When we think of kidney health, we tend to go straight to sodium and hydration. If you don’t eat a lot of salt or let yourself become severely dehydrated, you probably figure your kidneys are doing just fine. But these vital organs—they filter your blood, remove toxins, and produce certain hormones—are much more complex than we sometimes give them credit for.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects more than 1 in 7 U.S. adults. That’s about 35.5 million people, or 14 percent of the population. Even more alarming is that up to 90 percent of these Americans are unaware that they have CKD, a condition in which the kidneys become damaged over time and cannot filter blood efficiently. This can cause fluid and toxins to b

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