Salt Intake in Adults with Diabetes and Hypertension: The Longitudinal Study of Adult Health-Brasil Study

Abstract

Background and Objective:

Hypertension and type-2 diabetes are strong risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and their management requires lifestyle changes, including a shift in dietary habits. The consumption of salt has increased in the last decades in some countries, but its association with type-2 diabetes remains unknown. Thus, we aimed to estimate the amount of salt intake among adults with and without diabetes and to assess whether concomitant hypertension and diabetes are associated with higher salt intake.

Methods:

Data from 11,982 adults 35–74 years of age enrolled in the baseline of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health-Brasil study (2008–2010) were studied. A clinical and anthropometric evaluation was performed, and their daily salt intake was estimated by the overnight 12-hr urine sodium excretion.

Results:

Salt intake (gram per day) was higher in participants with diabetes as compared with those without diabetes, regardless of sex (men: 14.2 ± 6.4 vs. 12.4 ± 5.6, P < 0.05; women: 10.5 ± 4.8 vs. 9.1 ± 4.1, P < 0.05). However, salt intake is high in participants with fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dL or HbA1c ≥6.5%, but not in participants with blood glucose 2 hr after the glucose tolerance test ≥200 mg/dL. When hypertension and diabetes coexisted, salt consumption was higher than among people without these conditions. The prevalence of hypertension increased with increasing salt intake in women with diabetes, but not in men with this condition.

Conclusions:

Our findings highlight the high consumption of salt in individuals with diabetes and/or hypertension, and the need for effective strategies to reduce salt consumption in these groups of increased risk for major cardiovascular events, especially in women.