The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) is a numerical score that assesses a diet for its effect on several biomarkers linked to inflammation.
Negative scores are more anti-inflammatory and more positive scores are pro-inflammatory.
The DII has been linked to many chronic diseases, including arthritis, many types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, and diabetes.
The DII is correlated with several inflammatory markers, including interleukin 1 beta, interleukin 4, interleukin 6, interleukin 10, tumor necrosis factor TNFα-R2, C-reactive protein, and homocysteine, both individually and as a combined inflammatory biomarker score.
The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) is a validated scoring system that quantifies the inflammatory potential of an individual’s diet based on how foods and nutrients influence key inflammatory biomarkers.
DII gives each food or nutrient a score derived from scientific studies on their effects on inflammation-related biomarkers like C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukins (IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α).
DII scores theoretically range from around -8.87 from the most anti-inflammatory to +7.98 the most pro-inflammatory.
Negative scores indicate more anti-inflammatory diets, while positive scores reflect more pro-inflammatory diets.
Foods associated with diets high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, tea, and coffee are typically more anti-inflammatory, while diets high in red meat, processed foods, refined grains, full-fat dairy, and sugar-sweetened beverages are more pro-inflammatory.
Higher, more pro-inflammatory, DII scores have been associated with increased risks of several chronic diseases, including arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases, and certain cancers.
Calculating a DII score involves comparing an individual’s intake of 37 food components to world reference values, standardizing these, weighting by inflammatory potential, and summing total scores.
There are energy-adjusted (E-DII) and children’s (C-DII) versions for specific populations.