Beat summer bloat & fatigue

If you're bothered by puffiness and a lack of energy, sluggish kidneys could be to blame. The organs flush excess fluids from the body while filtering out toxins, so you feel slimmer and more energized when they function at their peak. Plus, healthy kidneys produce hormones that keep blood pressure in balance. And though kidney function tends to slow down over time, these strategies outsmart sluggishness easily.

- -Melissa Gotthardt

Make a simple pasta swap

Opting for whole grains in place of refined grains like white bread, pasta and rice can bolster kidney function, say scientists in the British Journal of Nutrition—and all it takes is a single serving a day. Experts examined five years of data and found that people who made the switch had better glomerular filtration rates (a marker of their kidneys' filtering ability) than those who ate refined grains. Credit goes to the added fiber, vitamins and antioxidants, which combat kidney-damaging elevations in blood glucose and inflammation.

Sip a glass of healthy 'soda'