The liver and kidneys, the body’s engines

The liver and kidneys are organs considered the engine of our body because the functions they perform are super important for human life.

That’s why we gotta be extra careful with what we eat every day, live a healthy lifestyle, and we don’t necessarily have to wait until we feel bad to see a doctor.

It processes practically everything we eat, breathe, or absorb through the skin. About 90% of the nutrients from the intestines pass through the liver. It turns food into energy, stores nutrients, and produces blood proteins. Plus, it acts as a filter to remove pathogens and toxins from the blood. It also produces bile, stores glycogen, iron, copper, vitamin A, many B-complex vitamins, and vitamin D. It makes albumin and other proteins, many essential for normal blood clotting (prothrombin and fibrinogen), and an anticoagulant called heparin.

Lots of scientists believe the liver is connected to, or at least aware of, every disease or dysfunction happening inside the body.

So, it’s easy to see that if it doesn’t work right, it can cause a bunch of health problems. Mainly, the liver is linked to the digestive system, but looking at the body as a whole, the liver affects many parts of the body—digestive system, circulatory system, muscles, blood vessels, and immune system.

Keeping our liver healthy makes us tougher against infections, viruses, and more. It also impacts our mental state, since someone with a sick liver tends to have a more irritable personality. It’s also linked to certain types of insomnia, allergic and asthmatic diseases, and a never-ending list of symptoms.

On the other hand, kidneys are a pair of organs that perform a basic function for the body: they collect waste products from the blood and regulate internal fluids and salt content. They excrete water but also conserve it; they eliminate through urine all the breakdown products of food that could be harmful before they reach toxic levels. Even though they’re small, they process and purify all the blood every 50 minutes; around 1 700 liters of blood pass through them daily.

One of the main and most feared kidney diseases is the formation of stones. Even without stones, we can have sediments (grit) that cause annoying symptoms, ranging from back pain (especially lumbar), frequent urinary infections, or sciatic pain.

A damaged kidney can also cause hypertension, with all the health risks that come with it. It can also cause headaches at the circulatory level.

Tips

1. Drink plenty of water. Water helps flush the kidneys and many of their toxins. Try to make it a habit to drink a glass of water in the morning when you wake up and before breakfast.
2. There are supplements that can keep the liver and kidneys healthy and help them work optimally, even reversing certain diseases. Taking a multivitamin is important. Vitamins and minerals are needed to help the liver fight toxic substances. Vitamin C should be taken daily to support liver balance and health. Consider adding acidophilus to your diet, specifically Lactobacillus acidophilus, which should be consumed daily. These are good bacteria that can boost the immune system and aid digestion. You can find it in regular yogurt or buy it as a supplement. Adipo-Block Depur Hepa-Ren Adipo-Block by Prisma Natural is a product made with natural ingredients that work synergistically in the body to help eliminate harmful toxins.
3. Increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. Try to eat healthy foods free of preservatives, all accompanied by a pleasant atmosphere at mealtime, chewing food well, which will make digestion as effective as possible. Opt for legumes, nuts, grains, cereals, and seeds—they’re a great protein source that keeps your body balanced. A diet rich in celery, artichokes, radishes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, green beans, and Brussels sprouts is best for liver and kidney health.
4. Avoid sugary sodas, foods high in saturated fats, and excess salt in meals. Overloading on fats and sugar causes an unfavorable reaction in our liver, and over time it wears down due to the extra work.
5. Exercise daily. It’s important to maintain a healthy body mass index. Obesity increases the risk of kidney diseases. Excess weight can also prevent the liver from working smoothly. So, exercise is key to keeping liver and kidneys healthy.
6. Avoid tobacco, alcohol, and other harmful substances.