4. Discussion
obesity
OBESITY, EVENTS, ADIPOSITY, CVD
In this randomised dietary intervention trial, we demonstrated that high adherence to a MedDiet over 6 months led to improved DII/E-DII scores and anti-inflammatory activity compared to the HabDiet group in an older Australian cohort. However, no associations between DII/E-DII and cardiometabolic risk factors were found, except for a subset of participants with elevated SBP at baseline. A baseline cross-sectional analysis revealed significant differences between the highest (most inflammatory) and lowest (least inflammatory) E-DII tertiles. Those in the highest tertile of DII had higher average BMI, body weight, WHR, abdominal adiposity, and SBP, and lower HDL-C. No significant associations between hsCRP, FPrevious studies have demonstrated the association between MedDiet adherence and DII. A 2018 Australian cohort study including over 40,000 participants reported an inverse relationship between MedDiet adherence and DII scores [Our analyses reveal an association between dietary inflammatory potential and various parameters of obesity including BMI, abdominal adiposity, waist circumference, and WHR. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in the area failed to reach consensus on the topic. In line with our results, in the previously mentioned PREDIMED study, participants in the highest DII quintile had higher average WC and WHR compared to those in the lowest quintile. In female participants, this relationship was also reported with BMI [At present, the literature supports a significant association between a pro-inflammatory diet, with a higher DII/E-DII, and CVD risk factors, events, and mortality [During our initial investigations looking at between-group differences, we identified a small sub-group of participants allocated to the HabDiet group with initial elevated BP at baseline (Our study has several strengths. First, to our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the effect of a DII lowering dietary intervention on cardiometabolic outcomes in healthy older adults. Second, the use of 3-day weighed food records allows for a more accurate representation of participant diet. The more detailed records allow for the use of 40 of the 45 food parameters used to calculate DII, whereas some previous studies used 20–35 parameters [Despite its strengths, this study also has limitations. This was not the primary aim of the MedLey study, and with the sample size (