Adequate dietary phosphorus intake may reduce the risk of diabetes in Chinese adults

Diabetes is a common chronic disease and a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death. In recent years, the number of diabetes patients in China has increased rapidly, and currently about 120 million adults suffer from diabetes. Therefore, finding more modifiable risk factors for primary prevention of diabetes is of great clinical and public health significance. Phosphorus plays a key role in the storage, transfer and release of energy in the human body and in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. However, there is no definite conclusion on the relationship between dietary phosphorus intake and new-onset diabetes.

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In response to the above problems, the National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases of Nanfang Hospital, the School of Public Health of Anhui Medical University, and the Anhui Institute of Biomedical Sciences jointly conducted relevant research, and the research results were published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases . The study showed that in general Chinese adults, there is a U-shaped relationship between dietary phosphorus intake and the risk of new-onset diabetes, with an inflection point of 921.6 mg/d. The lowest risk of diabetes occurs when the phosphorus intake ranges from 905.0 to 975.4 mg/d. Professor Qin Xianhui of the National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases of Nanfang Hospital is the corresponding author of the article, and Dr. Wu Qimeng is the first author.

The study included 16,272 Chinese adult participants from the China Health and Nutrition Survey who did not have diabetes at baseline. The intake of various foods was assessed using 3-day 24-hour dietary recall and household food inventory weighing, and the cumulative mean of phosphorus intake represented its long-term exposure level. New-onset diabetes was defined as self-reported physician-diagnosed diabetes or fasting blood glucose ≥7.0mmol/L or glycated hemoglobin ≥6.5%.

During a median follow-up of 9 years, 1101 participants developed diabetes. The study found that dietary phosphorus intake was associated with a U-shaped risk of new-onset diabetes (Figure 1). Compared with people whose dietary phosphorus intake was in the 40%-80% quantile (905.0-975.4 mg/d), those whose intake was below the 40% quantile and above the 80% quantile had a significantly increased risk of new-onset diabetes by 59% and 46%, respectively.

Figure 1. Relationship between dietary phosphorus intake and new-onset diabetes

The above studies show that maintaining an appropriate dietary phosphorus intake has important clinical value in preventing the risk of diabetes in the general adult population in China. Our findings once again emphasize the important role of nutrition in metabolic diseases.

There are thousands of strategies and methods for health, but eating well is the most important. Reasonable diet and scientific nutrition are the cornerstone and core of effectively promoting group health and achieving active health.

References:

Wu Q, Ye Z, Zhang Y, Yang S, Zhou C, Liu M, Zhang Y, Zhang Z, He P, Li R, Li H, Jiang J, Ai J, Nie J, Liu C, Qin X. A U-shaped association between dietary phosphorus intake and new-onset diabetes: A nationwide cohort study in China. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2023 Oct;33(10):1932-1940.

Editor | Wu Qimeng and Wu Yiting

Audit | Qin Xianhui