On the sex ratio of urinary cation excretion obtained from Intersalt and other epidemiological studies

Large differences exist within populations in the dietary intake of nutrients between men and women and these differences are still largely unknown. Using data obtained from the Intersalt study and from other relevant epidemiological studies, the sex ratio of the 24 h urinary excretion of different cations was obtained. Highly significant correlations (P less than 0.001) were found between the 24 h urinary cation and creatinine excretions of men and women. Highly variable sex ratios of 24 h urinary excretion of cations were obtained between populations, presumably due to the different levels of physical activity between men and women. The sex ratio of blood pressure did not correlate with the sex ratio of the 24 h urinary excretion of sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium, but correlated significantly with the sex ratio of the BMI (P less than 0.01). On a global scale men had a nearly 22% higher urinary excretion of cations than women, pointing towards a 22% higher dietary intake of the cations considered.