Your kidneys are an important part of your detoxification system. Many of the toxins that the liver processes to enable them to be eliminated safely from the body are sent to the kidneys to be excreted in the urine. Your kidneys also excrete toxins that are created as by-products of normal metabolism. We hear a lot about colon cleansing and liver detox but not too much about a kidney cleansing diet.

Your kidneys are two fist sized organs that are an essential part of your drainage system. They filter all the fluid wastes and from your bloodstream, help to maintain pH balance,regulate mineral levels in the blood, activate Vitamin D to its usable form, and produced hormones that regulate your blood pressure and enable you to absorb calcium. In Traditional Chinese Medicine the kidneys are considered to be the “root of life”.

Causes of poor kidney health

The things that lead to poor kidney health are eating a diet high in processed and junk food and not drinking enough water. The cells of the kidneys need to be well hydrated to function well. Some researchers believe that excess sugar may, in part, contribute to hypertension. It’s well known that diabetes leads to kidney damage. Excessive toxins overload the kidneys putting them under considerable strain which can result in water retention.

Drug damage

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve), and aspirin are known to cause kidney damage and disease if taken regularly. Acetaminophen ( Paracetamol in the UK ) (Brand names Tylenol, Excedrin, Panadol) can also cause kidney damage and failure if used regularly. All of these over-the-counter pain medications probably don’t pose significant danger if your kidneys are relatively healthy and you use them for emergencies only.

Diets that are high in protein, fat, calcium (usually from dairy products), refined sugar, coffee, soft drinks, alcohol, salt and low in fiber can result in kidney stones. A diet that is high in vegetables, fruit and vegetable protein protects against the formation of kidney stones.

Heavy metal toxicity

Metals, especially mercury, can damage the kidneys as they try to excrete them. Mercury can even lodge in the kidney tissue damaging the cells leading to poor kidney function. I have already written about heavy metal detox in a previous post.

Toxic bowel

A toxic bowel can overload the kidneys with the toxins that are absorbed from it leading to kidney weakness. Colon cleansing can help the kidneys and is an important first step in kidney cleansing. A general body detox and juice fasting will also detox the kidneys but if you have a kidney weakness or suffer from recurrent kidney infections you may want to concentrate more on specific ways of cleansing your kidneys.

Symptoms of poor kidney function

Some of the symptoms of poor kidney function can include:

• fluid retention

• frequent passing of urine

• passing urine that irritates

• frequent bladder or kidney infections

• chronic lower back pain

• high blood pressure

• scalp irritation

• frequent unexplained fevers or chills

Fresh Vegetable Juices

Fresh raw vegetable juices are good for detoxing the kidneys. Celery, parsley and young dandelion leaves are particularly beneficial to include in vegetable juices. Also include include apple, asparagus, beet, (beetroot), broccoli, cabbage, carrot, celery, cranberry, cucumber, endive, grape, melon and watermelon.

For bladder disorders drink fresh vegetable juices that include beet (beetroot) , cabbage, carrot, cucumber, endive, spinach and watercress. Don’t alarmed if the beet makes your urine pink. About 10% of the population get this. The pigment that colors the beet does not get changed and is excreted.

Here is a good kidney cleanse recipe. Wash and juice the following:

4 Stalks Celery
3 Sprigs Parsley
1 Cucumber
Half a lemon
Water

Watermelon Kidney Detox

One easy way to do a kidney cleanse is to purchase a few large melons and whizz up the flesh in a blender. Include some of the seeds as well if they are organic. Drink as much as you can throughout the day and regularly empty your bladder.

Potassium Broth

Potassium broth is also good for cleansing the kidneys. There are a number of recipes for this. The basic idea is to simmer the vegetables long enough to draw out the potassium and other minerals so that you have a mineral rich liquid to help the body cleanse. It is important to use organic vegetables to avoid consuming toxic insecticides, pesticides or inorganic chemical fertilizers while you are on a cleansing program. It does not have to be exact. Make it to your taste.

Here is one recipe

4 carrots
2 red potatoes with skin
1 onion
2 stalks celery
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 head green cabbage
1 large beet
1 clove garlic, crushed.

Wash and chop all the vegetables. Put in a large pan. Add enough pure water to cover vegetables, bring to boil, put on lid and simmer gently for 1 hour. Strain well pushing the vegetables down well with the back of a spoon to extract all the liquid. Drink only the broth. Put the vegetables in your compost. Left over broth can be stored in the fridge for 2 days.

