Kidneys, water and salt: the everyday basics before any capsule.

Kidneys get less attention than the liver and worse marketing. The bottles talk about flushing and purifying. Kidneys already do that, all day, for free. What they need from you is mostly water and less salt, and that part comes before any capsule, including ours.

Water, and the Indian summer

The kidneys filter your blood and send the waste out as urine. To do that comfortably they need enough water to make urine that is pale. That is the whole test. Pale yellow is fine. Dark and strong-smelling is a message.

How much? Roughly two to three litres of fluid a day for an adult, more in heat, more if you sweat at work, more on the days you are on a two-wheeler in May. Chai, dal, curd and fruit all count; plain water is still the easiest. The office problem is real: an air-conditioned room, a bottle you forget, and a washroom you avoid. Put a one-litre bottle on the desk and finish it before lunch, then again before you leave.

In summer, especially in the north and the interior, you lose a lot through sweat without feeling thirsty until late. Nimbu pani with a pinch of salt, chaas, coconut water, an ORS sachet on a bad day. These put back what sweat takes. Sugary bottles do not.

One warning the other way. Some people have been told by a doctor to limit fluids. If that is you, your doctor's number wins over anything on this page.

Salt, pickles and the papad

ICMR-NIN puts sodium at roughly 2,000 mg a day for an adult, which is about 5 grams of salt, one level teaspoon, and most estimates put the Indian average well above that. The salt is not mostly in the shaker. It is in the achar beside the plate, the papad, the namkeen at 4 pm, the packet soup, the chutney, the bread, the restaurant dal.

The kidneys handle salt, and a lot of salt every day is more work, day after day, for decades. You do not need to eat unsalted food. Take the achar down to a small spoon rather than a heap. Roast the papad and eat one. Read the sodium line on packets: it is printed in milligrams, and one serving of namkeen can carry a surprising share of a day. Cook with a measured teaspoon for the family rather than a hand. Potassium is the other side of the balance, roughly 3,500 mg a day, and it comes from fruit, dal, vegetables and coconut water rather than a packet.

Get your blood pressure checked once a year, and more often after forty. It is one reading, it costs almost nothing at a chemist, and it is the number your kidneys care about most.

Painkillers, protein and the things people forget

Common painkillers taken often, for months, without anyone knowing, are hard on the kidneys. If you take a tablet most days for a headache or a back, tell a doctor. Protein powder is fine for most healthy adults at sensible amounts; three scoops a day for years is a question for a doctor, not a forum. And a burning while passing urine that lasts more than a day or two is not a water problem. See someone.

Cranberry and punarnava: one modern, one old

Two ingredients turn up on most kidney and urinary labels in India.

Cranberry is the modern one. The parts studied are proanthocyanidins, PACs, and a serious label states them in milligrams, roughly 36 mg a day being the figure careful labels aim for, rather than 500 mg of cranberry, which could be juice powder with almost none. It is used to support normal urinary tract function. It does not replace water, and it does not replace a doctor when something is wrong.

Punarnava, Boerhavia diffusa, is the old one. It has been used in Ayurveda for a very long time for the kidneys and for fluid balance, and it appears in modern products as a root extract with, if the label is honest, a milligram amount and an extract ratio. The tradition is long. The modern evidence is thin, and we would rather say so. Gokshura, Tribulus terrestris, is similar: traditional, respected, and stated in milligrams if the brand is being straight with you.

What a kidney supplement can honestly claim

Under FSSAI rules a health supplement can say it supports normal kidney function, or helps maintain normal urinary tract function. It cannot say it treats, cures, prevents, dissolves or flushes anything, and it cannot name a condition. The box carries the category word in capitals next to the name (HEALTH SUPPLEMENT, NUTRACEUTICAL or PROBIOTIC FOOD) and NOT FOR MEDICINAL USE, every ingredient with its amount, the licence number, a lot, an expiry, the green dot if it is vegetarian, and an MRP that already includes all taxes.

A kidney supplement is for a healthy adult who wants to support normal function alongside the basics, and it is a small thing next to the water and the salt. We sell one. We would still put the water first.

If you have ever passed a stone, have any kidney condition, are pregnant, or take regular medicines, ask your doctor before any kidney supplement, including ours. Some herbs and some minerals, potassium among them, are the wrong thing for kidneys already under strain, and your doctor knows which.

Signs that need a doctor, not a supplement

Go this week, not next month, for any of these: swelling of the feet, ankles or around the eyes in the morning; urine that is foamy, pink, brown or has visible blood; a sharp pain in the side or lower back that comes in waves; fever with pain in the back; passing much less urine than usual; burning that does not settle in a day or two; or being thirsty and tired for weeks with no reason.

A basic urine test and a blood test for kidney function together cost a few hundred rupees at most labs and give a doctor real numbers. If the numbers are fine, come back to the bottle with a clearer head.

Not for medicinal use. Water first. If you want to compare, see the label.