Here is a list of informative facts about your kidneys:

• They are located at the towards the back, just below the ribcage
• They are the size of a fist (or a computer mouse)
• They contain 8-12 ‘pyramids’ (also known as kidney medullas)
• They filter 190 litres (200 quarts) of blood every single day
• Of these 190 litres, roughly 1.9 litres (2 quarts) are excreted as urine
• They are in the shape of a kidney bean (or is it the other way around?)
• The most basic filtering unit within a kidney is call a nephron, and you have between 1,000,000 to 1,300,000 million of these.

So what exactly are kidneys and what makes them soooo special?

Well for starters, the kidneys have many biological roles that keeps your body healthy and within the homeostatic* zone; we all are well aware that the body excretes urine for the purpose of removing waste products and to regulate fluid levels, but did you know the kidneys also help produce red blood cells, vitamin D, and balance pH levels?

*Homeostasis: The ability of a body to regulate its internal environment to preserve a constant equilibrium; such as the ability of the human body maintain a constant body temperature.

But how does it do all that? What is its mechanism?

Here’s A Closer Look…

http:// blogs.jwatch.org/hiv-id-observations/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/kidney.jpg

The kidney consists of three main sections:

1.      Renal cortex (outer region): containing the filtering units of the kidneys (nephrons)

2.      Renal medulla (middle region): composed mainly of tube like structures to drain the urine into the renal pelvis.

3.      Renal pelvis (inner region): the renal pelvis is like little funnels collecting all the urine from the cortex, down through the tubes contained within the medulla (pyramids). These pelvises then flow into the ureters for transport into the bladder.

Little Nephrons, Why Are You So Cool?

I don’t want to get all nerdy on you, but this is important stuff, I promise not put anything in here that you don’t need to know, so I’ll get straight to the point. Basically when something goes wrong with your kidneys we are mainly talking about your nephrons (and remember you have 1 million+ of these guys). That’s it, that’s all I wanted to say (see, I wasn’t lying ).

However, I will just quickly show you this diagram to help you understand what a nephron looks like.  See all the little wriggly lines and the ball to the right of the image? All of that constitutes one nephron. Each of the little sections that make up that ball and string do have their own names, but together they create the filtering units of the kidneys (nephrons). Cool hey? It never ceases to amaze me that the body can create such ‘machines’ on such a minute scale, then multiply it by one million, and then fit them all in to a organ no larger than your fist.

http://www. iworx.com/company2/WebToolsCD/Illustrations/human_kidney/human_kidney_web2.jpg

…However there is one aspect of the kidneys that is often overlooked, and that I haven’t mentioned yet, and that is there a very important gland which sits, like a little hat, on top of each kidney. These important glands are known as the adrenal glands. Many people may have heard of these in recent times, as they are gaining much press for being the main cause of fatigue. Or should I say that the under functioning of these glands are the cause of fatigue. Nonetheless, what is often not mentioned is that these glands also play a massive part in the health of your kidneys. When these glands are not functioning right, nor do your kidneys, or at the very least cause your kidneys to work harder. And it stands to reason, just look at the picture below!

http:// wholistica.org/articles/adrenal-fatigue_files/page18_1.jpg

They are almost part of the kidneys themselves! But this fact is rarely stated. Weird I know. Anyway, that is another entirely different blog post (one which I will be commenting on soon). But I will give you a hint; the adrenal glands are your anti-stress glands and are mainly activated during stressful events. The stress increases the activity of the adrenal glands (e.g. production of adrenaline & cortisol) and the kidneys get stuck in the middle of it all…

Well there you have it folks! I hope that has helped you gain insight in to your body and how it functions, plus give you a good foundation for future posts. Look forward to our next chat.

To Your Health,

Duncan

…I really wanted to make this first official ‘educational and informative’ post a great one, one that you would refer to time and time again to understand the inner workings of the urinary system and kidneys. So I blew off the dust and opened up my anatomy and physiology book (I haven’t seen my ‘old friend’ since college) looking to find the urinary system.  Flicking and flicking through the book, I realised I am not going to find what I am looking for without looking at the table of contents, so I jumped to the table of contents page, and began scanning … and scanning … and scanning… Ahhh there it is, near the glossary at the back of the book. What may seem like a silly thing to comment on (as there has to be something that ends up at the back of the book), but it is just a small reminder that the urinary system is an aspect of the human body which goes widely overlooked.

…I am really passionate about making this a thing of the past. I really hope that through this blog I can, together with you, bring more awareness to kidney health on a large scale, to change some of the ingrained views of what it means to have kidney disease, and of course, the awareness that kidneys can be treated successfully time and time again, naturally.

So with that, let’s get started shall we? And start creating some healthy bodies, minds, and lives.

The Urinary System 101

The urinary system is comprised of four core components:
1.    Two kidneys: the kidneys are two fist sized organs that sit towards the back just under the ribcage. These two organs are the powerhouse of the whole operation, they are the doers, and they are responsible for all the life giving elements that are created by this finely tuned system.
2.    Two ureters: the ureters are the channels (long tubes) that take all the kidneys good work (urine) and direct it to the bladder.
3.    The bladder: is our urine storage unit. And thank god we have one. Our kidney’s produce on average 1400-1600mls of urine a day (though can range from 1000ml to 2000ml a day). That is just a tad over one millilitre a minute. Without a bladder I am sure many public situations wouldn’t go down so well without the benefit of conveniently storing it until an appropriate time to ‘relieve’ yourself. The bladder on average holds 500 – 600ml of urine.
4.    The urethera: is another channel similar to the ureters, which transports urine from the bladder to the toilet bowl during urination.

Together these four components come together to create a system that produces far more effects than simply excreting waste products from the blood. These include:
1.    Removal of wastes from the body – such as uric acid and creatinine
2.    Maintain the pH level within the body (acid-alkaline level)
3.    Regulates fluid volume
4.    Regulates electrolyte balance
5.    Maintain healthy blood pressure
6.    Red blood cell production – though the production and excretion of the hormone Erythropoietin (EPO)
7.    Reabsorption of water, glucose and amino acids
8.    Vitamin D production

And that’s just what they do directly. Imagine what you body would be like with just one of the benefits removed.

Your blood MUST maintain a very narrow pH range of 7.365 to 7.369 for your body function correctly, in fact to survive. If not, not one single other bodily process can occur. Because EVERY single biochemical process that occurs within your body is done within a fluid environment (everything from energy production to hormone production), it stands to reason that if this pH is not maintained, then the environment necessary to allow the processes simply will not be possible. Just like a flower without the right soil/drainage system the end result is death, for your body, death of cells first, then the death of your body. Cheery I know.

But simply put the urinary system is crucial, and just as much attention ought to be given to your kidney health as you do for your next cholesterol reading. But I guess that is why you are here reading this because you know this, or because you now have to know this, right? However I have some good news for you, we will be going through this together, and we will be covering a lot of content, a lot of good solid wellness content for your entire body, because your kidneys are just a reflection of your whole body health. They are one.

To YOUR Outstanding Health,
Duncan