Many elderly people have had the habit of eating sunflower seeds, pine nuts or spicy foods for many years without knowing that this can silently damage the kidneys. The kidneys' ability to filter and excrete excess matter is limited. Meanwhile, nuts, although rich in nutrients, contain a lot of sodium, phosphorus and potassium - three minerals that can easily put a burden on the kidneys if consumed excessively.
In the elderly, a group with a slow metabolic rate and many people with underlying chronic kidney disease, eating too much of these nuts will cause the kidneys to overload. Especially salted nuts, spicy nuts or spiced nuts, their sodium content is very high.
In addition to sodium, another big risk comes from phosphorus. 100 grams of cashews have about 490 mg of phosphorus, while pine nuts have up to 595 mg. Meanwhile, the ideal daily intake of phosphorus is just under 700 mg. When kidney function is impaired, not all of the phosphorus is excreted, causing increased blood fosphate, leading to osteoporosis, itching, even calcification of blood vessels and increasing the risk of cardiovascular events. Many patients with dialysis have to be hospitalized many times just because of high phosphorus.
In addition to phosphorus, many types of seeds also contain very high levels of potassium. Potassium is necessary for the heart and nerves, but if the kidneys are poorly filtered, eating too much will cause an increase in blood potassium. Mild cases cause muscle weakness, fatigue; severe cases can cause arrhythmia or cardiac arrest.
