Summary:
In older adults with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome, an anti-inflammatory dietary pattern (as reflected by lower energy-adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index [E-DII] scores) significantly increased gut microbiota alpha diversity and was associated with favorable microbial genera, faecal metabolites, and metabolomic networks compared to pro-inflammatory dietary patterns (higher E-DII scores), though it was associated with no significant adverse effects reported.
| PICO | Description |
|---|---|
| Population | Older adults (mean age 65 ± 5 years, 47% women) with overweight or obesity and metabolic syndrome participating in the PREDIMED-Plus randomized clinical trial. |
| Intervention | Longitudinal adherence to an anti-inflammatory diet, indicated by a lower energy-adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DII) assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. |
| Comparison | Participants with higher (more pro-inflammatory) E-DII scores over the same period. |
| Outcome | Anti-inflammatory dietary potential significantly improved gut microbiota alpha diversity (higher Chao1, Inverse Simpson, and Shannon indices; all P < 0.05), altered beta diversity profiles (PERMANOVA P = 0.047 at baseline; P = 0.003 at 1-year), and correlated with 24 microbial genera, 4 faecal metabolites, and 1 metabolomic network (all FDR < 0.05). These findings persisted with longitudinal changes in diet quality. |
Source: Héctor Vázquez-Lorente, et al. “Inflammatory dietary potential and gut microbiota in older adults with overweight or obesity and metabolic syndrome.” Food Research International, Dec 2025. Read article here.
