Almost six in 10 Americans have pro-inflammatory diets, increasing the risk of health problems including heart disease and cancer. Certain spices and elements of a Mediterranean diet have anti-inflammatory properties.
https://news.osu.edu/study-highlights-pervasiveness-of-inflammation-in-american-diet/
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Almost 6 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 study also found that certain populations – including Black Americans, men and people with lower incomes – were more likely to eat a diet high in pro-inflammatory foods.
“Overall, 57% of U.S. adults have a pro-inflammatory diet and that number was higher for Black Americans, men, younger adults and people with lower education and income,” said lead author Rachel Meadows, visiting faculty in The Ohio State University’s College of Public Health.
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.
[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/sociodemographic-differences-in-the-dietary-inflammatory-index-from-national-health-and-nutrition-examination-survey-20052018-a-comparison-of-multiple-imputation-versus-complete-case-analysis/7BEEA51160D7657B267F4C12A9AF1584](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/sociodemographic-differences-in-the-dietary-inflammatory-index-from-national-health-and-nutrition-examination-survey-20052018-a-comparison-of-multiple-imputation-versus-complete-case-analysis/7BEEA51160D7657B267F4C12A9AF1584)
Many Americans eating like crap is not exactly new. It’s a reality everyone is aware of, but have major issues changing (for many different reasons).
If I understood it correctly, the factors they considered were:
Total energy, carbohydrate, protein, total fat, SFA, MUFA, PUFA, alcohol, fibre, cholesterol, niacin (vitamin B3), riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamin (vitamin B1), Fe, Mg, Zn, Se, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, folic acid, beta carotene, n-6, n-3 and caffeine.
They list a number of foods (e.g., garlic) but it’s unclear from the phrasing if this was included as part of the study. I believe that these were excluded, but as I’m unfamiliar with the domain, I’m not quite able to parse that.