I’ve long been a fan of cleansing my body from the inside out. If I ever find myself feeling weak, tired, or generally off-kilter, I always try to reset my body with some sort of cleanse. This all started when I was in my early 20s and was plagued by urinary tract infections and eventually a few bouts of kidney stones.
One day I finally had enough and decided to figure out why my kidneys seemed to be letting me down. After taking a look at my lifestyle and my diet, I realized that the junk I was putting into my body was likely not being easily processed out. I did some research and found that I might be able to give my kidneys a “reboot” if I simply cleansed my system and then was conscious of making better choices going forward.
“Detox” Basics
The purpose of a “cleanse” is to rid your body of harmful toxins and habits that may be making you sick or weighing you down. The cool thing is that your body actually already has its own detoxification system.
This system includes three of your vital organs:
- Liver
- Colon
- Kidneys
These organs act as your internal detoxification system. Your liver is a filtration system, working to prevent harmful toxins found in your food and environment from getting into your bloodstream. Your kidneys and your colon work to filter the invasive toxins out of your blood stream in the form of urine and bowel movements.
In order to “cleanse” your body, you pretty much need to make sure these three vital organs are in perfect functioning order. As a person with a history of troublesome kidneys I’d love to specifically focus on how to “cleanse” them for optimal health.
What do Your Kidneys Do?
Your kidneys are an integral part of the waste removal systems of your body. According to Healthline, some of the main functions of your kidneys include:
- Excreting waste
- Balancing water levels
- Regulating blood pressure
- Regulating red blood cells
- Regulating acid
Waste Excretion
While you might do everything possible to keep toxins out of your life and your body, it’s inevitable that they will still show up. They are even more apparent in the lives of those who practice harmful habits such as eating processed foods, eating too much sugar, using chemical-based products or being exposed to other environmental toxins. Luckily your kidneys are there to filter out these harmful toxins for us.
Balancing Water Levels
Our bodies have to pay extra attention to the amount of water in our blood. The amount of water in your body can change easily due to factors such as consuming excess amounts of salt, sweating, or dehydration. Our kidneys have the super important job of regulating our water levels to maintain homeostasis.
The following YouTube video gives a quick and thorough explanation of how the kidneys aid in keeping the amount of water in our bodies balanced.
Regulating Blood Pressure
Your kidneys also do the ultra important job of regulating blood pressure. In this post, How Stuff Works explains the intricate involvement your kidneys have in regulating this process. To keep it simple, your blood pressure is dependent upon the following conditions:
- The strength at which your heart contracts
- The level which your arteries and arterioles constrict
- The volume of your circulating blood
Your kidneys influence your blood pressure by:
- Helping your arteries and veins constrict
- Increasing the volume of your circulating blood
If you really want to get into the scientific specifics, I’d suggest reading the article I just mentioned above. Long story short, the kidneys play a major role in maintaining healthy blood pressure and a functioning heart. They are especially important when traumatic injury occurs as they need to help maintain blood pressure and conserve fluid loss.
Red Blood Cell Regulation
If your kidneys don’t get enough oxygen, they send out the hormone erythropoietin that helps stimulate your bone marrow to create more red blood cells – the type of cells that carry oxygen. As an example, your kidneys may have low levels of oxygen if you have anemia.
Anemia is having a shortage of red blood cells in your body, causing a lack of oxygen in vital organs. Luckily our kidneys are there to help produce more of those ever-important cells.
Acid Regulation
The foods you eat can increase the acid in your body or neutralize it. This video gives a great description of how your kidneys regulate the acids in your body. You have receptors that determine the pH of your body and trigger action if it’s too high or low.
The kidneys help to adjust your pH by excreting acid in the form of hydrogen ions. Hydrogen ions regulate your blood when it’s too acidic or in a state of “low pH.”
According to Bottom Line Inc, “The body’s pH balance strongly influences the risk for osteoporosis, sarcopenia (muscle loss), fractures and kidney stone formation — and possibly diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, thyroid problems, cancer and other insidious conditions.”
How You Can Help Your Kidneys
As you can see, the kidneys have some pretty important roles within our body. With this in mind, you want to help your kidneys function to avoid kidney failure or chronic kidney conditions. So how do you do that?
The Cleveland Clinic gives us “7 Secrets to Kidney Health”:
- Drink plenty of water
- Eat healthy foods
- Exercise regularly
- Don’t overdo it with herbs and supplements
- Quit smoking
- Limit your intake of over-the-counter medications
- Make time for kidney screenings if you have other conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure
You’re probably not surprised to see all the same suggestions I encourage for all ailments and conditions. The solution to a long and healthy life and body is simple – treat your body well and it will return the favor.
