5. Conclusions
inflammation, cognitive and cardiovascular health
CVD, INFLAMMATION
Our results provide further evidence regarding the relationship between the dietary inflammatory index of a MedDiet and cardiometabolic outcomes. We demonstrated that high adherence to a MedDiet intervention over 6 months significantly lowered mean DII compared to a HabDiet in older Australians. The reduction of the inflammatory load of the diet in this trial suggests a mechanism by which a MedDiet pattern could improve cognitive and cardiovascular health. This suggests that increasing compliance with this diet could be reductive or preventative in the elderly for these and other chronic health conditions, which may be useful for clinical practice. The baseline analyses provide additional affirmation of the relationship between DII and some CVD risk factors. However, results across studies are inconsistent, making consensus challenging. Future studies in larger well-powered samples, with longer intervention periods and more diverse inflammatory biomarkers, are needed to ascertain whether a decrease in DII mediated by a MedDiet intervention is effective in reducing inflammation and CVD risk factors.