Some years ago, I ate watermelon close to bedtime on a particular night. Apart from the fact that my sleep was truncated by excessive urination (you know that watermelon has high water content), I also woke up with a sore throat the next morning! The simple explanation for this is that the bacteria in my mouth feasted on the sugar from the watermelon. I should have brushed my mouth after eating the watermelon. So, you should learn from this.
This week, I want us to discuss our kidneys and how to take care of them. The kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs located below the rib cage, one on each side of the spine. The right kidney is generally slightly lower than the left kidney to make space for the liver. They are one of the most important organs in the body. Ancient Egyptians left only the brain and kidneys in position before embalming a body, inferring that they held a higher value than other organs.
Some of the functions our kidneys perform are that they help the body pass waste as urine. They keep the body’s pH stable. They act as very efficient filters for riding the body of waste and toxic substances and returning vitamins, amino acids, glucose, hormones and other vital substances into the bloodstream. They maintain overall fluid balance. They create hormones that help produce red blood cells. They also regulate blood pressure.
Let us look at ways to take care of them:
1: Keep active and fit
Regular exercise is good for more than just your waistline. It can lower the risk of chronic kidney disease. It can also reduce your blood pressure and boost your heart health, which are important to prevent kidney damage.
- Manage your blood sugar
People with diabetes or a condition that causes high blood sugar may develop kidney damage. When your body’s cells cannot use the glucose (sugar) in your blood, your kidneys are forced to work extra hard to filter your blood.
3: Monitor blood pressure
High blood pressure can cause kidney damage. If high blood pressure occurs with other health issues like diabetes, heart disease or high cholesterol, the impact on your kidneys can be dangerous.
4: Monitor weight and eat a balanced diet
People who are overweight or obese are at risk of a number of health conditions that can damage the kidneys. A balanced diet that is low in sodium and processed meats may help reduce the risk of kidney damage.
- Drink plenty of fluids
Regular water intake is healthy for your kidneys. Water helps clear sodium and toxins from your kidneys. It also lowers your risk of chronic kidney disease.
People who have previously had kidney stones should drink a bit more water to help prevent stone deposits in the future.
6: Do not smoke
Smoking damages your blood vessels. This leads to slower blood flow through your body and to your kidneys. It also puts your kidneys at an increased risk for cancer.
7: Use medications with caution
Everyday medications that you have stashed in your cabinet can harm your kidneys if taken too often or at high doses. The abuse of painkillers is dangerous. For medications, taking more than what your doctor prescribed is not safe. Herbs are not left out. They must be taken in moderation.
8: Treat urinary tract infection properly
A kidney infection is a serious medical condition that requires prompt treatment. These infections often start as a urinary tract infection (UTI) or a bladder infection and then spread to affect one or both kidneys.
9: Have your kidney function tested
Over the years, in all the scientific studies I cite here, you have always seen the “aqueous extract” or “ethanolic extract”. I wish to explain them before citing the studies for this week. Aqueous means made with or containing water. Ethanol or ethyl alcohol is the only type of alcohol that you can drink without seriously harming yourself, that is, only if it has not been denatured or does not contain toxic impurities. Ethanol is sometimes called “grain alcohol” because it is the main type of alcohol produced by grain fermentation. The two studies I will be citing are about the aqueous extract of Ocimum gratissimum (Efinrin) and ethanolic extracts of Artocarpus altilis leaves, which are the leaves of the seedless breadfruit popularly planted in Ile Ife, Osun State.
How do we do this, especially because we are not in a lab environment? OK, since we have said aqueous means made with water, then if you squeeze your Ocimum gratissimum (Efinrin) to extract the water, slice it into bits, boil, then drink the water after it is cool, or you slice it and soak in water overnight to drink the next morning, you are still in line.
Alcohol is an excellent solvent for herbs because it can extract compounds and active ingredients that are not water-soluble, such as essential oils, alkaloids and resins. In this study that I am about to cite, Artocarpus altilis leaves go through ethanolic extraction. What this implies is that if we decide to do aqueous extract just like I explained with Efinrin, we will not get the desired result. It looks like a dicey situation; we are running from alcohol because of our kidneys, yet there is an extract that helps the kidneys, but it is an alcoholic extract!
There is nothing to worry about; even the liquid vanilla flavour that you use in baking is made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol to extract the flavour. So, for this breadfruit leaf extract, use your favourite wine that is not extremely alcoholic. Let the breadfruit leaves dry at room temperature and then grind into powder. It is this powder that will be soaked in your wine. Now, let us read the studies together:
A study titled, ‘Ocimum gratissimum ameliorates (ameliorate means to make something that is bad or unsatisfactory better) Gentamicin-induced kidney injury and decreases creatinine (creatinine is a waste product that is typically filtered out of your blood by your kidneys. Abnormal levels of creatinine could be a sign of kidney failure) following sub-chronic administration in rats’ by Dare J. Ogundipe et al, concludes that the aqueous extract of Ocimum gratissimum ameliorated gentamicin-induced kidney injury in rats. The ameliorative effects of Ocimum gratissimum are evident by a remarkable restoration of antioxidant enzymes, total protein and urea concentration resulting from an improved renal function.
A study titled, ‘Effect of ethanolic extract of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis ) on ameliorating renal function of rat,’ by Safitri et al, was conducted to determine the influence of breadfruit leaves ethanol extract to improve renal function in renal failure rat model. The conclusion is that breadfruit leaf ethanol extract improved the kidney function in the renal failure model which was shown by a reduction in the levels of serum urea and creatinine and restoration of kidney structure.
