Dietary Inflammatory Index is Associated with Excessive Body Weight and Dietary Patterns in Subjects with Cardiometabolic Risk

Unhealthy eating habits can trigger chronic inflammation in organs and tissues, and subsequent cardiovascular risk. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the potential association of Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII™) score with cardiometabolic risk factors and a priori and a posteriori dietary patterns in adults and elderly Brazilians (42 ± 16 years) from a health care program. This cross-sectional study was carried out with 248 individuals (138 women and 110 men) from a Cardiovascular Health Care Program of the Universidade Federal de Vicosa (PROCARDIO-UFV, ReBEC ID number: RBR-5n4y2g). Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, lifestyle and anthropometric data were assessed by standardized protocols. DII scores were calculated from a 24 h-recall, and dietary patterns were determined by a posteriori method, as Principal Component Analysis (PAC), and a priori method, as Healthy Eating Index (HEI). The mean DII was 0.15 ± 0.84. The subjects included in the most pro-inflammatory category(3rd tertile) were more likely to be individuals with excessive body weight, increased waist-to-hip ratio and lower quality diet assessed by PAC and HEI. The most pro-inflammatory diet was associated with excessive body weight as well as other worse dietary patterns.