With rare exceptions, we’re all born with two kidneys. They act as trash collectors, ridding the body of waste products and toxic substances left over from normal body processes like digestion and muscle activity. Most people know that already. But, kidneys do far more. They also maintain normal blood pressure and blood count, (the opposite of fatiguing anemia), provide an active form of Vitamin D, and protect our bones by maintaining normal bone metabolism.
In my book, I’ll explore how normal kidneys also maintain metabolic balance. I’ll also explain the critically important role of kidneys as endocrine organs, intricately modulating insulin and parathyroid hormone levels, as well as erythropoietin secretion. They are one of the more complex parts of the human body.
Each kidney has about one million microscopic units of function called nephrons. Each nephron contains a small blood vessel that delivers blood to tiny blood vessels called capillaries. Filtration occurs within each capillary and the result eventually becomes urine.
One of the keys to quality kidney life for everyone is to understand how overall health is linked to kidney health. So I provide the details in a condensed form in my book to keep you from that sense of sense of needing to learn everything at once.