Inflammatory Diet Linked to Increased Risk for Crohn Disease

The relationship between diet, inflammation, and the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is intriguing but unclear. Using data from food frequency questionnaires administered in three large, ongoing prospective cohort studies, researchers categorized 18 food groups based on inflammatory properties, calculated an empirical dietary inflammatory pattern score for individuals, and tested its association with IBD risk.

Data were from nearly 167,000 women and 42,000 men, contributing nearly 5 million person-years of observation. Participants with cumulative average dietary inflammatory scores in the highest quartile had significantly higher risk for Crohn disease compared with the lowest quartile (hazard ratio 1.5). Among those with a …