3 day kidney detox diet

Day 1

On rising:

Watermelon juice or mug of potassium broth

Breakfast

Watermelon or fresh vegetable juice

Mid Morning:

Fresh vegetable juice

Lunch:

Large raw salad made up of leafy greens and grated vegetables. Use lettuce, watercress, parsley, cucumber, celery, cabbage, Include carrots, asparagus, onions, sprouts. Dress with a little cold pressed olive oil and lemon juice.

Mid afternoon

Fresh vegetable juice

Dinner

As lunch

Evening

Cup of potassium broth or fresh vegetable juice.

Day 2  – Repeat as for day 1.

Day 3

Same as Day 1 but you can have steamed vegetables and brown rice or millet for the evening meal. Add some lentils, or a little tofu.

To get the best results the kidney cleanse should be done after a colon cleanse and liver detox. Both massage and exercise can have a very beneficial effect on the kidneys when combined with the cleanse.

If you have a serious kidney problem it is best to get the advice of a health expert who is knowledgeable about a kidney cleansing diet.

There is a lot of controversy over the need for a colon cleanse or colon detox. There is no doubt that many health problems can be traced back to to poor function of the digestive system. What happens here can affect the entire body. Many naturopaths like Bernard Jensen have demonstrated that. You can read his Tissue Cleansing through Bowel Management free online here:

http://curezone.com/books/online/bowel

My own experience with bowel cleansing convinces me that colon detox is justified.

Consider this:

Your life depends on the ability of your digestive system to digest your food, extract the nourishment from it and absorb the nutrients to feed your cells. It has to also quickly eliminate the waste that is left as well as the bile from the liver that is full of toxins that it has processed. The longer it stays in your intestines the more likely it is to putrefy and create more toxins that get reabsorbed back into the system.

Detoxifying the colon has a huge impact on the immune system as well. When most people think of the immune system they rarely think of  their digestive systems.  Did you know that at least 60% of the body’s immune system is located in the small and large intestines?

More and more research shows that your immune function is made up of the interaction of your diet, the intestinal bacteria and the immune tissue in your gut called GALT (Gut Associated Lymph Tissue). There is not such thing as right or wrong, there are many things that work and don’t work. The key here is finding what works for YOU.  It can be a case of trial and error.

So lets have a look at some simple ways of cleansing your colon:

Psyllium Husks

We talked about increasing fiber in the diet with vegetables, fruit and whole grain last time but you can also increase fiber with a supplement. Powdered psyllium seed husks are probably the best know plant fiber for colon detox and many colon detox products contain it.

These seed husks have traditionally been used by Chinese and Indian herbalists for many years to improve constipation and diarrhea as well as other bowel conditions.  They can help in both conditions as they swell when they come into contact with water forming a gelatinous mass which keeps the waste matter in the bowel soft. The bulk stimulates the bowel contractions speeding the elimination.

Look for powdered husks and not the seeds themselves. To use it you mix 1 or 2 teaspoons of psyllium husk powder with 250ml (8oz) of water or diluted juice, shake up in a lidded container and drink immediately. If you leave it it thickens to a gel and will be difficult to drink.

Follow this in 15 minutes or so with another 250ml (8oz) glass of water. Sip slowly. if you do not like the consistency of it try thinning it down more.  You can get it in capsules but you normally have to take a lot of capsules to get any result.

Bentonite Clay

Psyllium is often combined with Bentonite Clay to provide a better cleanse effect. Bentonite is a commercial name for “montmorillonite”  the active mineral in a natural clay that has been used medicinally for hundreds of years by various cultures around the world.

Bentonite Clay is considered medicinal because it has a negative charge, and most toxins in our body have a positive charge. Opposite charges attract so it makes Bentonite Clay so useful in binding up toxins in the gut that have been excreted in the bile.

Bentonite on its own can be constipating so it needs the Psyllium to help push it through. But you do have to drink a lot of water with it to be effective or the psyllium will just absorb water from the bowel drying it out. You can get Bentonite powder and mix it into water yourself or buy ready made Liquid Bentonite also known as Hydrated Bentonite.

Psyllium and Bentonite Shakes.

To make the P & B Shake put 1 tsp Bentonite Clay powder and 1 or 2 teaspoons of psyllium husk powder with 250ml (8oz) of water or diluted juice, shake up in a lidded container and drink immediately. Follow this with another 250ml (8oz) glass of water.

Start with 1 shake a day and gradually increase to 3 or 4 as the body adjusts to the additional fiber. Take one first thing in the morning then try to have one or two in the afternoon and another before bed. P & B shakes should be taken at least one hour before or after taking any supplements, herbs, medications, etc. You can use them for up to a month at a time.

