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Dietary Inflammatory Index: The Inflammatory Potential of Diet and Human Health

A Special Issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643) belonging to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2026 | Viewed by 2314

Editors

Prof. Dr. Katarzyna Starska-Kowarska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Clinical Immunology, Department of Clinical Physiology, Medical University of Lodz, Żeligowskiego 7/9, 90-752 Lodz, Poland
Interests: cancer; head and neck cancers; oral cancer; cancer pathophysiology; pathological processes; human health; cancer stem cells; tumor microenvironment; anti- and proinflammatory signaling pathways; cancer diagnosis; cancer treatment; translational research; personalized medicine; markers of oxidative stress; non-invasive markers of inflammation and human malignancy; dietary interventions in human cancers; diet related inflammation; anti- and proinflammatory diet
Prof. Dr. Boleslaw Karwowski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Nucleic Acids Damage Laboratory of Food Science Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Muszyńskiego 1, 90-151 Lodz, Poland
Interests: DNA damage/repair; bioinformatics; theoretical chemistry and physics; structural biology; dendrimers; drug delivery systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Numerous studies indicate that the inflammatory potential of diet plays a significant role in maintaining human health. This is reflected in the dietary inflammatory index (DII), used to assess a healthy diet. The original DII consists of a list of 45 food components believed to have significant inflammatory potential. Each component has been assigned a score according to the following criteria: whether it significantly increases (+1), decreases (−1), or has an insignificant (0) effect on pro-inflammatory markers, viz. interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP), and whether it significantly decreases (+1), increases (−1), or has an insignificant (0) effect on anti-inflammatory markers, viz. interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). Thus, DII offers a new perspective in the study of the relationship between diet-related inflammation and disease and on the development of several types of human cancer, such as breast, colon, and gastric cancer. It also can be used to determine the health-promoting or harmful effects of a diet. In addition, the DII scores of specific dietary components have been associated with the development of a variety of cardiovascular, neurological, and autoimmune diseases. For example, dietary carbohydrates and total fat have been shown to contribute to weight gain or increased BMI, which could exacerbate inflammation. Anti-inflammatory components, indicated by a low DII score, alleviate inflammation by reducing oxidative stress or by reducing the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. These cytokines are known to cause leukocyte infiltration, macrophage accumulation, and transcription factor activation, resulting in abnormal gene expression, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and resistance to apoptosis. In summary, a more pro-inflammatory diet, characterized by a higher DII score, is believed to be associated with an increased risk of disease, and exchanging pro-inflammatory food components for anti-inflammatory ones would improve prevention and control. As such, the inflammatory potential of diet and index-based dietary patterns represents an increasingly important topic for clinical, epidemiological, and experimental studies.  

This Special Issue aims to highlight the inflammatory potential of diet and the role of the dietary inflammatory index in determining the risk of various types of disease. These include some of the most widespread conditions in modern society, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and nervous system and autoimmunological disorders. This edition also intends to shed light on a targeted anti-inflammatory diet as therapy for improving overall human health. We therefore welcome the submission of original articles, reviews, and meta-analyses on the above topics, as well as other aspects of an anti- or pro-inflammatory diet in the human body.

Prof. Dr. Katarzyna Starska-Kowarska
Prof. Dr. Boleslaw Karwowski
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dietary inflammatory index
  • inflammatory diet
  • diet-related inflammation
  • oxidative stress
  • immune system
  • anti- and proinflammatory signaling pathways
  • antioxidant activity
  • food processing
  • cellular functions
  • disease prevention
  • human health

