Every single day of our lives we always get the urge to go to the bathroom and that’s all because of our urinary system. Here’s a big question that we don’t really put too much of our mind into: Why is it when we drink any type of fluid, a few minutes later we suddenly get this feeling around our lower tummy area that urges us to go to the bathroom? It is “the call of nature” as other people would phrase it. It’s another phenomenon that our body, has capabilities in processing.
Just like our endocrine system and it’s important when it comes to production or hormones and balancing the body, our urinary system also has it’s key roles in our bodies. Ever since we were younger, around 2-3 years old, we’ve already have had an idea of having to pee or “urinate” after drinking our favorite juice or milk from our sippy cup or baby bottle. Our parents have taught us to potty train so that we make it to the bathroom toilet. Now that we’re all grown up, how exactly does urine come about?
Call of nature: Our amazing urinary system
This system eliminates around a quart and a half of urine each day, depending on how much fluid you take into your body. The more water you drink, the more waste your body will excrete through urine. It also removes “urea” from your blood which comes from the foods that contains protein. Urea is carried through the bloodstream to the kidneys. Urine, as we all know is the end product of this system, is a fluid that is light to amber yellow, depending on how often we drink water. Urine is excreted from our bodies to remove wastes and extra water that our bodies don’t actually need inside.
The urinary system consists of the following structures:
- kidneys
- ureters
- bladder
- urethra
Let us go in a bit further into detail to better understand each of these structures that make up our urinary system. It starts off when we first take a drink of water, juice and/or any type of fluid for that matter. Our kidney, a pair of bean-shaped structures (around the size of your fist), filters waste from our blood and produces urine. This is the main organ since it separates the waste from our blood that could be toxic to our body.
Each of our kidneys is around 5 inches long and 3 inches wide. Remember though, pairs in and on our body aren’t exactly in shape, one is always smaller or higher than the other depending what organ or part of the body we are talking about. Our kidneys are located near the middle of the back, just right below your rib cage. The kidneys have tiny little filter units called “nephrons” which also consists of blood capillaries called “glomerulus.” A renal tubule is also included in the kidneys which are also important in the segregation of waste in our body.
From our kidneys, our urine goes down through the ureters to our bladder. This system which consists of our ureters are two thin tubes that help the urine travel to our bladder. While the bladder is a pouch inside our body that holds our urine inside until we feel the urge to go to the bathroom. Urine is emptied into our bladder about every 10 to 15 seconds all throughout the day. This is a pretty interesting fact because our bladder acts as a bag waiting to be filled up to signal our brain that “Oops potty time!” During urination, our brain signals our muscles in the bladder to tighten up and get rid of the urine stored inside. Our sphincter, in where urine exits out, relaxes and the urine comes out of our urethra.
The end product of this system is urine. Your kidneys acts as a filter for substances that will either go all throughout your bloodstream or go as waste material as urine. The substances that will eventually go back into your blood stream are elements such as nutrients, protein and glucose. The rest of the constituents that aren’t need are counted as waste. Our urine is made out of water, urea (waste product formed from the breakdown of protein), urochrome (an element that gives urine its yellowish color), salts, creatinine (formed with breakdown of muscles), by products of bile from the liver and ammonia.
Like the other organs in our body, from the small ones to the major ones, we have to remember to always take care of our entire body and not just for your urinary system. That means not too much and not too little of everything around you. Drinking lots of fluids (water being the number one thirst quencher above them all) is highly encouraged every single day of our lives this is especially when you’re out in the sun and exercising since you’re losing body fluid through sweat.
Losing too much water in your body can cause ailments that could harm your homeostasis (balance) within your body. Don’t try to hold it in, when you feel the urge to urinate, go do so at the nearest bathroom possible because urine has waste elements contained in it, holding it in could cause bacteria to live inside our urinary system which could possible cause UTI (Urinary Tract Infection). For the ladies, remember to wipe from front to back. Think about it, your anus (where feces come out of) is much dirtier than there is in your urethra (where urine comes out of). Wiping back to front could bring more bacteria to your urethra causing more unwanted infections.
There are natural remedies that are available to search online that could help out minor ailments. Have a healthy bathroom session and have a safe mind that you’re doing your part in creating a healthy environment for your urinary system, making sure it is well taken care of.