Researchers are now warning that too much salt can increase the risk of getting type 2 diabetes. We already know that consuming too much salt may lead to other diseases, including heart problems and high blood pressure.
In a recent British study, 400 000 participants were monitored over a twelve-year period. 13,000 developed diabetes. For those who ate more salt, the risk of getting diabetes was up to 40% higher.
Type 2 diabetes is an illness, in which the body does not make enough insulin, a hormone that controls the amount of sugar in your body. There are many risk factors that lead to diabetes : age, obesity, lack of exercise, too much sugar and cardiovascular diseases. Around the world, about 500 million people suffer from type 2 diabetes.
In addition, researchers point out, people whose salt intake is high tend to eat large portions of food, thus becoming overweight and having a higher BMI.
Doctors suggest using alternatives to salt – for example mint, rosemary, oregano or lemon juice.
Image: Smart Servier, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons
Words
- amount = how much of something
- blood pressure = the force with which blood travels through your body
- BMI = Body Mass Index = a number that shows how heavy you are compared to how tall you are
- cardiovascular = everything about your heart and blood vessels
- consuming = here: eating
- develop = here: get an illness
- diabetes = a serious disease in which there is too much sugar in your blood
- disease = illness
- hormone = a chemical produced by your body and which you need to grow and stay healthy
- in addition = also
- including = among them
- increase = to go up
- intake = to put in your body
- lack of = not enough of
- mint = a plant with small green leaves that have a fresh taste
- monitor = watch, observe
- point out = explain, show
- obesity =being overweight in an unhealthy way
- participant = person who takes part in a study
- recent = not long ago
- researcher = person who studies a topic in order to find out more about it
- rosemary = narrow leaves of a bush
- tend to = probably
- thus = that is why