Association between dietary inflammatory potential and the probable sarcopenia among community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Unlike the numerous studies concerning the role of dietary inflammatory potential in chronic diseases, limited studies focused on the association of dietary inflammatory potential with handgrip strength (HGS) and probable sarcopenia (PS). This study tends to explore the association between dietary inflammatory potential and PS among older adults in Tehran. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted between May and October 2019 on 201 randomly selected older adults in Tehran, Iran. A validated food frequency questionnaire was utilized for recording dietary intake. Dietary habits were evaluated through Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index (EDII). PS assessment was done by HGS estimation. Statistical evaluation included descriptive analyses, logistic, and linear regression. RESULTS: Those probably suffering from sarcopenia were older than healthy ones (p < 0.0001) and had significantly higher DII scores (p = 0.05) but not EDII (p = 0.85). Besides, PS subjects had a lower intake of anti-inflammatory nutrients. The odds of PS were doubled in people on the top tertile of DII (OR = 2.49, 95% (CI) = 1.11–5.58) and second tertile of EDII (OR = 2.29, 95% (CI) = 1.03–5.07) relative to bottom tertiles after adjusting for confounders. The relationships between index scores and HGS were simply significant in the adjusted model of EDII and HGS (B = -0.49, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Conclusively, participants adhering to a pro-inflammatory diet had more likelihood of PS. Findings are in line with current recommendations to reduce unhealthy foods with more inflammatory potential. These findings warrant confirmation in high-quality interventional studies.