Kidney Health

Most people have two kidneys, each about the size of a fist, located on either side of the spine at the bottom of the rib cage. In simple terms, kidneys are the body's filter. In a 24-hour period, the kidneys process approximately 200 quarts of blood in order to sift out about 2 quarts of waste products and extra water. The waste and extra water become urine, which is stored in the bladder until emptied.

The kidneys perform the critical task of regulating the body's salt, potassium, and acid content. Other functions performed by the kidneys include:

* Control and stimulate red blood cell production
* Release hormones that regulate blood pressure
* Control calcium metabolism
* Remove waste products from the body
* Remove medication/drugs from the body
* Balance the body's fluids
* Produce an active form of vitamin D

Water has long been considered a vital nutrient for aiding in the process of waste removal. The typical recommendation for water consumption in ounces is ½ the person's body weight. Therefore, a 140-pound woman would need to drink 70-ounces of water per day.

However, newer research has caused some doctors and scientists to contradict the belief that we should all flood our bodies with water. Dr. Stanley Goldfarb and Dr. Dan Negoianu, both of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, reviewed the scientific literature on the health effects of drinking a lot of water. On the subject of facilitating toxin excretion, Dr. Goldfarb claimed that the need for excess water was not verified by any sort of scientific study. Dr. Goldfarb said, "The kidneys clear toxins. This is what the kidneys do. They do it very effectively. And they do it independently of how much water you take in. When you take in a lot of water, all you do is put out more urine but not more toxins in the urine."

The need to drink large amounts of water to help flush the kidneys is now somewhat controversial. The best solution is to listen to your body. Drink when you are thirsty. Drink a little more when you are sick, exercising, or spending time outdoors in the summer.

While the amount of water your kidneys require may be lacking scientific studies, the type of water is not. On April 15, 2008, the National Kidney Foundation (NFK) issued a statement that fluoride can damage the bones of kidney patients. Citing a 2006 National Research Council (NRC) report, the NFK withdrew its support of water fluoridation. The NRC report indicated that kidney patients are more susceptible to fluoride's bone and teeth damaging effects. Those with kidney impairment retain more fluoride and risk skeletal fluorosis, fractures, and severe enamel fluorosis.

Unlike the case for kidney health, the case for drinking lots of water to prevent and/or treat kidney stones has concrete data to back it up. Kidney stones are common, affecting approximately 10-percent of the population, and tend to be genetic. They occur more often in men than women, with the average age of initial onset being between 20 and 30 years old. Once afflicted with a kidney stone, a person is as much as 60-percent more likely to get kidney stones again than a person who has never had them.

Symptoms of a kidney stone attack include:

* Sudden extreme pain in the lower back, side, or groin
* Blood in the urine
* Fever and chills
* Vomiting
* A bad odor and/or cloudy appearance to the urine
* A burning sensation during urination

Many doctors and researchers consider increased water intake one of the most effective methods of decreasing the likeliness of kidney stone formation. Insufficient water intake can lead to kidney stones, particularly in those already susceptible. Dr. Gary Faerber, associate professor of urology at the University of Michigan Health System, states that, "One of the best ways to prevent kidney stones is to stay hydrated throughout the entire 24-hour period. I recommend my patients have at least six to eight glasses of water a day, and I ask them to make sure that they spread that throughout the entire day and up until nighttime. This is important year-round but especially important in the summer months."

While the researchers continue to gather their facts, some of us are left wondering whether we should continue to carry that water bottle around with us. For the average person, drinking a few glasses of water and eating foods rich in water content (watermelon, celery, apples, etc.) is likely enough. If you have kidney disease, are concerned that you may have unhealthy kidneys, or you easily develop kidney stones, avoid fluoridated water. Find out if your town or city adds fluoride. If so, avoid tap water and switch to bottled. And if you suffer from kidney stones, err on the side of caution and drink up.

Moderate Drinkers Beware - You Too Could Be Flushing This Vital Nutrient Out Of Your Body

Back in the 1930s, thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, was one of the first compounds to be isolated and recognised as a vitamin, that's to say a compound essential to health which the body cannot manufacture for itself, and which must therefore be obtained from the diet.

