'nourish your kidney essence'

[Guest guest]

This

is in a monthly newsletter from an acupuncturist I have seen in the past. I

know the ability to have laboratory privileges will make a remarkable

difference in diagnosing disorders surrounding this issue. s. fuchs dc

nourish

your kidney essence

In

Chinese medicine, each of the organs has a set of functions and characteristics

that contribute to

the

overall balance of all our body systems.

The

kidneys have many important functions and interact with every other

organ in a specific way to maintain a balanced physiological state. One of the most important functions of

the kidneys is that of storing essence and controlling human reproduction,

growth and development. Our essence is defined as the basis of our body matter

and our body functions. It is created in two forms: our congenital

essence inherited from our parents, and the acquired essence transformed from

ingested food and drink.

Congenital

essence is predisposed and cannot be altered, but it can be positively

influenced by acquired essence. We can see our kidneys as representing our

energy bank, and our essence as our life savings. We make withdrawals from that

bank account everyday, helping us to live and perform in our daily lives. While

we can make deposits to a certain extent by way of the nutrients we ingest, we

don't want to make too many large withdrawals and deplete our kidney essence

prematurely. We want to have enough in our banks to live long and healthy

lives.

Kidney

essence is classified as yin, while kidney qi is yang. Known as kidney yin and

yang, they are mutually dependent on each other to maintain the proper

physiological balance. A deficiency in kidney yin might display as

soreness, aching and weakness of the low back and knees, blurred vision, or

poor memory. Kidney yang deficiency decreases the warming function of the

kidney, causing symptoms of lethargy, coldness and pain in the low back and the

knees, cold extremities and frequent urination. This can potentially cause

conditions like impotence or infertility.

If either kidney yin or yang deficiency

becomes too severe, then one might start affecting the other, and the balance

of all kidney systems become affected.

How do we make our

life savings last? Making positive lifestyle choices, like getting regular

exercise, eating healthy organic food, and taking measures to reduce physical

and mental stress all help minimize the withdrawals we make from our kidney

essence. Getting acupuncture is another great way to tonify the kidneys and

strengthen our kidney qi.