Nephritis refers to an inflammation of the kidneys. It is a serious condition and may be either acute or chronic. A synonym for Nephritis is “Bright"s Disease”. This disease, most often strikes during childhood or adolescence. It becomes worse as it progresses and if not treated properly may result in death. In the alternative, it may subside into a chronic stage where the patient gets better but not too well.

Symptoms of Nephritis
The main symptoms of acute Nephritis are pain in the kidneys extending down to the Ureter, fever, dull pain in the back and scanty and highly coloured urine. Often the urine may contain blood, albumin and casts consisting of clumps of red and white cells, which come from the damaged kidneys. The patient suffers from puffiness in the face and swelling of the feet and ankles. In the chronic stage of Nephritis, which may drag on for many years, the patient passes large amounts of albumin in the urine. Later there may be rise in blood pressure and the patient may develop Uraemia. There may be frequent urination, especially during night.

Causes of Nephritis
Nephritis usually follows some streptococcus infection of the throat or an attack of scarlet fever or rheumatic fever. The underlying causes of Nephritis are however; the same as for Leases of the kidneys in general, namely wrong dietary habits, excessive drinking, the suppressive medical treatment or former diseases, the habitual use of chemical agents of all kinds for the treatment of indigestion and other stomach disorders and frequent use of aspirin and other painkillers. Nutritional deficiencies can also lead to Nephritis.

Diet Therapy for Nephritis
The safest treatment for acute Nephritis is Fasting Therapy. By means of the fast, the toxins and systemic impurities responsible for setting up of the inflammatory kidney conditions are removed rapidly. The patient should resort to juice fasting for 7 to 10 days till the acute symptoms subside. Mostly vegetable juices such as carrot, celery and cucumber should be used during this period.

After the juice fast, the patient may adopt an all-fruit diet for 4 or 5 days. Juicy fruits such as apples, grapes, oranges, pears, peaches and pineapples should be taken during this period at 5-hourly intervals, after that, the patient should adopt fruits and milk diet. In this regimen, milk, preferably raw goat"s milk may be added to the fruit diet for further 7 days. The patient may thereafter gradually embark upon a well-balanced low-protein vegetarian diet, with emphasis on fresh fruits and raw and cooked vegetables.

In case of chronic Nephritis, a short juice fast for 3 days may be undertaken. Thereafter, a week or 10 days may be spent on a restricted diet. In this regimen, orange juice may be taken for breakfast. Lunch may consist of a salad made of raw vegetables, which are in season, and dinner may consist of 1 or 2 vegetables, steamed in their own juices and few nuts. Thereafter, the patient may gradually adopt a balanced low-protein vegetarian diet. Further short juice fasts followed by a week on the restricted diet should be undertaken at intervals of 2 or 3 months until such time as the kidney condition has shown signs of normalization.

The patient should avoid vegetables containing large quantities of oxalic acid such as spinach and rhubarb. Chocolate and cocoa also contain oxalic acid and must not be used. Garlic, asparagus, parsley, watercress, cucumber and celery are excellent vegetables. The best fruits are papaya and bananas. Both have a healing effect on kidneys. A small amount of soured milk and home made cottage cheese can be included in the diet. All salt should be eliminated from the diet. 5 or 6 small meals should be taken in preference to a few large ones.

A glassful of carrot juice mixed with a tablespoonful of honey and a teaspoonful of fresh lime juice is a very effective home remedy for Nephritis. It should be taken every day early in the morning before breakfast. Bananas are also valuable in Nephritis because of their low protein and salt content and high carbohydrates content. In this condition, a diet of bananas only should be taken for 3 or 4 days, consuming 8 to 9 bananas a day.

However, smoking and drinking must be completely given up. The patient should also avoid white bread, sugar, cakes, pastries, puddings, refined cereals and greasy, heavy or fried foods. He should also avoid tea, coffee, and all flesh foods, condiments, pickles and sauces.

Water Therapy for Nephritis
All measures should be adopted to relieve the kidneys of work by increasing elimination through other channels. A warm water enema should be taken each day while fasting, to cleanse the bowels of the toxic matter being thrown off by the self-cleansing process resulting from the fast. Hot Epsom salt bath should be taken every alternate day to increase elimination through the skin as much as possible.

Exercises for Nephritis
Fresh air and outdoor exercises will be of great benefit in all cases of Nephritis and where possible, the patient should have a walk for at least 3 kilometres once or twice daily. The sufferer from chronic Nephritis should never exert himself when doing anything. The patient should avoid excitement and late hours.