Drinking More Water

Each year roughly about 24,000 new cases of kidney cancer are diagnosed in the United States!  Wow that is a lot of cases to be popping up each year, what is even more staggering is about 100,000 people die each year due to the condition.  You may be asking how can you keep this from happening to you.  To start you need to cut the processed sodas and sugary drinks and drink more water. 

Your kidneys are working every minute of the day to help process out waste created by the body.

Metabolic Waste Excretions Using Kidneys

Ammonia- Removal of amino acids in the liver.
Uric Acid- Nucleotide breakdown from the liver.
Urochrome- Hemoglobin breakdown from liver.
Water- Food and waste breakdown along with inorganic food and water.

You kidneys are working to eliminate waste from the blood, which helps to regulate body water concentration, regulates blood pressure, and maintains a constant blood pH.  So much more is happening then just relieving your bladder.  You are constantly consuming food and beverages, while you digestion works to breakdown useable sources of nutrients, it separates what can be used and what is waste.  The waste then goes to its correct department to be eliminated through lungs, skin, liver, kidneys, or intestines. 

How does Urination Work?

Urine is produced by the kidneys and is stimulated by the bladder to be released.  You need about 200-300 milliliters to initiate the elimination process.  When the bladder fills it stretches and then sends messages via the spinal cord that cause the smooth muscles to contract in the bladder and to release.  These impulses also travel to the brain to give warning it time to go using neural pathways that allow us to suppress urination until we can get to a bathroom.  As a baby or small child this contraction happens naturally until we learn to suppress the impulses for only as long as we can make it to a bathroom. 
On a side note, the external sphincter can sometimes be damaged in both men and woman, during surgeries and childbirth.  This is why with some woman when we sneeze, cough, or do jumping jacks, we might leak.  This is actually very common and why exercise is so important before and after birth.  For men the condition can happen due to an injury from prostate surgery.  This condition is known as urinary incontinence, when the muscles are damaged or weakened. 

Foods that help keep the Kidneys healthy.

• Bananas
• Asparagus
• Garlic
• Papaya
• Cucumbers
• Celery
• Parsley
• Potatoes
• Watercress
• Watermelon
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sprouts
• Green Vegetables
• Cranberries
• Legumes and seeds
• Limit processed foods and beverages, and reduce toxic chemicals by eating a organic diet. 

You should be drinking plenty of water every day, how much is plenty?  Take you weight divide it by 2 and drink that many ounces every day.  I like to break it up into 20 ounces at a time.  This helps your body to flush out the toxins and waste without getting too much or too little.  Too little water and the elimination process slow down and toxins build up.  This releases toxins back into the body and creates further illness.  Help your body stay in balance with getting enough water and less of the processed junk that increase the toll of waste and detoxification.