A 10-year clinical trial involving 108 adults with stage 3 chronic kidney disease (CKD) and metabolic acidosis found that dietary acid reduction through fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with fewer hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and cases requiring dialysis.
The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2026, held from October 22 to 25.
Participants were randomly assigned to three groups of 36 patients each. One group received fruits and vegetables to reduce dietary acid by half, another received oral sodium bicarbonate, and the third received usual care.
Over the 10-year follow-up, researchers recorded 115 hospitalizations, 166 emergency department visits, and 34 patients requiring dialysis.
The fruit and vegetable group recorded 14 hospitalizations compared with 64 in the usual care group. Emergency department visits totaled 20 versus 88, while four patients required dialysis compared with 16 receiving usual care.
No differences in these outcomes were observed between the sodium bicarbonate and usual care groups.
According to corresponding author Nimrit Goraya of Baylor Scott and White Health, the dietary intervention was associated with improved clinical outcomes without increasing overall health-system or societal costs.