BACKGROUND
Chinese cooking favors light flavors, and commonly used seasonings include salt, oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar plant spices, etc. The effect of seasoning on hypertension in China is currently unknown.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to understand the prevalence of hypertension in adult residents of Fujian Province, China, and to explore the effect of the most common soy sauce on hypertension.
METHODS
A multi-stage, whole-group random sampling approach was used to select adult residents for a questionnaire survey, physical examination, and data collection on personal information, diet, and blood pressure from December 2019 to June 2022. Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS 26.0 and R 4.1.3. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was also utilized to establish a 1:1 matching ratio between individuals with and without hypertension. Subsequently, a logistic regression analysis was conducted between the traditional condiments on hypertension.
RESULTS
The prevalence of hypertension among adult residents in Fujian Province stands at 28.02%. It was found that a 9% increased risk of hypertension (OR=1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.16) was associated with a daily salt intake of ≥5.00g of edible salt versus <5.00 g of edible salt per day, and a 19% increased risk of hypertension (OR=1.19, 95% CI 1.11-1.26) was associated with a daily oil intake of ≥29.17g of edible oil versus <29.17g of edible oil per day. In contrast, intake of ≥2.88g of soy sauce per day was associated with a 16% lower risk of hypertension compared with <2.88g per day (OR=0.84, 95% CI 0.79-0.90), and there was a linear trend between per capita daily intake of oil, salt, and soy sauce and the prevalence of hypertension. Subsequent analysis of 6,216 matched pairs of hypertensive and non-hypertensive subjects showed that the results of the paired data analysis were consistent with the above results. After further subgroup analyses, it was found that the effect of soy sauce in reducing the risk of hypertension persisted irrespective of stratified analyses of salt intake and oil intake.
CONCLUSIONS
Notably, the consumption of traditional condiments in China exhibits a significant association with the incidence of hypertension in Fujian Province. Furthermore, within the context of edible salt and oil control measures, a judicious increase in soy sauce consumption may potentially mitigate hypertension occurrences.