneys?

Normal, healthy kidneys are able to process even significant amounts of protein safely and effectively, with no harmful effects. If you suffer from diabetes or kidney disease, however, your kidneys may no longer be able to proc...

Kidneys & Salt

The function of the kidneys is to filter fluid and molecules, including salt, from the body. For the average human, the kidney filters about 47 gallons of blood per day, and only 1.5 to 2 percent of the filtered fluid is excret...

Phosphorus & Kidney Damage

Phosphorus makes up approximately 1 percent of your total body weight. Phosphorus, which is found in teeth and bones, is central to the production of ATP, the molecule that fuels the biochemical reactions that make life possi...

Does Coffee Affect Kidneys?

While it has been the culprit in some famous but unfounded health myths, such as that it will stunt your growth, one accusation may be true. Coffee may have negative effects on your kidneys.

What Electrolytes Are Balanced by the Kidneys?

Your kidneys are a powerful and sophisticated filtration system that help you maintain water in the body as well as electrolytes and other valuable components of blood, while removing water soluble waste. Of the electrolytes in...

Kidneys & Protein

Your kidneys filter the blood and excrete waste products and excess acids and bases through the urine. Part of this process involves filtering out proteins, including some proteins that the kidneys themselves make. When your ki...

How to Protect Kidneys

Your kidneys play many important roles in the body including regulating fluid balance and filtering wastes from the blood. When kidney function declines, most commonly due to poorly controlled diabetes, it cannot perform these ...

Is Protein Hard on Kidneys?

Protein consumption has increased with the promotion of low-carb, high-protein diets. In healthy individuals, increasing protein intake doesn't harm your kidneys, but if you have early deterioration of your kidneys, high-protei...

Calcium & Kidneys

Your kidneys are located below your ribcage behind your internal organs, just below your waist, one on either side of your spine. The kidneys are your body's filtration plant, straining fluid and waste and producing urine. Urin...

Vegetables That Are Good for the Kidneys

Your kidneys are key to removing excess water and waste from your body. If your kidneys fail to work properly, waste can build up in your body, contributing to problems like kidney stones and kidney disease. In order to maintai...

How to Know if Your Kidneys Are Failing

Kidney failure, referred to as renal failure, is a condition most often caused by diabetes and high blood pressure, and can ultimately affect all parts of the body, including muscles, systems and organs. According to the Univer...

Extra Protein With Only One Kidney

As they are broken down, protein waste products are sent to the kidneys to be processed. Healthy kidneys filter these waste products and expel them in the urine. If you are missing a kidney, the one you have may be unable to ha...

Sodium & Your Kidneys

The amount of sodium in your diet affects your blood pressure, your heart function and your kidneys.

Electrolytes for Kidneys

Electrolytes are salts in a water environment and which conduct electricity. They are found in all body tissues and carried throughout the body in the blood. The kidneys are responsible for regulating the levels of electrolytes...

Two Ways That the Kidneys Maintain Homeostasis

If something becomes off, such as your blood pressure is too high or your body does not have enough fluid, your organs work to maintain balance. Because of their role in filtering fluids and wastes through the body, your kidney...

Yoga for Kidneys

Your body has two kidneys, located in your abdominal region. Your kidneys are organs with several important functions. They work together to filter and clean your blood, remove wastes into your urine and regulate electrolytes a...

Kidneys & Exercise

Approximately 13 percent of all Americans over the age of 20 have kidney disease, according to the National Kidney Foundation. Many people who currently have healthy kidneys are expected to develop kidney disease due to diabete...

Magnesium & Kidney Damage

Damage to the kidneys can result in a host of problems. Many of these problems stem from the damaged kidney's inability to maintain a proper supply of minerals, such as magnesium in the blood. Either abnormally high or low bloo...

How to Strengthen Your Kidneys

Located on either side of your spine at the bottom of your ribcage, your kidneys are are bean-shaped organs that remove waste products from the blood. About the size of a fist, each kidney has about one million nephrons, tiny u...

Garlic & Kidney Flush

Your kidneys filter your blood and remove wastes and excess water from your body, notes the National Disease Information Program. When kidney disorders prevent your kidneys from functioning properly, wastes from the foods and b...

