Maybe you don’t think about your kidneys very much. If you practice yoga, your instructor might say something like, “Breathe into your kidneys,” and yet you have no idea what they are talking about!

Well, your kidneys are workhorses that play a very vital role in your body. Located just below your rib cage on either side of the spine, your kidneys are about the size of your fists. According to the National Institutes of Health, the organs filter more than 201 quarts of blood each day, filtering around 2 quarts of waste products! From the kidney, waste products and water filter to the bladder, and you release it as urine.

Keeping your kidneys healthy and functioning, then, is essential for detoxifying your body and removing wastes. Unfortunately,there are many foods that can harm your kidneys and keep them from functioning at optimal levels. Here are the top 7.
1. Meat

Diets high in animal protein can cause kidney damage. In fact, according to the Mayo Clinic, a high-protein diet may cause or exacerbate existing kidney problems because protein metabolism places a heavy load on the kidneys, making it difficult to eliminate its waste products.