Does an inflammatory diet raise stroke risk?
Higher dietary inflammatory index scores associated with greater stroke odds in NHANES adults.
Source
Association between dietary inflammatory index and Stroke in the US population: evidence from NHANES 1999-2018
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — NHANES 1999–2018; DII from 24-hour recalls vs self-reported stroke
- N
- N=44019 · US NHANES participants after exclusions
- Population
- US adults in NHANES 1999–2018 with dietary recall and stroke data
- Outcome
- Odds of self-reported stroke by dietary inflammatory index quartile
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
What they did
Cross-sectional analysis of 44,019 US NHANES participants (1999–2018) linking dietary inflammatory index (DII) from 24-hour recalls to self-reported stroke, with weighted logistic and spline models.
What they found
Stroke prevalence was 3.38%. Higher DII quartiles had rising stroke odds (Q4 OR 1.87 vs Q1). Association was nonlinear; LASSO-selected dietary factors yielded a nomogram with AUC 79.8%.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Cross-sectional design cannot establish causation; stroke and diet were measured at one time point and DII depends on recall accuracy.
Key terms
- Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII)
- Score summarizing pro- vs anti-inflammatory potential of habitual diet.
- NHANES
- US nationally representative health and nutrition survey.
- Restricted cubic spline
- Flexible curve to test nonlinear exposure–outcome relationships.
- LASSO regression
- Penalized selection of key dietary predictors for nomogram.
- Weighted analysis
- Accounts for complex NHANES survey design and sampling weights.
- Odds ratio
- Compares odds of stroke across DII levels.
Flashcards
Research intelligence for this paper
See its role on concept claims, tensions it is part of, placement history, and related discoveries.
Quiz yourself
Study design?
Common questions
What was stroke prevalence?
3.38% among analyzed participants.
Was the DII–stroke link linear?
No—restricted cubic splines showed a nonlinear positive association.
Highest quartile OR vs lowest?
OR 1.87 (95% CI 1.53–2.29) in adjusted analysis.
How was DII measured?
From 24-hour dietary recalls using established DII scoring across multiple food parameters.
More on Cardiovascular