Kidney Health Tips

The kidneys are important organs that carry out functions essential for health. They process blood constantly, removing waste products and extra water which are stored in urine until it is excreted. The kidneys also help mainta...

Kidney Disorders & Protein

A person with a kidney disorder may or may not have any symptoms. Indeed, some people do not have any symptoms until the damage is severe. Blood in the urine is a sign there is damage at some point along the urinary tract. A hi...

Nutrients for Kidney Health

The kidneys filter waste products out of the blood. The National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse website reports that the kidneys filter approximately 200 quarts of blood each day, removing two quarts of...

Kidney Factors: Essential Nutrients for Kidney Health

The kidneys play a vital role in your health. They filter waste products from your blood and make urine, the vehicle through which those waste products leave your body, as well as helping your body balance its volume of fluids ...

How to Treat Kidney Health

Your kidneys are two small organs that are shaped like beans and located under the ribcage in your low back area. Kidneys work to remove waste products and toxins by filtering them out of your blood on a continuous basis, then ...

Kidney Damage From Creatine

Creatine is an amino acid produced naturally by the body, and it can also be obtained by eating certain foods, particularly meat and fish. Creatine is mainly located in muscle tissue, and is involved in creating the energy that...

What Should Be the Size of a Child's Kidney?

Determining kidney size for children is important in certain circumstances because enlarged kidneys can be evidence of obstruction along the ureters or urethral. Left untreated, some obstructions may lead to kidney failure. Ki...

Blockage in the Kidney

Kidneys filter salts, toxins and water from blood, and this body waste is then transferred to the bladder where it is excreted as urine. Each day, the kidneys process about 200 qt. of blood, converting it into what will be abou...

How to Improve Kidney Health

The kidneys perform two vital functions for the body: regulating body fluids and excreting toxic wastes. The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse notes that when the kidneys are healthy, they filter and clean the blood a...

Kidney Size in Children

A child's kidneys are the filtration system of the body. The kidneys increase in size as a child's body grows. Kidneys are usually close in size, though there are situations where one kidney is larger or smaller than the other....

Medications That Damage the Liver & Kidneys

Most drugs are metabolized by the liver. It also detoxifies substances ingested by the body. With an impaired liver function, these toxic compounds accumulate in the liver and cause liver damage. The kidneys are often damaged b...

How to Maintain Kidney Health

Your kidneys play an important role in waste disposal in your body, filtering toxins from your blood and removing waste in the form of urine. Kidneys also help regulate your blood pressure. Most healthy people are born with two...

Medications to Avoid With Only One Kidney

Health problems like hypertension and diabetes adversely affect the kidneys. In addition, many medications cause toxic effects to the kidneys and therefore should be avoided or used with extreme caution. Medications to avoid wi...

What Is the Human Kidney Protein Capacity?

The kidney is a small organ just below the rib cage near the middle of the back. Its job is to filter out the waste that has accumulated as a byproduct from all of the nutrients and liquids that you consume to maintain bodily f...

Herbal Kidney Support

Your kidneys play an important role in removing toxins and excess water from you body. If eating a proper diet and drinking plenty of fluid is not enough, you may consider taking some herbs that are believed to nurture and assi...

Signs of Liver or Kidney Damage

The liver and kidneys are vital organs necessary for the elimination of waste from the body. The kidneys allow the body to rid waste and excess fluid through urine while the liver helps metabolize food, medicine and toxins. The...

Drugs List for Kidney Damage

While kidney damage cannot be reversed, many aspects of the disease can be treated symptomatically. Starting with the early stages of the disease, the focus is on treating symptoms of hypertension and high urine protein. As the...

Kinds of Kidney Cysts

The kidneys are a pair of organs in the back that filter blood and make urine. They are important for regulating fluid, minerals, acidity of the blood and stimulating bone marrow growth. They are subject to different types of p...

What is Bruised Kidney?

The kidneys are located behind the abdomen and are present in both flanks. Because the kidneys are vital for life, they are well protected. However, in rare cases, they can become injured, resulting in a kidney bruise.

How Does Creatine Affect the Kidneys?

