Will Fast Food Cause Nephritis

It has been found in a survey that the occurring of nephritis has something to do with fast foods. Chronic nephritis is the top 10 killer in Hong Kong and the population of nephritis is on the rise recently with an average increase of 7% every year. And this is believed to be related to the fact the people in Hong Kong like to eat fast foods.

According to the statistics, there were about 2700 kidney disease patients and now there are more than 5400 nephritis patients. Diabetes, hypertension, glomerulonephritis, chronic nephritis can all worsen the kidneys’ functions and lead to renal failure or uremia. Among all the kidney failure patients, about half are caused by chronic nephritis and diabetes and most people believe that this is because they like to eat fast foods and high-sugar foods.

Among the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand and Hong Kong, the US has the most kidney failure patients followed by Hong Kong.

Fast food has the following characters as high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar, low-fiber and large amount of flavouring agents and artificial additives. That is why long term intake of fast food make people more susceptible to diabetes and chronic nephritis and other health problems and it is should be avoided to nephritis patients.

In simple word, nephritis is the inflammation of the kidneys and the renal functions will be affected. In such conditions, the proper diet principles are low-fat, low-salt, low-protein, high-fiber and high-vitamin. In addition, fast food contains too much calories and the nutrition in fast foods is not comprehensive.

Here are some diet suggestions for nephritis patients

1. Foods that are rich in vitamins especially vitamin A, vitamin B2 and vitamin C.

2. The intake of water should not be limited. Vegetable juice and fruit juice (orange, watermelon) can help diuresis and detumescence.

3. In case of hypertension or hyperlipidemia, saturated fat and cholesterol should be limited. For those that have anemia, they should have more foods that are rich in high quality protein (avoid plant proteins) and iron.