Kidney Yin Deficiency

Kidney yin deficiency is a diagnosable pattern that I see in the clinic all the time. Think of yin as the heavy, wet, substantive, nutritive, and dense substances of the body. While it is not important to understand Chinese medical diagnosis, it is important to understand the symptoms that are associated with kidney yin deficiency and what to do about it.

It is also important to note that since the kidneys and the adrenal glands share the shame blood and nerve supply, they are seen as one “organ” in Chinese medicine, even though they completely knew that the adrenals have separate function to the kidneys themselves.

Kidney Yin Symptoms include:

• Chronic low back pain, weakness and/or soreness
• Hot flashes, night sweats or a general feeling of being warmer at night. Those of you who need to sleep at sub-arctic temperatures at night know what I’m talking about.
• Dry mouth and throat – more so at night.
• Darker urine, even after drinking large amounts of water.
• Fatigue and exhaustion, especially in the afternoon around 1-3pm (just when the morning coffee is wearing off and a heavy meal has been eaten for lunch)
• Tinnitus (low pitched)
• Dizziness (especially when getting up)
• Poor memory
• Insomnia
• Constipation
• Hearing loss
• Hair loss, balding and thinning hair
• Infertility
• Joint pains and wearing away or joints (osteo and rheumatoid arthritis)
• Chronic sinus issues, congestion and infections

Habits and things that lead to a deficiency of kidney yin:

1. Poor diet. Very common inflammatory foods burn yin out of the body very rapidly. Check on my full guide on The Nasty Nine list to see all the things that burn yin out of the body faster than any other dietary foods. Dairy, wheat, refined sugar, corn, soy, fried food, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, and pork are the worst offenders.
2. Coffee. It doesn’t matter if it is organic, mold-free or anything else. Coffee is one of the worst modern offenders when it comes to contributing to these symptoms above. I personally stopped drinking coffee about a year ago and will never go back. I recently had a patient whose hair was thinning and falling out and told this person to stop drinking coffee. After 1.5 months of no coffee, new and more full hair started to grow again.
3. Excessive exercise. Some of the most unhealthy people I have met are extreme athletes, who think they are healthy simply because they run or exercise so much. When you exercise excessively, you use up electrolytes (calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus). These are yin substances. And no, drinking Gatorade is not the solution. Fruits and vegetables are the solution…lots of them.
4. Too much sex. This is an issue for MEN, not women. Making semen is incredibly resource consumptive. Zinc is incredibly important for this and most people are deficient. This is especially true for reproduction and having a healthy prostate. Think of all the men with lower back pain, prostate issues and joint pain. Every time a man ejaculates, it takes a lot of resources (nutrients and minerals, yin and essence) to make more swimmers. Read The Multi Orgasmic Man by Mantak Chia to learn patience, control and how to orgasm without ejaculating.
5. Childbirth. For women, they lose yin and essence during childbirth, which is why so many women start having so many health problems after the birth of a child. You have to replenish yin.
6. Overwork. Working too long, working during the night, not getting enough good quality sleep can all burn out kidney yin.
7. Chronic disease. Pathogens (viruses and bacteria) cause the body to need more resources in order to strengthen the immune system to deal with them. This is especially true if you have battled an autoimmune disease for many years.

Luckily, kidney yin deficiency is not a death sentence and you can totally reverse this issue. So here are some ways to work on kidney yin deficiency.

1. Kidney yin strengthening foods. Things that are black or darker in color are great for boosting kidney yin. Blackberry, wild blueberry, raspberry, goji berry, acai, black sesame seeds (freshly ground), black lentils, black quinoa, black rice, black beans, kidney beans, Spanish black radish, dulse flakes, dark mulberry, plum, green leafy vegetables, black grapes with seeds, flax seeds (freshly ground), chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, bone broth, sunflower seeds, walnuts, spirulina, barley grass juice extract.
2. Stop (or limit) consuming foods that are spicy and hot. Alcohol is one of the worst offenders here but also hot spices such as curry too.
3. Acupuncture is one of the most amazing things you can do to reverse kidney yin deficiency. Specific points on the body strengthen yin and also work to reduce or eliminate these symptoms.
4. Drink more water. Some people do not drink enough water. The average adult only consumes 37 ounces per day. More is needed to be healthy.
5. Juice your vegetables. Juicing is the best way to replenish electrolytes. It is critical for people who are very active. Fruits and vegetables are perhaps the best things you can consume to boost yin in the body (at least 6-10 servings/cups per day).
6. Yin boosting herbal formulas such as Liu Wei Di Huang Wan and He Shou Wu are good to support yin from time to time.
7. Drenamin is a great supplement from Standard Process that I use clinically to help people with yin deficiency symptoms. It is like a whole food vitamin for the adrenal glands.
8. Make sure to get good quality sleep.
9. Meditation is great for feeling calm and relaxed (a yin state). Download the Headspace app to start meditation every day.

These things support yin in the body and will also help with the above symptoms related to kidney yin deficiency.