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Anti-inflammatory Diets and Health

Posted: 2023-01-30
Anti-inflammatory Diets and Health

What is an anti-inflammatory diet?

An anti-inflammatory diet is not well defined. A diet rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, legumes, unsaturated fats, spices and herbs; a moderate intake of animal products; and a low intake of simple carbohydrates, processed foods, saturated fats and alcohol has been associated with an anti-inflammatory state in the body (1). The Mediterranean diet, DASH diet and vegetarian dietary patterns have been described as examples of anti-inflammatory diets.  

The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) was developed as one way to describe the inflammatory potential of a diet (2). The DII has been used to examine associations of an inflammatory diet and multiple health outcomes (3). The DII (2):
  • Uses a point system to score an individual’s dietary pattern on a scale from low (anti-inflammatory) to high (pro-inflammatory).
    • There are 45 dietary components (e.g. vitamin A, iron, cholesterol, flavonols, turmeric, garlic) that are rated by their effect on serum inflammatory markers (IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and C-reactive protein). Components are given a score of +1 if they raise inflammatory biomarkers, -1 if they lower inflammatory biomarkers, and zero if there is no effect on inflammatory biomarkers.
  • An individual’s overall dietary score is totalled, with a negative score indicating a more anti-inflammatory diet and a positive score indicating a more pro-inflammatory diet (2).

What’s happening in practice?

Dietitians are receiving client questions about anti-inflammatory diets (4) that have made headlines in recent months (5,6) and years (7). Questions focus on including anti-inflammatory foods in everyday dietary patterns to promote overall health and protect against chronic diseases.  

How is the PEN Team responding?

The PEN Team is reviewing health conditions where an anti-inflammatory diet may have the potential to affect an individual’s health. While the PEN System does not have a specific knowledge pathway dedicated to anti-inflammatory diets, the DII and ‘anti-inflammatory diets’ are addressed in some of PEN’s current content including:

Watch for soon to be posted content: What dietary patterns are effective at reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adults?

References

  1. Mukherjee MS, Han CY, Sukumaran S, Delaney CL, Miller MD. Effect of anti-inflammatory diets on inflammation markers in adult human populations: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Nutr Rev. 2022 Dec 6;81(1):55-74. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuac045. PMID: 35831971. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35831971/
  2. Shivappa N, Steck SE, Hurley TG, Hussey JR, Hébert  jr. Designing and developing a literature-derived, population-based dietary inflammatory index. Public Health Nutr. 2014:17(8):1689-96. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23941862/
  3. Liu FH, Liu C, Gong TT, Gao S, Sun H, Jiang YT, Zhang JY, Zhang M, Gao C, Li XY, Zhao YH, Wu QJ. Dietary Inflammatory Index and Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of Observational Studies. Front Nutr. 2021 May 19;8:647122. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.647122. PMID: 34095187; PMCID: PMC8169973. Abstract available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34095187/
  4. Lentz B. The basics of anti-inflammatory eating. Health Stand Nutrition Consulting Inc. 2022 Feb 28. Available from: https://www.healthstandnutrition.com/basics-of-anti-inflammatory-eating/
  5. De Boer T. High inflammatory diet found to increase likelihood of depression, new study finds. CTV News. 2023 Jan 24. Available from: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/high-inflammatory-diet-found-to-increase-likelihood-of-depression-new-study-finds-1.6242962
  6. Fletcher J. Anti-inflammatory diet: what to know. Medical News Today. 2022 Dec 23. Available from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320233
  7. McLaughlin R. Trying an anti-inflammatory diet. Vancouver News. 2021 Apr 9. Available from: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/trying-an-anti-inflammatory-diet-1.5376651
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