Epsom Salt & Prune Juice Colon Flush

If you want to do a quick flush then this Epsom Salt Colon Flush recipe that was given to me by a naturopath will do the trick. I will warn you that it is quick and very complete and you had better be near the bathroom for the whole day.

Start by drinking a mixture of ½ teaspoon Epsom Salts in 4 oz. of water every 3 hours.  After the first dose mix up a shake with ½ – ¾ cup of psyllium husks and 32 oz. of organic prune juice and drink it all over 30 minutes.  It may get a bit thick but you can dilute it.  Stop the Epsom salts when your bowels start moving.

You should not do this cleanse if you have any kidney problems as you may have difficulty with the magnesium.  Epsom Salts is Magnesium Sulfate. Follow each cleanse with a good-quality, high potency, multi strain probiotic to replace beneficial bacteria and take it for 3  months.

Your kidneys are a very important part of your cleansing and detox system along with the liver, bowel, skin, lymph and lungs. Some toxins that have been processed by  your liver to make them water soluble are cleansed from your body by your kidneys through the urine. They help prevent toxins building up in your body damaging your cells and tissues. So you can understand that your kidney detox function is vital to your good health.

Your kidneys do a lot more than detoxify those nasty chemicals. They also:

• get rid of wastes like urea and ammonia that are produced by the breakdown of proteins that you eat.

• reabsorb nutrients and water vital to the body’s fluid balance

• excrete substances the body cannot use in 1 – 2 liters (1–2 quarts) of urine they produce every day.

• produce hormones to regulate blood pressure

• help regulate blood pH

An overload of toxins can cause irritation and the whole of the urinary tract becomes more prone to infection. Normal kidney function may then be interfered with resulting in water retention, mineral deficiencies and kidney stones.

Do you need a kidney cleanse & detox?

Signs of poor kidney function can include:

• fluid retention

• frequent passing of urine

• passing urine that irritates

• frequent bladder or kidney infections

• chronic lower back pain

• high blood pressure

• scalp irritation

• frequent unexplained fevers or chills

Improving your bowel and liver detox will help cleanse the blood and reduce the load on the kidneys.  I am sure you have heard that drinking lots of water is essential for kidney cleansing and detox  but some doubts have been cast on that advice recently. Some researchers found that increasing water intake did not in fact increase the excretion of toxins. But the kidneys do need enough water to function efficiently.

Drinking about 8  – 10 x  8oz pure water a day should be sufficient if you are eating good amounts of fruit and vegetables as they contain water. There have been documented cases where people have become very ill from the effects of low sodium in the body from drinking excessive amounts of water.

If you are following a detox that includes nutritional support for the liver then that should take care of the kidney detox too. Many the nutrients that are needed for the function of the liver are also needed for the function of the kidneys.  If you are following a herbal detox plan then that will include herbs that are beneficial for the kidneys.

Juices for Kidney Cleanse & Detox

Potassium broth (recipe below) and raw vegetable juices are also good for detoxing the kidneys. A 3 day juice fast every so often including Watermelon Tea and potassium broth can be very beneficial. Celery, parsley and young dandelion leaves are particularly beneficial to include in vegetable juices.

For bladder disorders drink fresh vegetable juices that include beet (beetroot in the UK) , cabbage, carrot, cucumber, endive, spinach and watercress. Don’t alarmed if the beet makes your urine pink. About 10% of the population get this. The pigment that colors the beet does not get changed and is excreted.

For kidney problems include apple, asparagus, beetroot, broccoli cabbage, carrot, celery, cranberry, cucumber, endive, grape, melon, watermelon. Watermelon and melon are best juiced on their own. The diet should be low in protein and high in organic fresh fruit and vegetables. Alcohol, sugar, processed and high fat and carbohydrate foods should obviously be avoided.

Potassium Broth Recipe

There are a number of recipes for this. The basic idea is to simmer the vegetables long enough to draw out the potassium and other minerals so that you have a mineral rich liquid to help the body cleanse. It does not have to be exact. Make it to your taste.

Fill a large pot with organic vegetables – 25% potato peelings, 25% carrot peelings and whole chopped beets, 25% chopped onions, a whole large bulb of garlic, 25% celery and dark greens. Add hot peppers to taste.

Add enough pure water to cover vegetables, bring to boil, put on lid and simmer gently for 1  hour. Strain and drink only the broth. Put the vegetables in your compost. Left over broth can be stored in the fridge for 2 days.

It is important to use organic vegetables. to avoid consuming toxic insecticides, pesticides or inorganic chemical fertilizers while you are on a cleansing and detoxification program.