Creatine is a dietary supplement that is often used to improve athletic performance. Excessive use of creatine can strain the kidneys and cause kidney damage. Individuals should follow proper dosing recommendations for creatine...

What Does Excess Protein in the Kidney Mean?

Excess protein in the kidney is called proteinuria. This is tested in the urine and can also be called albuminuria or urine albumin. Most proteins are too big to pass through the glomeruli, or the kidney filters. When these fil...

How to Reduce Excess Protein in the Kidney

Kidney patients often have high levels of urine protein because their kidneys spill this molecule into the urine. Known as proteinuria, this condition is a red flag for kidney disease. Proteinuria is particularly troublesome be...

List of Kidney Transplant Hospitals

When people reach the end of the useful life of one or both of their kidneys through disease, the option beyond dialysis--a mechanical medical cleaning procedure that substitutes for the work of the kidneys--is typically transp...

Kidney Damage: The Risks

The kidneys perform multiple functions vital to survival. Most people are not aware of the many risk factors for kidney damage. Kidney damage can lead to chronic kidney disease and kidney failure. Over 26 million Americans have...

Most Prevalent Human Kidney Disorders

According to the National Kidney Foundation, one in nine Americans has some form of kidney disease. While some of this disease may be attributed to lifestyle factors, much of it is related to age and genetics. Ethnicity also p...

How to Detoxify the Liver & Kidney

The liver and the kidneys are your main organs of detoxification. According to the Mayo Clinic, a healthy liver breaks down toxins and removes waste from the blood. The kidneys filter out water and toxins from more than 180 qua...

Structure of Human Kidney

The kidneys are an enormously complex organ involved in everything from regulating blood pressure, filtering blood, maintaining healthy bones and helping mature red blood cells. In the absence of illness, it is very possible to...

Advil & Kidney Damage

you have high blood pressure, heart disease, liver cirrhosis, kidney disease, or asthma." This information should be heeded because Advil can permanently damage kidneys, according to the National Institute of Diabetes, Digest...

Reasons for an Enlarged Kidney

Patients suffering from long term kidney disease or severe hypertension eventually end up with smaller kidneys because tissue is lost to scarring. For this reason, enlarged kidneys are a relatively rare phenomenon and only asso...

Kidney Transplant Centers List

Kidney transplantation is among the most complicated of medical procedures. While transplantation techniques and patient outcomes have improved, it is important to choose a top quality transplant center to ensure that kidney do...

Kidney Transplant Donor Requirements

In that year, 6,388 lives were changed because of this life-saving act. All of those donors were willing to undergo surgery to have one of their kidneys removed and live the rest of their lives with a single kidney so that some...

Cyst on a Kidney

The kidneys are involved in filtering waste products from the blood, which are excreted in the urine. The kidneys can occasionally develop small fluid-filled sacs called cysts. These cysts are often an incidental finding on a b...

How Your Body Tells You Your Kidneys Are Damaged

The kidneys serve as the filter of the body; they help to remove unwanted material and waste. They also help to regulate electrolyte balance and blood pressure. They make erythropoietin, which is used to stimulate the productio...

Signs of Kidney Blockage

Normally, the kidneys function as part of the excretory system and help the body filter waste out of the blood, which is then excreted as urine. The kidneys also help maintain a healthy blood pressure level within the body by r...

Signs of a Ruptured Kidney Cyst

Cystic kidney disease is characterized by fluid filled sacs located in the kidneys. According to the experts at Merck, renal cysts can be a hereditary condition. The presence of theses cysts are harmful to kidney function becau...

How to Detox Your Kidneys

According to ancient Chinese medicine, the kidneys are responsible for holding our genetic makeup, or "essence." As this essence circulates throughout our entire body, healthy kidneys are essential for total well being. Locat...

Signs of Kidney Problems

There are a wide range of kidney problems that can result in permanent damage to the kidney filtration units or kidney tissue. Many of these signs can only be identified by a physician, but they are often accompanied by symptom...

How to Detox Your Kidneys

The kidneys have a hard job. The American Heart Association describes the kidneys' role as regulating the body's fluid volume, mineral composition and acidity by excreting and reabsorbing water and inorganic electrolytes. With ...