Association between Inflammatory Potential of Diet and Bone-Mineral Density in Korean Postmenopausal Women: Data from Fourth and Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys

Post menopause is considered a critical period for bone-mass loss. Impaired bone metabolism during this phase can increase the risk of fractures in old age. Inflammation is a risk factor for bone health, and diet is a potential source of inflammation. However, few studies have examined the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII(®)) and bone-mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women in Korea. The objective of this study was to determine, by means of a Korean cross-sectional investigation, whether higher DII scores are associated with decreased BMD in postmenopausal women. To that end, the raw data from the fourth and fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES, 2009–2011) for 2778 postmenopausal women aged over 50 years were analyzed. The subjects’ BMD were measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and their DII(®) scores were calculated from a single 24-h dietary recall. Further, the participants were classified into three groups according to DII(®) score. Women with more pro-inflammatory diets (i.e., those in the highest tertile of DII(®)) had significantly lower BMD in the femoral neck as compared with women in the lowest tertile (p for trend <0.05) after adjustment for age, body-mass index (BMI), household income, education status, smoking habits, physical activity, total calcium intake, female-hormone use, age at menopause, and blood vitamin D levels. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that the odds ratio (OR) of total femur osteopenia/osteoporosis was higher in women in the highest tertile of DII(®) than in those in the lowest (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.00-1.62, p for trend < 0.05). This study established that more pro-inflammatory diets might be associated with lower BMD in postmenopausal Korean women.