Excessive salt and black‑bean diets cause kidney complications in Asian men

In Phú Thọ, Vietnam, 70‑year‑old Nguyen Van Thắng has suffered from hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, gout and end‑stage renal disease after decades of a high‑salt diet. He now takes six blood‑pressure pills daily and experiences fatigue, anemia and heart strain. Doctors explain that excessive salt leads to water retention, elevated blood pressure, damage to small blood vessels and progressive loss of kidney filtering capacity.

In a separate case, a 47‑year‑old taxi driver named Lưu from China (reported in Indonesia) regularly consumed about 150 g of dried black beans each day, preparing them as milk, porridge or drink. Routine health checks revealed elevated uric acid and protein in his urine, indicating kidney stress. Medical experts note that while black beans are nutritious, their high protein and purine content can increase uric acid levels and burden kidney function when consumed in large quantities over long periods.

Both stories illustrate how prolonged dietary habits—excessive salt or excessive black‑bean intake—can contribute to serious kidney‑related health problems.