From each individual cell to our largest organs, our bodies are doing a ton of work. At any given moment, it’s engaged in uncountable metabolic processes and chemical reactions. Even at our most efficient, those processes leave us with some waste that we need to clear out. We’ve covered the integumentary, digestive, and respiratory systems, which remove some of that waste through our skin, bowel movements, and breath. Now it’s time to talk about the head honcho of our inner cleanup crew, the eliminatory system.

The eliminatory, or urinary system, is made up of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. The kidneys serve to filter your blood and manage its volume and pressure. Waste is carried via urine through the ureters and into the bladder. When it’s ready to be released, it exits the body through the urethra. What a relief!

Your Kidneys

The kidneys are incredible organs nestled between the muscles of the lower back and the other organs of your abdomen. As you might expect, they have the same shape and color as kidney beans and about the size of a fist. They receive about a quarter of the blood pumping from the heart, which is sent through about a million tiny filters called nephrons. Nephrons remove the metabolic waste through a component called the glomerulus. Then, a component called a tubule returns the good stuff to your blood stream through the renal vein while sending waste further down the eliminatory system as urine. Proper kidney function allows your body to maintain the right pH balance, the right blood volume, the right balance of electrolytes (like salt) and the right balance of essential nutrients and minerals. When they aren’t working properly, waste can build up in the bloodstream creating a very dangerous situation. But the kidneys are pretty amazing, and many people live with just one! In the case of kidney failure, people are able to receive transplants or undergo dialysis which moves blood through an external filtration system before returning it to the body.

In addition to their essential work filtering 150 quarts of blood per day, kidneys also play an important role in regulating body functions through hormones. Atop the kidneys are the adrenal glands, which help your body respond to stress. The kidneys also produce hormones that regulate blood pressure, stimulate the production of blood cells in bone marrow, and assist the body in responding to injury and pain.

Urine, Your Bladder and Your Urethra

Once waste has been removed from the blood in the kidneys, it becomes urine, a substance most of us are quite familiar with. Urine is mostly made up of excess water along with the metabolic waste from our cells doing their things. That includes salts, urea, uric acid, creatinine, some hormones, and small amounts of sugars and proteins. Inbalances in these byproducts can tell us a lot about a person’s health, which is why doctors often ask their patients to pee in a cup when they are diagnosing illness.

Our kidneys are at work 24/7, but for obvious reasons, we can’t be eliminating all the time. That’s where the bladder comes in. The bladder is a hollow organ that stores urine until such a time that we can make it to the loo. It receives urine from the kidneys through large tubes called ureters. Little flaps prevent urine from backing up through those tubes when the bladder becomes full. The texture inside the bladder is full of ridges so that it can expand to become more full. When it’s time to go, nerves in the bladder send the message to your brain. That’s when you feel the urge. As you pee, the bladder contracts and the sphincter muscles that help you hold it in relax.

Urine then moves into your urethra, the tube that goes through the penis in men and in front of the vagina in women. The male urethra is about four to five times longer than the female urethra and serves the dual function of delivering semen.

A Healthy Urinary System

The eliminatory system is like the digestive system in that we really can’t ignore it. As we move through our day, our hearts keep pumping, our lungs keep breathing, our bones keep standing, and our skin keeps skinning. But just like our bodies let us know when it’s time to eat, there’s no mistaking it when we need to pee. For this reason, we may have a particularly intimate knowledge of this area of health. But, unlike the constant reminders we get about healthy eating habits and the myriad of supplements, medicines, and cosmetics aimed at some of our other systems, we don’t hear a ton about how to take care of our eliminatory system. That’s not good!

The stakes

As you might imagine, the stakes for kidney health are pretty high. Kidney disease can be debilitating. While dialysis has prolonged people’s lives by decades in many cases, it’s a difficult process to go through every day. When kidneys aren’t working, fluid and waste build up in the body. This causes swelling, itching, fatigue, cramps, and more. Ultimately, the build-up can lead to confusion and cognitive issues, difficulty breathing, and cardiac problems. Kidney failure can be fatal and is often related to other common diseases. Specifically, diabetes and high blood pressure are major causes of long-term kidney damage.

Other issues that frequently come up in the urinary system are, of course, urinary tract infections. In young people, they’re hard to miss. They often occur when bacteria finds its way into the urinary tract from the urethra. The resulting infection leads to painful urination characterized by a burning feeling and a sense of urgency and frequency that isn’t normal. If you have a UTI, you’ll likely see cloudy or even bloody urine. When these move up through the body, they can also lead to kidney infections, which are more serious.

Kidney stones occur when the minerals in our waste cling together, forming little crystals. These can be incredibly painful as they move through the urinary system.

Incontinence is another urinary health issue. We most often associate this issue with age, thinking of the very young and the very old who may need to wear diapers because they lack bladder control. However, most moms can tell you that weakness in the pelvic floor muscles, which help support and control the bladder, can lead to varying degrees of incontinence. Certain medications or nerve damage can also lead to a lack of control in this department.

Staying Healthy

Hydrate

Fortunately, for all our eliminatory ailments, there are a ton of ways to stay healthy. The first and foremost one is of course to HYDRATE. The water to waste ratio needs to be high to keep things running smoothly and efficiently. You’ve probably noticed that when you don’t drink enough water, your urine becomes darker. (This can also happen when you eat certain foods or take medications or vitamins.) This is usually a sure sign you need to drink more water.

