Did you know your kidneys are THE organ of winter season? Kind of strange right?
When I first learned about this in my Chinese medicine studies, I was surprised and skeptical. I’d never heard of this in 7 years of conventional medical education. There I learned that the kidneys are a sort of filtration system to remove wastes and produce hormones to balance blood pressure.
Which is all true! But they do so much more. I learned about the kidney meridian as I began to practice acupuncture. Meridians are energy pathways that carry Qi (i.e. life force) and were identified thousands of years ago. The kidney meridian starts at the bottom of your feet and travels up your inner legs and wraps around to the back. There are specific points along the path where acupuncture needles are placed to open up the flow of energy and keep the body in balance.
The kidneys also are supposed to hold the emotions of fear, lack of willpower, and insecurity. So if you start to feel those January goals waning, strengthening your kidneys may help with that too!
One of the most common questions patients ask me this time of year is “What supplements can I take to boost my immune system and avoid getting sick?”
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