Today I want to focus on #2 however – eating healthy foods. As I always say, you are what you eat. While I can go on and on about including adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables in your diet, I know it just doesn’t get through to some people.
Whatever the reason, whether you just don’t like your greens or you feel life is just too hectic, there are ways to get healthy foods into your system quickly and easily. A few years back, juicing became a popular trend. If you look deeper, you’ll see it happened for a reason.
Juicing for Kidney Health
Juicing is an amazing way to optimize your health. Joe, the creator behind the movie “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead”, tells us why juicing is “an important tool for good health.” They include:
- Reducing your calorie intake without depriving yourself of nutrients
- Promoting healthy eating habits
- Delicious (and unique!) way to consume your fresh produce
- Fills your body with micronutrients
According to Joe, juicing gives your body a faster and more efficient method of absorbing all the amazing nutrients naturally found in fruits and vegetables. Your digestive enzymes can get locked away in the complex construction of whole fruits and vegetables, but juicing provides a way to access those enzymes along with the other vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.
If you’re like my husband and have a hard time eating your fruits and greens in one piece, juicing is a great way to increase consumption of plant-based foods.
So what does this all have to do with cleansing your kidneys? Well, certain fruits, vegetables, vitamins and minerals are going to directly help your kidneys function better. By consciously consuming more of these ingredients, you are directly affecting the quality of your kidney function!
According to Young and Raw, some signs that your kidneys might be in need of a cleanse include:
- Increased feelings of fatigue or tiredness
- Pain in your kidneys after eating certain or processed foods
- Skin problems like eczema, acne or rashes
- Increased moodiness
- History of kidney stones
- Weight gain and bloating
- Bladder issues or urinary tract infections
Of course, you’ll need to get checked out by your doctor to rule out any serious problems, but if you get the all clear, you can plan a yearly or bi-yearly cleanse as a prevention method. Anyone can reap the benefits of a kidney cleanse, even if you are in seemingly good health
If you don’t have a juicer, I suggest borrowing one from a friend or purchasing one on Amazon if you are looking to continuously gain the amazing benefits of juicing.
The Kidney Cleanse Juicing Recipe
Before I share an amazing kidney cleanse recipe with you, I want to re-emphasise that you that you should always consult your physician or a Registered Dietician before attempting any diet changes or cleanses, especially if you have any preexisting conditions or are currently on any medications.
Once that’s out of the way, give this detoxification recipe a try and let me know what you think! The ingredients are:
- 1 cucumber
- 2 heads romaine lettuce
- 2 peaches
- 2 peeled lemons
- 3 peeled oranges
- 5 kale stems
- 1 apple
- 1 small knob of ginger
Simply blend all the ingredients and consume your juice as soon as possible. Each ingredient in this juice plays an important role in the healthy function of your kidneys and liver.
Cucumber is high in B vitamins, water, electrolytes, silicon, and sulfur. These ingredients aid in hydration and the health of your kidneys, skin, liver and immune system.
The apples have high amounts of flavonoids and vitamin C. Both of these compounds act as antioxidants to fight off the free radicals that damage your body’s cells. If you have a habit of eating processed foods, the juice of these apples can really get you back on track.
Romaine lettuce is a great ingredient for this recipe because it is low in calories and has a good amount of certain vitamins and minerals, like vitamins C, K and potassium. Romaine is also an alkaline food, meaning it is not highly acidic, so it helps cleanse the body faster.
Lemon is natural anti-inflammatory and diuretic, which means it helps promote the production of urine making it a great way to help flush the liver and kidneys.
Kale is another amazing superfood that has been all the rage in recent years; for good reason. Kale is high in important vitamins and minerals, and is also high in fiber and low in fat and calories.
While most of the ingredients in this recipe, especially peaches and kale, are high in vitamins and minerals, the addition of ginger actually helps your body better absorb all those things.
This kidney cleanse recipe is going to work wonders for the health of your kidneys and your entire body. If you are a bit hesitant to try juicing, I encourage you to incorporate even just 8-12 ounces of juice each day for two weeks and see if you notice any type of difference in the way you look and feel. I’d be willing to bet money you will.
Flushing your body with such healthy foods is sure to give you an amazing change in your health and vitality.
Final Thoughts
So what do you think? Will you give this kidney cleanse recipe a try? As we discussed, your kidneys play a major role in the health and function of your body. Their responsibilities include:
- Excreting waste
- Balancing water levels
- Regulating blood pressure
- Regulating red blood cells
- Regulating acid
Making sure your kidneys are well nourshed is going to set you up for long-term health. Even just a yearly kidney juice cleanse can aid in the prevention and treatment of kidney issues.
Do you have any other kidney cleansing recipes you’d like to share? Please let me know about them in comments below!
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Leave a comment