What lifestyle modifications should I advise to a patient with early-stage chronic kidney disease?

Lifestyle modifications for a patient with early-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) include:

• Encourage regular physical exercise to help maintain overall health and support a healthy body weight.
• Advise achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight, as obesity can worsen CKD progression.
• Recommend a healthy, balanced diet with attention to potassium, phosphate, calorie, and salt intake appropriate to the severity of CKD; dietary advice should be tailored and supervised to prevent malnutrition.
• Advise against the routine use of low-protein diets, as they are not recommended for all CKD patients to reduce progression risk.
• Advise avoiding over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and stopping herbal remedies or dietary supplements such as creatine, due to their potential to harm kidney function.
• Encourage smoking cessation to reduce cardiovascular risk and CKD progression.
• Advise drinking alcohol in moderation.

These lifestyle changes should be supported by education and information tailored to the patient's condition to enable self-management and informed decision-making.

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