Assessing the (anti)-inflammatory potential of diets.

Bahr, Lina Samira; Franz, Kristina; Mähler, Anja

PURPOSE OF REVIEW It is accepted that several chronic diseases are associated with inflammation. Dietary habits and the consumption of certain nutrients have been shown to influence inflammation. In this narrative review, we discuss currently developed tools to assess the inflammatory potential of diets and compare them with established tools. RECENT FINDINGS Four new indices were recently developed. The Inflammatory Score of the Diet is a modified version of the established Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII). The novel Empirical DII works without previous dietary intake assessment and the Anti-Inflammatory Diet Index was specifically developed in a northern European population. The Dietary and Lifestyle Inflammation Score addresses additional confounders. The informative value of dietary indices relies on the accuracy and completeness of dietary intake assessment. SUMMARY Dietary inflammatory indices are important tools to assess, compare and validate the inflammatory potential of diets across populations without the need for biomarker assessments. They allow to investigate associations between an (anti)-inflammatory diet with disease risk and course. Although the DII remains the most used index worldwide, currently developed indices allow more flexibility, have a different focus or simplify assessment. Additional foods, that were recently shown to modulate inflammation, but are not (fully) considered yet, may deserve more attention in the future.