EATING too much salty food dramatically raises the risk of diabetes, warns new research.
A study of almost 3,000 people found those who consumed the most salt were almost twice as likely to develop diabetes.
And the risk rose almost four-fold for those genetically predisposed to the condition, according to the research.
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Just under half a teaspoon (2.5g) extra a day increased the risk of type 2 diabetes, the form linked to obesity, by 65 percent.
Participants with the highest consumption – one-and-a-quarter teaspoons or more – were 72 percent more likely to develop it than those with the lowest.
The risk of developing LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults), a form of type 1 diabetes, was even greater, increasing 82 per cent rise for each 2.5g consumed daily.
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And it nearly quadrupled for those who ate lots of salt and carried specific gene mutations.
The research, by a team at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden was published in the journal Diabetologia and presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Portugal.
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