21/10/2025
Day 21 Menopause Awareness Month
❓How do you support the Kidney❓
This question comes from Mandy Young (thank you!) and I want to start with, “Why would we want to support the Kidney?”
Well, the Kidneys are very special place in Chinese philosophy. They are the storage place of the pre-natal qi or jing, which comes from our parents and ancestors. As we age jing naturally declines, we are born with a finite amount, which we can supplement with post-natal qi (good quality food, drink and air). Also Kidneys play a part in production of blood along with the pancreas and bone marrow. In other words it processes post-natal qi to make it accessible for the body as nutritional qi for the cells and defensive qi, to fight off invaders.
So to live a long life, tending to the Kidneys is key.
Quoting from the Nei Jing, the book I’ve been studying this week:
The North; black color.
Having entered it communicates with the kidneys.
It opens an or***ce in the two yin [a**s & urethra]
It stores essence in the kidneys.
Hence the disease [it brings forth] is in the ravines [of the flesh]
Its flavor: salty;
its class: water;
its domestic animal: the swine.
Its grain: the bean.
Its correspondence with the four seasons, above it is Mercury.
{Hence one knows that its diseases are in the bones.}
Its tone: yu;
its number: six.
Its odor: foul.
Su Wen 4 Unschuld
In clinic, signs we look for that the Kidneys may be depleted are:
Dark eyes
Lower back pain
Urinary issues
Heart palpitations (when the Kidney slows the Heart speeds up to try and regulate the system)
Low libido, difficulty conceiving
Feeling fearful, depression, low mood
After a broken bone
Things that will support the Kidneys:
Keep the lower back warm with an extra couple of layers around the waist. Samurai wear Haramaki, a waist warmer that protects the Hara.
Wear warm footwear where you can keep the foot mobile, the root of the Kidney channel is the sole of the foot.
Slow moving meditative exercise such as tai chi, qi gong or yoga
Rest well, especially 5 - 7am when the Kidney is weakest and in wintertime hibernate a little, rest even more.
Ensure you are getting enough sunlight, we are solar creatures and many hormones along with vitamin D are dependent on sunlight for production.
Foods:
Kidney or black beans, black sesame seeds & wood ear mushrooms
Bone broth and pork, black chicken if you can get it
Seaweed & shellfish
Walnuts goji berries & dates
Use high quality salt like Celtic salt, which has lots of good minerals (it’s better than pink salt)
Don’t drink too much water! It puts a strain on the Kidneys which need to filter out all that water, a process which cools the body and creates a salt imbalance. You get most of your fluids from food and a cup of tea is sufficient to supplement that, unless it’s very hot and you are sweating. Watch “Apple Cider Vinegar” on Netflix to see the origin of the “2 lts of water a day” mantra, which is not supported in Chinese philosophy.
Avoid ice foods and ice cold drinks. Warm soups, broth or tea is far better for your system.
When dehydrated, eat congee (rice porridge) or barley with its cooking water. It is easier for your system to assimilate and when constipated it takes the moisture to where it’s needed: in the colon, which will squeeze the liquid from grain husk. Whole grain is best.
Haramaki is a type of Japanese undergarment. It literally translates as ‘belly wrap’ (腹巻). I first learned about haramaki when shopping at Japanese clothing store Uniqlo. In the underwe…