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

31 pages, 3204 KB  
Review
Dietary Inflammatory Index, Physical Activity, and Inflammation-Related Health Outcomes: A Narrative Review and Inflammatory Resilience Framework
by Jing Yang, Jingmei Dong, Hua Yang, Chieh-Chen Wu and Chun-Hsien Su
Nutrients 2026, 18(16), 2590; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18162590 - 7 Aug 2026
Viewed by 641
Abstract
How physical activity may modify the health consequences of a pro-inflammatory diet remains an important but unresolved question. This hypothesis-generating narrative review examines this question by integrating evidence on dietary inflammatory potential, physical activity, physiological capacity, and inflammation-related health outcomes, and by proposing [...] Read more.
How physical activity may modify the health consequences of a pro-inflammatory diet remains an important but unresolved question. This hypothesis-generating narrative review examines this question by integrating evidence on dietary inflammatory potential, physical activity, physiological capacity, and inflammation-related health outcomes, and by proposing an Inflammatory Resilience Framework to guide future research. Current evidence strongly supports systemic inflammation, adiposity, insulin resistance, and vascular dysfunction as relevant pathways linking dietary inflammatory exposure to disease vulnerability, while redox- and gut-related mechanisms remain more indirect. Physical activity and higher physiological capacity may influence several of these pathways through metabolic, vascular, muscular, and inflammatory regulation. Preliminary human joint-association evidence suggests that physical activity may partially attenuate selected consequences of pro-inflammatory dietary exposure, but it does not establish a consistent modifying effect or full compensation. The proposed framework positions physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, skeletal muscle function, adiposity, metabolic flexibility, vascular function, and baseline health status as factors that may modify the association between dietary inflammatory exposure and disease vulnerability. Rather than asking whether exercise cancels dietary risk, the framework provides a testable structure for future studies integrating objective physical activity, fitness, physiological reserve, inflammatory and metabolic markers, and longitudinal interaction analyses to determine when, how, and in whom physical activity modifies diet-related inflammatory risk. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Inflammatory Index: The Inflammatory Potential of Diet and Human Health)
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63 pages, 3034 KB  
Review
Association Between the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and Head and Neck Cancer Incidence—A Narrative Review
by Starska-Kowarska Katarzyna
Nutrients 2026, 18(15), 2421; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18152421 - 24 Jul 2026
Viewed by 763
Abstract
Head and neck cancer (HNC) comprises a heterogeneous group of tumours, most often of squamous cell origin, characterized by both high morbidity and mortality rates. It is the seventh most common form of cancer diagnosed in humans, accounting for approximately 4.7% of all [...] Read more.
Head and neck cancer (HNC) comprises a heterogeneous group of tumours, most often of squamous cell origin, characterized by both high morbidity and mortality rates. It is the seventh most common form of cancer diagnosed in humans, accounting for approximately 4.7% of all cancers. Among HNCs, neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is predicted to become the most common form of human cancer. Some sources include oesophagus (ESCC) in this group due to their similar histology, being described as upper aerodigestive tract cancers (UADT). Unfortunately, 60–70% of cases are diagnosed late, i.e., at clinical stages III-IV. As a result, despite modern surgical techniques and oncological treatments, the survival rate remains below 40–60% due to frequent lymph node metastases and local tumour recurrence. There is a growing concern that diet and inflammatory dietary components may influence the initiation and development of HNSCC. The inflammatory potential of diets can be quantified by the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII). The DII was derived from an analysis of 45 dietary constituents that either increase or decrease inflammation. Several recent clinical studies have noted a significant relationship between DII score and many inflammation-associated chronic diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders, and diabetes, and the incidence of various human cancers, i.e., prostate, ovarian, breast, colorectal cancer, and HNC. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between DII and HNSCC, with most being limited to observational, case-control, and cross-sectional studies. Therefore, the aim of this narrative review is to present the substantial oncological aspects of DII, discuss the use of DII and its modification, the Energy-Adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DII), as indicators of HNSCC risk. It also introduces key diet-induced pro- and anti-inflammatory mechanisms and the cellular molecular signalling pathways determining the carcinogenesis of HNSCC. It provides a comprehensive overview of the current literature, including key opinion-forming systematic reviews, as well as molecular, observational, cross-sectional and case-control studies, all of which are accessible via scholarly databases such as PubMed/EMBASE/Web of Science. Thus, the work serves as a compendium of up-to-date knowledge on the relationship between DII/ED-II score and HNSCC etiopathogenesis and the influence of a diet-induced persistent inflammatory microenvironment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Inflammatory Index: The Inflammatory Potential of Diet and Human Health)
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