Your kidneys take care of a lot of essential functions in your body. And yet most people ignore them until something goes wrong. You don't have to wait for something to fail before you start taking better care of these key organs. These herbs for kidney support are safe and effective, and they can help support your overall health as well.
If you’re thinking that your kidneys could use a boost, here’s a guide to how to support the health of your kidneys naturally.
The Role of Your Kidneys
Your kidneys have a number of essential functions in your body. Here are just a few of the tasks they perform:
- Controlling your metabolism
- Regulating your libido
- Filtering the blood
- Helping maintain your body’s water balance
- Bone marrow production
- Releasing hormones that regulate your blood pressure
- Make red blood cells
- Help keep your bones strong and healthy
- Help keep your hair healthy
This is why kidney support is so important. Because when your kidneys are dysfunctional, it can have a devastating effect on your overall health.
The Best Herbs for Kidney Support
Kidney support isn’t as easy as simply swallowing a tonic or supplement. Everyone’s body is different and needs different types of support, and this applies to your kidneys as well. Before you start taking herbs or anything else to support your kidneys, you need to understand their overall health as well as what you want to accomplish. This will allow you to understand and meet your unique needs.
You may also want to get guidance and help from an experienced herbalist or medical practitioner before you start taking anything for your kidneys. Some of these herbs can be quite strong, and if used incorrectly may cause side effects.
With that in mind, here are some of the most popular herbs for kidney support:
Dandelion Root
Otherwise known as Taraxacum officinale, dandelion root is a weed that has diuretic properties. This means that it helps to move excess fluid out of your body by increasing your urine output. This helps to cleanse the kidneys by increasing urination and removing excess water that otherwise pools in the body’s tissues.
Chanca Piedra
Chanca piedra, also known as Phyllanthus niruri, has been used for kidney support for many years. It’s also used as an antiviral herb and may help dissolve kidney stones.
Horsetail
Horsetail is another diuretic herb. Because of this, it’s often used to support the kidneys and bladder. This weed also contains silicon, which helps to assist with healthy bone growth.
Horsetail should not be taken if you have kidney stones, take ACE inhibitors, or are in congestive heart failure.
Juniper Berries
Juniper berries have been used in many ancient cultures to help boost fluid removal and purify the kidneys.
Uva Ursi Leaf
Uva ursi leaf is often used in tea to help relieve urinary tract infections and other conditions relating to the kidney and bladder. It’s often used along with marshmallow root for best effects.
This leaf should not be taken if you have kidney disease or by children. Because taking it over the long term can cause liver damage, you should only take this remedy under the care of an experienced herbologist. You also need to be careful with the dose level, as overuse can actually inflame the kidneys and urinary tract and cause nausea.
Hawthorn Leaf
The hawthorn plant is very useful as a gentle herbal remedy. The berries, leaves, and flowers can all be used to make herbal medicines that have a variety of effects. In some studies, hawthorn leaf has been shown to widen the blood vessels and increase the amount of blood pumped out of the heart. This can make it useful for decreasing fluid build-up around the heart.
Hawthorn may not be safe for people with congestive heart failure, though, according to some research. It’s important that you consult with a medical practitioner before taking a remedy that includes this plant, especially if you have heart issues.
Cleaver’s Leaf/Stem
Cleaver is a hardy weed that’s surprisingly gentle once it gets into the body. It helps to activate the lymphatic system to expel more toxins from the bloodstream. It also supports the kidneys by helping to expel excess fluid from the body through the bladder. Best of all, it does this gently, causing little extra stress for the body or the organs in question.
This weed works well when taken as a tea, but it can also be taken in conjunction with other herbs for stronger kidney support.
Cornsilk
Cornsilk is what it sounds like. It consists of the long fibers at the top of an ear of corn. It works as a diuretic to flush excess water from your body and may also decrease inflammation. For this reason, cornsilk is often used to help alleviate bladder and urinary tract infections and kidney stones.
Cornsilk is fairly safe and gentle, though you will need to check with your doctor before you take it if you have serious health conditions.
How Herbal Remedies Can Improve Adrenal Fatigue
When you have Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS), it’s important that you’re careful when taking herbs, plants, or other supplements. AFS occurs when you’re under stress for a long period of time. It’s becoming ever more common recently because of the varied and many stressors in the modern world such as lifestyle factors, work pressures, and environmental issues.
When you’re stressed over a long period, the NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) stress response remains active. This is usually a short-term solution that activates when you’re stressed to help protect your body. The NEM stress response causes the release of cortisol from the adrenal glands during stressful times. Cortisol then makes changes throughout your body that help you cope with the cause of the stress.
When the NEM stress response is active for a long time, however, the adrenal glands can become fatigued and start to malfunction. The ongoing high cortisol levels and adrenal fatigue can also cause malfunctions throughout your body’s circuits, including in the Detoxification Circuit.
Herbal remedies can be a good way to gently and naturally start to alleviate symptoms of these malfunctions and support your circuits to return to a healthier level of functioning. However, it's important to check with an experienced medical practitioner when taking these remedies to avoid side effects that could make your condition worse. This is also true is you have detoxification issues.
Kidney Support and Detoxification Problems
Remedies for kidney support can be very helpful for detoxification problems. The Detoxification circuit consists of the liver, the immune system, and the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM is the fluid-filled spaces between cells.
When you’re healthy, the Detoxification Circuit works to remove toxins from your body before they can affect your health. But when this circuit malfunctions, it can result in toxic build-up throughout the body. This is common with AFS.
Here’s how remedies for kidney support can help with that:
Toxin Removal
When you have detoxification problems, the ECM becomes clogged with toxins. These toxins include metabolites, which are the end result of metabolism in the body.
Metabolites can be inert or reactive. Reactive metabolites can do damage to the body and its cells unless they’re deactivated by the liver and expelled. Both types of metabolites must be deactivated by the liver and transported to the ECM for expulsion through the kidneys.
Unfortunately, when you have AFS, this process slows down. The ECM becomes clogged with metabolites. This also slows down chemical messaging between the cells. The immune system reacts to this toxic build-up, going into overdrive and causing inflammation, which can exacerbate AFS.
Herbal remedies for kidney support can help with this by helping to flush out the toxic fluid in the ECM. This helps to reduce the toxic overload and allow the immune system to return to a more normal level of functioning.
Liver Congestion
The toxic build-up in the ECM also affects the liver’s health and prevents it from doing its job properly.
Kidney support herbs can help clear the toxic fluid in the ECM. Immune system activation decreases in response, and the liver benefits from the decreased metabolite production. This allows it to rest and heal and start doing its job properly again, deactivating metabolites and releasing them into the ECM for expulsion. This will improve overall health and the balance of the Detoxification circuit in particular.
The Takeaway
There are a number of herbs that can help your body get the kidney support it needs. You can take them separately, or look for a product that combines the most useful herbs for gentle but effective kidney support. Here’s how to include these products safely and naturally into your daily routine:
- Talk to a medical practitioner first to ensure that the product is right for you, especially if you have other health problems or take medication.
- Consider what you’re trying to achieve for your health, and which herbs will work best to help you achieve those goals.
- Stop taking the herbs immediately if you notice any side effects and see a doctor.
For a gentle but effective herbal mix that will support kidney and bladder function, talk to our team at +1 (626) 571-1234 or click the banner below.
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