Adults with diabetes mellitus (DM) reached 422 million in 2014. DM may cause chemosensory dysfunction. This study used data from NHANES to investigate if diabetic participants with chronic complications (e.g. retinopathy and nephropathy) would develop taste and smell impairment due to the chronic complications and if the impairment would create a higher craving for sugar and salt compared with controls. Participants were divided into three groups; 304 with noncomplicated DM, 199 with complicated DM and 2702 in control group. DM was defined as HbA1c over 6.5%. The study demonstrated that both non-complicated and complicated DM had a higher percentage of smell impairment (21.1-27.1%) vs. controls (15.5%). The study did not find relation between DM and taste impairment. The two DM groups consumed significant less
of sugar and calories, though sodium levels was the same when compared to controls. To find predictors for a higher consumption of salt and sugar in DM, stepwise multiple linear regression was applied. The regression model found that (1) gender and age was the most significant predictors of food consumption, (2) if a participant had smell impairment, 359 less kcal was consumed. Further research is needed to address eating habits and food choices in patients with diabetes and in the general public to prevent an further epidemic growth of diabetes.