Herbs To Strengthen The Kidney

Your kidneys act as living filters that remove toxins from the bloodstream and allow you to expel them from your body in urine. Kidney stones, kidney disease and other ailments that affect the organ can be painful and even deadly, so maintaining strong and healthy kidneys is an important part of your overall health. Supplementing your diet and lifestyle with certain herbs can aid in building kidney strength and help you avoid such conditions.

Burdock

Your kidneys can only truly do their job of ridding your body of toxins and impurities when you're urinating normally. If you find that you're urinating infrequently, taking a burdock supplement can have a diuretic effect, causing you to urinate more often and ease the strain on your kidneys. Burdock's diuretic properties are most potent in the fresh leaves of the plant, but nearly all commonly available forms of this herb can be used for this purpose. Burdock capsules, tablets, powders and extracts can typically be purchased from supplement and natural medicine sellers, and it may be available as a dried tea mixture at some specialty tea shops. In addition to supporting overall kidney strength, burdock can be used as a treatment for kidney stones and bladder infections.

Uva Ursi

Also known as bearberry, uva ursi is a low-growing shrub with a long history as a folk medicine treatment for urinary tract infections, chronic diarrhea, and bladder and kidney stones. Because of a naturally occurring substance called arbutin, which can also be found in kidney-strengthening cranberries and blueberries, uva ursi has both a diuretic effect and an antiseptic effect on the urinary tract and inflamed mucus membranes. Uva ursi also contains tannins, a type of naturally occurring astringent that can shrink inflamed tissues in the kidneys and urinary tract. Only the leaves of the plant have been found to have medicinal properties. The herb is typically sold as either a capsule containing dried, crushed leaves or a herbal tea.

Astragalus

Astragalus also has an extraordinarily long medical history, particularly in Chinese medicine, and it remains one of the most commonly used Chinese medicinal herbs today. One of the most compelling arguments for astragalus as a kidney-strengthening herb is a 2001 study from Beijing Medical University's Institute of Nephrology, which explored how acute renal injury in rats was affected by astragalus and another herb, angelica. The study concluded that the herbs did have some effect in protecting the kidneys from acute injury. Astragalus can also treat bladder infections caused by Proteus bacteria, which may lead to kidney stones. The herb's dried root is considered to be medicinally potent and is available as a powder, liquid extract, tincture, dried tea and ointment.