What role do kidneys play in the human body?

For some middle-aged and elderly people, especially men, they are basically interested in the concept of kidney tonification in their lives. Various kidney tonification methods are applied in their lives, with the aim of making the kidneys healthier. Some people can't help but ask, since the kidney is so important, what role can it play in life and what position does it occupy in the human body?

1. Excretion of metabolic products and harmful substances

The kidneys filter plasma by producing urine, filtering out the products of metabolism and other toxins and chemicals that enter the human body, retaining water and nutrients, and excreting these wastes and harmful substances out of the body through urine, thereby ensuring the stability of the human body's internal environment.

2. Endocrine function

The kidneys can secrete and synthesize some substances that play a role in regulating the physiological functions of the human body. The renin and prostaglandins it secretes regulate blood pressure and water and salt metabolism by affecting the production of angiotensin II. It participates in hematopoiesis by producing erythropoietic factor and secreting erythropoietin, which can stimulate the proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow red cells and promote hemoglobin synthesis. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D it secretes is involved in regulating calcium and phosphorus metabolism, and plays a role in maintaining the normal structure and function of bones.

3. Maintain water balance

The kidneys do this by producing urine. The production of urine is the main function of the kidneys. The production of urine comes from plasma and is completed through three processes: glomerular filtration, tubular reabsorption, and tubular excretion and secretion. In these three processes, in addition to producing urine, the kidneys also regulate the amount of urine according to the amount of water in the body, thereby maintaining water balance and maintaining normal human life.

4. Maintain body fluid composition and electrolyte balance

The kidneys can regulate substances in the human body, such as plasma blood proteins, glucose, amino acids, hormones, vitamins, and inorganic salts such as potassium, sodium, and chlorine, so that they exist in the body at a certain proportion and concentration, thereby playing a role in maintaining normal life activities of the human body.

5. Maintain acid-base balance

The kidneys regulate the body's acid-base balance by excreting acidic substances and reabsorbing alkaline and alkaloid substances. They can also maintain the acid-base balance by controlling the ratio of the excretion of acidic and alkaline substances.