Following a pro-inflammatory diet can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, researchers have said.
Scientists from China have found that people with a high salt intake are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to those who consume a lower amount of salt.
During the trial, the academics assessed the health outcomes of 171,094 people from the UK Biobank to see if a pro-inflammatory diet and a high salt intake can trigger the development of type 2 diabetes.
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All the people under review did not have diabetes at the start of the study. Each participant filled in a diet survey to outline their food intake.
Researchers used the dietary inflammatory index (DII) to measure the inflammatory potential of the participant’s diet.
More than 6,000 of the participants developed type 2 diabetes during the median follow-up period of the study.
The findings show that the participants who follow a pro-inflammatory diet are nearly 20% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to those following an anti-inflammatory diet.
In addition, the results have found that the participants who sometimes, usually and always add salt to their foods are more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
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The authors said: “Our findings indicate that a pro-inflammatory diet and higher habitual salt intake were associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
“These results support the public health promotion of an anti-inflammatory diet and reducing salt intake to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.”
Previous studies have found that eating a high amount of salt can trigger the development of heart disease.
Read the study in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.