The functions of thiamine within the body are highly complex biochemically, but what's important to know is that thiamine and its associated enzymes are essential for the body's production of energy from food. As always with the B complex vitamins, however, the proper functioning of thiamine depends on an adequate supply of the other members of the complex, and the performance of the thiamine related enzymes in this case is particularly dependent on the associated vitamins, riboflavin (B2) and niacin (B3).

That said; there is a characteristic disease of severe thiamine deficiency, beriberi, which has been recognised for several thousand years. This disease should never now be seen outside medical text books in affluent Western societies, but alcoholics and heavy drinkers, for whom the absorption of adequate thiamine presents particular problems, frequently show symptoms.

Beriberi is regarded as having "wet" and "dry" forms, the symptoms of the former being principally observed in problems with the cardiovascular system, including severe fluid retention and in severe cases even congestive heart failure. So-called "dry" beriberi is characterised by problems with the nervous system, particularly the peripheral nerves of the limbs, which may lead to pain and weakness in the muscles.

Beriberi may also have serious effects on the brain, partly through increased free radical activity, leading in extreme cases to conditions known as Wernicke's encephalopathy and/or Korsaloff's amnesia or psychosis. Wernicke's is identified by characteristic physical nervous "ticks", especially unusual movements of the eyes, whereas Korsaloff's is the term applied when these symptoms are accompanied by severe amnesia.

If you think these symptoms remind you of the archetypal "street wino" you'd be right, because in advanced societies they're most commonly found in alcoholics and heavy drinkers, supporting the theory that malnutrition is a major contributor to their problems. It makes sense that this should be so. For not only do such people tend to have very inadequate diets, but their damaged livers also struggle to metabolise the few nutrients which they do take in. Alcohol, of course, is also known as a powerful diuretic, and when you consider that thiamine, in common with the other vitamins of the B complex, is highly water soluble, and easily excreted by the body, you have a potent recipe for nutritional disaster.

So how much thiamine do you need to avoid this disaster?

As always, the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for thiamine (most recently established in 1998) is set at the level designed to prevent deficiencies in normally healthy people. But of course, the prevention of deficiency is not at all the same as thing as ensuring optimum health, and the RDAs for thiamine are therefore set at the very low levels of 1.2 mg for men and 1.1 mg for women. As the slight differential suggests, higher intakes are required in proportion with higher bodyweight, and particularly muscular bodyweight. An increased intake of 1.4 mg is also suggested for pregnant women.

A number of common every day foods provide good sources of thiamine. A serving of fortified breakfast cereals, for example, may provide 0.5 - 2mg, a single cup of wheatgerm 4 or more mg. A 3 oz serving of pork will contain up to 0.75 mg, lentils, peas, brown or enriched white rice 0.2 mg, and a slice of wholemeal bread 0.1 mg.

These figures would seem to suggest that most people should have little difficulty in achieving their RDA. But the problem is that thiamine is notoriously fragile, and almost any type of processing of these foods, including boiling or even toasting bread may dramatically reduce thiamine content.

So it's perhaps not surprising that research suggests average intakes in Western societies may be as low as 2 mg a day for men and 1.2 mg for women. These figures are worryingly close to the RDAs which, as noted, are in any case set at a level only designed for the avoidance of outright deficiency. Being averages, it likely follows that there must be many people who routinely fall below them, and there are also factors to be considered which may dramatically increase the body's demand for thiamine and therefore the risk of deficiency.

As well as the consumption of alcohol, these include intensive physical exercise, normal growth in adolescence, pregnancy and breast feeding, and feverish illnesses, particularly malaria. As with alcohol, heavy intakes of tea and coffee have been shown to have a severely depleting effect on the body's levels of thiamine, and this is due to so-called "anti-thiamine factors", in addition to the loss of the water soluble vitamin which may be attributed to the diuretic effects of these drinks. There is also evidence that older people may struggle to absorb sufficient quantities of this nutrient even when their diet appears adequate.

There is no recommended upper safe limit for the intake of thiamine, any excess being easily excreted by the body, and no known toxic effects. Supplementing with thiamine is therefore recommended for the vulnerable groups listed above, which in fact comprise a significant proportion of the supposedly well population, and may well be beneficial for all who seek optimal health and maximum energy levels. The close interdependency of the B vitamins, however, means that thiamine should be taken as part of a supplement containing the whole complex. The proper functioning of the vitamin also requires the presence of adequate minerals, particularly magnesium.