The kidneys play a critical role in maintaining our overall health. These bean-shaped organs might not be the largest, but they perform vital functions that contribute significantly to our well-being.

One of the primary roles of the kidneys is filtering waste and excess fluids from the blood, creating urine that carries these toxins out of the body. Every day they filter your blood and produce urine. They regulate the body's fluid balance and ensuring the removal of waste products like urea and ammonia.

Beyond waste removal, kidneys help regulate blood pressure by managing the balance of sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes in the body. They also produce hormones essential for various bodily functions, such as erythropoietin, which stimulates red blood cell production, and renin, which helps regulate blood pressure and fluid balance.

The kidneys produce several important hormones that play vital roles in various physiological processes such as Erythropoietin, Vitamin D and Renin. Erythropoietin is a hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells (erythropoiesis) in the bone marrow. Renin is an enzyme, but acts like a hormone because of it's role in regulating blood pressure and fluid balance. Renin is part of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), which helps control blood pressure, electrolyte balance, and fluid volume.

The kidneys is responsible for the conversion of vitamin D into its active form. Vitamin D can be obtained from two primary sources: through skin synthesis when exposed to sunlight (specifically UVB radiation) and from dietary intake. Once vitamin D is absorbed into the bloodstream, it travels to the liver. In the liver, vitamin D undergoes its first conversion. It then travels to the kidneys, where it undergoes a second conversion and becomes the active form of vitamin D.