Inflammation in the American diet

Almost six in 10 Americans have pro-inflammatory diets, increasing the risk of health problems including heart disease and cancer, according to a new study that used a tool designed to examine inflammation in the diet.

The research team used the dietary inflammatory index, a tool developed a decade ago that includes 45 dietary components to examine the diets of more than 34,500 adults included in the 2005–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. 

Based on self-reported diets, they used the tool to assign inflammation values ranging from −9 to 8, where 0 represents a neutral diet. About 34% of those in the study had anti-inflammatory diets, and the remaining 9% had neutral dietary inflammatory levels. The study was recently published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

Older dietary measures look at the intake of certain food groups (such as fruits, vegetables and dairy) or macronutrients (such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats) that align with national diet recommendations or certain diets like keto or paleo.

“But inflammation is an important element to consider and the overall balance of diet is most important,” lead author Rachel Meadows said.

“Even if you’re eating enough fruits or vegetables, if you’re having too much alcohol or red meat, then your overall diet can still be pro-inflammatory.”

“There’s a potential here to think about positive interventions, such as adding more garlic, ginger, turmeric and green and black tea — which are all anti-inflammatory — to your diet,” she said.

“Moving toward a diet with less inflammation could have a positive impact on a number of chronic conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even depression and other mental health conditions.”

The Dietary Inflammatory Index assigns a numerical score to a total of 45 parameters consisting of individual foods, food components and nutrients to indicate whether a person’s overall dietary pattern is considered pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory. The score system assigns a more negative number to foods that contribute to anti-inflammatory benefits, whereas a more positive number assigned to food components indicating they possess more pro-inflammatory properties. A food or nutrient with a score of zero is considered “neutral,” meaning it has neither pro- nor anti-inflammatory relevance.  

Anti-inflammatory foods, food components and nutrients

Among the list of the most anti-inflammatory foods are the following:  

• Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, trout)
• Nuts
• Berries
• Ginger
• Leafy green vegetables
• Green tea
• Turmeric
• Tomatoes
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Dark chocolate
• Antioxidants
• Fiber

Pro-inflammatory foods, food components and nutrients

Among the list of the most pro-inflammatory foods are the following: 

• Processed meats
• Sugar sweetened beverages
• Refined grains
• Fried foods
• Foods high in saturated fat
• Trans fat
• High sodium foods
• Alcohol