According to the Mayo Clinic, on average, women should drink about 11.5 cups of water per day, while men should drink 15.5. If you aren’t someone who naturally gravitates toward drinking all day, we recommend finding ways to make it interesting. You can try getting a fun water bottle that encourages you—or even has an app to encourage you! Infusing water with lemon juice, berries, or cucumbers can give it more flavor. Heck, some people like to put crystals in their water to add to the vibes. (We love shungite water, which is a natural filter.) This is something you should do your research on and check the quality of your stones. Any old rock could actually contaminate your water with harmful metals or other toxins.

Don’t forget that you also lose water through perspiration (sweat) and respiration (breath) and even in your digestive process. This means your water to pee ratio is not 1:1. Also remember that one of the major components of both sweat and pee is salt. Salts are absolutely essential to keeping your body balanced and maintaining the electrical processes of your cells. That’s why you get saline in an IV, not plain water. Drinking too much water without getting the right minerals into your system can start to have negative effects. If you’re not sure you’re eating enough of the right things or you’ve expended a lot of fluids in a tough workout or a wild night out, try powdered electrolyte packets or a drink specifically designed to get you back in balance. (But remember, chemical dyes, artificial sweeteners, and excess sugars aren’t good for you either.)

Hygiene

We talked about how urinary tract infections, or UTIs, occur when bacteria like E. coli make their way into the urethra. From there, they can stir up infections in the bladder and even move up to the kidneys. Not only are UTIs incredibly painful and a huge inconvenience, but they can lead to problems down the road if they go untreated.

Luckily, there are some simple things we can do to prevent them. First and foremost, women should always wipe front to back. E. coli is perfectly at home in your digestive tract, but it doesn’t belong in your urinary system. Another way to keep bad bacteria from moving up the line is to always pee after sex. (Any kind of sex with any kind of partner.) While it’s a more common issue in women, this is a good rule for people of any gender. It helps to flush things out.

Some people are naturally predisposed to getting frequent UTIs. If you have a weakened immune system or you take certain medications, it may be more of an issue. In that case, be extra thoughtful with preventative measures and staying hydrated.

If you’re a caretaker, make sure to watch out for UTIs in your loved ones. Older people may not feel a UTI as easily and may not have clear fevers the way a young person with an infection does. In those cases, UTIs can prevent themselves at a much further advanced phase with cognitive confusion and serious health consequences. Also watch out for the very young or anyone whose disability may prevent them from being able to articulate an issue.

Another note for caretakers is to be vigilant about changing those who are dealing with incontinence, especially if they are nonverbal or struggle to communicate. Sitting in urine isn’t pleasant and can cause skin irritation.

Exercise

This may not seem like the most obvious tool in the toolbox, but it’s essential.

First, go when you feel the urge, or in situations where you might be stalled, go before you get the urge. Holding it in too long can cause damage to the bladder and weaken the muscles.

Second, do pelvic floor exercises to strengthen the muscles that support your urinary system. Doing Kegel exercises every day doesn’t just benefit your sexual health. It also benefits your eliminatory system. Try tightening your muscles like you’re cutting off the flow of urine. Then release. You can repeat these as brief sets of ten as well as doing sets where you hold the position for a few seconds at a time before releasing.

Exercising the core also helps support the pelvic floor muscles. Try lying down and doing leg drops and lifts, boat pose, or classic crunches.

If you’re having issues with incontinence (including minor ones like peeing when you sneeze, cough, or jump on a trampoline) it may be a good idea to visit a pelvic floor therapist. They can teach you exercises to improve your bladder control and help you to feel more confident and in control. If you have issues with urgency or you think your urinary woes are on the psychological side, they have experience with that, too.

Lastly, make sure you’re getting good exercise all around. As we mentioned, high blood pressure and diabetes are precursors to kidney disease. Studies show that maintaining good cardiovascular health and a healthy weight for your body can do wonders for the eliminatory system.

Herbs and Supplements

There are many forms of natural assistance for the eliminatory system.

• Cranberry – If you’ve ever had a UTI, there’s a good chance you’ve found yourself chugging cranberry juice. It’s true that cranberry juice has properties that help prevent bacteria from sticking to the walls of the bladder. Just make sure you’re drinking actual cranberry juice. A lot of what you find in the store is cranberry juice cocktails loaded with extra sugar and other fruits. You can also buy concentrated cranberry supplements.
• D mannose – D mannose is a sugar (found in cranberries) that can be very helpful in flushing out and preventing UTIs. Many women swear by it, especially when they’re looking for ways to avoid overusing antibiotics.
• Uva ursi, or bearberry, is a urinary tract superhero. Its leaves have been used to help treat infection. Do not take this extract as a long-term supplement, as it has side effects and may cause liver toxicity. It also interacts with some medications, so check with your doctor or pharmacist before trying.
• Parsley is another standard, which works by prompting you to go more, therefore helping to flush out the system.

In general, anti-inflammatory herbs can help to soothe discomfort from infection, while diuretic herbs can help remove bacteria from the system. Serious infections may require antibiotics in order to avoid damage to the bladder and kidneys.
Head to our apothecary to learn more about the herbs and salts we offer to help you stay healthy and keep you going with the flow!