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.
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.
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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