Pro-inflammatory dietary pattern is associated with fractures in women: an eight-year longitudinal cohort study

Diet is an important source of inflammation. Previous research suggested that higher the dietary inflammatory index (DII) is significantly associated with serum inflammatory markers. This cohort study revealed that pro-inflammatory diet is associated with a higher incidence of fractures in women but not men.

Among seniors, inflammation is the chief risk factor for the various adverse outcomes. While diet is a potential cause of inflammation, insufficient information is present regarding the influence of inflammatory diet on fractures. Therefore, this study examined whether greater Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) scores are related to fractures present within a North American people cohort.

A total of 3648 participants with a follow-up of eight years and with the risk of knee osteoarthritis were selected for the analysis. Lock Brief 2000 Food Frequency Questionnaire with sex-specific quintiles sectioning measured the DII scores. Data on fractures was acquired from the self-described history of fractures at the hip, forearm and spine. Adjusting potential baseline confounders, and reported as hazard ratios, Cox’s regression analysis assessed the link between the incident fracture and baseline DII score.

Five hundred sixty participants developed fractures during the eight years of the follow-up. Females in the highest DII score quintile showed considerably greater risk for fractures as compared to the females in the lowest quintile. A rise in one standard deviation of DII scores substantially estimated fracture onset within the females. The connection between fractures and  DII score was not notable among men or in the sample as whole.

Pro-inflammatory diet is linked with a greater rate of fractures in females but not in males.