- People who add table salt to their food are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
- The study uses the frequency with which one adds salt to their food as a means of assessing their overall sodium intake, including sodium that is cooked into the foods they eat.
- It may be that sodium promotes hypertension and inflammation, both known risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
Regular dietary sodium intake at meals is associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to a new study. Table salt is a compound consisting of sodium and chloride.
The study found that those who said they “sometimes, “usually,” and “always” added salt to their meals appeared to increase their risk of type 2 diabetes by 11%, 18%, and 25%, respectively, compared to those who added salt “never” or “rarely.”
The new study analyzed data from 402,982 diabetes-free participants in the UK Biobank from March 2006 to October 2010. Individuals ranged in age from 37 to 73.
As a means of identifying factors that might confound the study’s analysis, participants filled out a touch-screen questionnaire that inquired about personal details that have been associated with the development of type 2 diabetes.
These included age, sex, education level, income, smoking status, level of physical activity, alcohol consumption, and the Townsend deprivation index. The deprivation index results in a composite measurement of several lifestyle factors, including unemployment, non-car ownership, non-home ownership, and household overcrowding.
Participants were followed for a mean of 11.9 years, by which time 13,120 people had developed type 2 diabetes.
The risk of type 2 diabetes for people with a higher BMI and a less favorable waist-to-hip ratio was increased further for the “sometimes, “usually,” and “always” people by 33.8%, 39.9%, and 8.6%, respectively.
The study is published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
The study’s senior author, Dr. Lu Qi, said,…
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