They are startlingly small for the amount of work they do, weighing just five ounces each. They are not in the small of the back, as everyone thinks, but higher up, about at the bottom of the rib cage. The right kidney is always lower because it is pressed down upon by the asymmetrical liver. Filtering wastes is their principal function, but they also regulate blood chemistry, help maintain blood pressure, metabolize vitamin D, and maintain the vital balance between salt and water levels within the body. Eat too much salt and your kidneys filter out the excess from your blood and send it to
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