吃太多盐会导致肥胖 Eating too much salt risks developing obesity

Comment:  Business organizations or companies are developing supplements or even drugs to prevent or treat obesity.  One strategy is to prevent the body from absorbing too much energy like fat.  However, the easiest thing to do is to use less salt in your foods.  Why?  Salt is the most important food ingredient to boost your appetite and force you to eat more.  The more you eat, the higher your risk of developing obesity.  It is really very easy to understand.

Eating too much salt risk developing obesity

Scientists from China, Japan, USA and UK conducted a study and confirmed that high dietary salt intake may increase risk for obesity and overweight which is one of major parameters of metabolic syndrome.

Analyzing data from 4680 men and women aged 40 to 59 years in Japan, China, UK and USA, the scientists found after adjustment for potential confounding factors such as energy intake, increased salt intake was associated with increased body mass index (BMI).

Specifically, for an increase in salt intake by 1 gram per day was associated with an increase in BMI by 0.28, 0.10, 0.42 and 0.52 in Japan, China, UK and USA, respectively.  This association was statistically significant.

Similarly, an increase in salt intake by 1 gram per day was correlated with an increase in risk of obesity/overweight by 21%, 4%, 29% and 24% in Japan, China, UK and USA, respectively.  Again the association was significant.

The study could not confirm that salt per se directly increase the risk of developing obesity/overweight or increase the BMI.

Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 May 21. pii: nqz067. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz067.
Salt intake and prevalence of overweight/obesity in Japan, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States: the INTERMAP Study.
Zhou L, Stamler J, Chan Q, Van Horn L, Daviglus ML, Dyer AR, Miura K, Okuda N, Wu Y, Ueshima H, Elliott P, Zhao L; INTERMAP Research Group.