Feasibility, Safety and Efficacy of a Predominantly Plant-based Diet in an Asian Population With Chronic Kidney Disease

This two-year follow up, single-center, open-label, feasibility study will recruit outpatients from the Renal Medicine Clinic at Changi General Hospital. Eligible patients with Stage 3 or 4 CKD will be assigned preferencebased to either a plant-based diet intervention (intake of at least 50% protein from plant sources) with regular dietitian counselling and follow up, or a control group receiving dietitian counselling for general CKD dietary advice without information on percentage of plant-based foods. Six monthly assessments will include estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum potassium, nutritional markers, and other relevant biochemical parameters. Quality of life and dietary adherence will be evaluated through questionnaires and food frequency records. This study will evaluate primarily, the feasibility of a plant-based diet in the Singaporean context. Secondarily it will evaluate its safety in terms of incidence of hyperkalaemia, and benefit in terms of improvement in acidosis. Other exploratory outcomes will include (1) preliminary efficacy of plant-based diets on CKD progression (measured by eGFR decline); (2) risk of nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin D, B12 and iron; and (3) impact on other biochemical parameters of CKD.