Does a High-inflammatory Diet Increase the Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease? Results From the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) Study: A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

The empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP) was developed using data from the Nurses’ Health Study. 1 Tabung F.K. et al. J Nutr. 2016; 146: 1560-1570 Crossref PubMed Scopus (151) Google Scholar It is the weighted sum of 18 food groups, of which 9 are proinflammatory and 9 are anti-inflammatory, with higher scores suggesting proinflammatory diets and lower scores suggesting anti-inflammatory diets. The EDIP score has previously been validated in several populations and is correlated with systemic inflammatory markers. 1 Tabung F.K. et al. J Nutr. 2016; 146: 1560-1570 Crossref PubMed Scopus (151) Google Scholar , 2 Tabung F.K. et al. J Nutr. 2017; 147: 1567-1577 Crossref PubMed Scopus (61) Google Scholar , 3 Tabung F.K. et al. J Nutr. 2018; 148: 771-780 Crossref PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar A recent study by Lo et al 4 Lo C.H. et al. Gastroenterology. 2020; 159: 873-883 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar concluded that people with higher EDIPs had a higher risk of developing Crohn’s disease (CD). Specifically, those in the highest quartile of EDIP scores had a 51% higher risk of CD compared with those in the lowest quartile. However, no association was seen between EDIP scores and risk of ulcerative colitis (UC). It is important to independently validate dietary predictors of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and so we evaluated whether higher EDIP scores were associated with a higher risk of developing IBD, using the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) cohort. 5 Dehghan M. et al. Lancet. 2018; 392: 2288-2297 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (194) Google Scholar , 6 Miller V. et al. Lancet. 2017; 390: 2037-2049 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (289) Google Scholar , 7 Teo K. et al. JAMA. 2013; 309: 1613-1621 Crossref PubMed Scopus (224) Google Scholar