Exploring the link between dietary inflammatory index, inflammatory biomarkers, and sleep quality in adults with obesity: a pilot investigation

Abstract

Obesity is known to be associated with inflammation and impaired sleep quality. In addition, the anti-inflammatory properties of the daily diet provide positive effects on health. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the inflammatory index of the diet consumed by people with obesity and inflammatory biomarkers and sleep quality. This study included 124 people with obesity (F: 75; M: 49) with a mean age of 42.20 ± 11.00 years, who presented to a dietary outpatient clinic in Malatya between November 2021 and May 2022. Three-day dietary intake records were collected to calculate Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) scores, which were then compared with inflammatory biomarkers, anthropometric measurements, and sleep quality measures. Among the biochemical parameters, C-reactive protein (CRP) was found to be significantly higher in the groups with higher DII score (p = 0.006), and CRP (r = 0.258; p = 0.004) and total cholesterol (r = −0.243; p = 0.007) increased significantly with increasing inflammatory score of the diet. As the inflammatory burden of the diet consumed by the participants increased, their Body Mass Index (BMI) also increased (p = 0.009). No significant correlation was found between DII and sleep quality (p = 0.348). These findings suggest that an anti-inflammatory diet can effectively reduce inflammation and BMI in people with obesity, but has a limited effect on sleep quality. Therefore, it is recommended that dietitians integrate anti-inflammatory dietary strategies for people with obesity into their clinical practice.