Most people know that eating too much salt isn’t good for their heart. But a new study shows that salt might also raise your risk of getting type 2 diabetes.
This surprising discovery comes from researchers at Tulane University and was published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
The study looked at the health and eating habits of more than 400,000 adults in the UK over almost 12 years. The researchers wanted to find out if adding salt to food often could affect a person’s chance of getting type 2 diabetes, a common disease that affects how the body handles sugar.
The results were clear. People who sometimes added salt to their meals had a 13% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to people who rarely or never added salt. For those who usually added salt, the risk went up by 20%. And for those who always added salt, the risk was 39% higher.
That means the more often people added salt to their food, the more likely they were to get type 2 diabetes.
This is the first large study to directly connect salt intake to type 2 diabetes. It adds to what we already know about salt and health. Doctors already tell people to eat less salt to lower their blood pressure and avoid heart problems. Now it seems salt could also play a role in diabetes.
The reason behind this link isn’t completely understood yet. But the lead researcher, Dr. Lu Qi, has a theory. He thinks that salt might make food taste better and lead people to eat more than they need.
Eating too much can lead to obesity, which is one of the biggest causes of type 2 diabetes. Obesity can also cause inflammation in the body, which makes it harder for the body to control blood sugar levels.
The study also found that people who added more salt to their food tended to have higher body weight and bigger waist sizes. These are both signs that a person might be at greater risk of developing health problems like diabetes.
So what can people do to protect themselves? Dr. Qi recommends using less salt when cooking or eating. You can try herbs, spices, or low-sodium seasoning instead. This small change could have a big impact on your health, especially if you are already at risk for type 2 diabetes.
This study gives us a new reason to be careful with how much salt we use. It’s not just about your heart anymore—it’s also about your blood sugar and your future risk of diabetes. With more people developing type 2 diabetes each year, these findings could help update health guidelines and help people make better choices at mealtime.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes, and how to manage high blood pressure and diabetes with healthy foods.
For more health information, please see recent studies about vitamin D and type2 diabetes, and to people with type 2 diabetes, some fruits are better than others.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
