BACKGROUND: Inflammation may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cancer. Many studies have reported the relation of specific foods and nutrients to inflammation, but few studies have examined the relation of dietary patterns to inflammatory markers. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the relation between dietary patterns and circulating high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in Japanese men and women. DESIGN: The subjects were participants in the baseline survey of an ongoing cohort study of lifestyle-related diseases between February 2004 and July 2006. We excluded persons with life-limiting or possible inflammation-related diseases and those using analgesics. After further exclusion of subjects with a CRP concentration > 3 mg/L, 7802 subjects remained in the analysis. The dietary patterns were derived from principal component analysis of the frequency of consumption of 49 food items ascertained by the food-frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: We identified 4 dietary patterns: healthy, high-fat, seafood, and Westernized breakfast patterns. The healthy dietary pattern, characterized by high intakes of vegetables, fruit, soy products, and fish, was significantly and inversely related to hs-CRP concentrations, even after adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity in both men and women. Although hs-CRP concentrations were slightly elevated in persons with a high score for the seafood pattern, multivariate-adjusted means did not show a significant trend. Neither the high-fat dietary pattern nor the Westernized breakfast pattern was related to hs-CRP concentrations. CONCLUSION: The healthy dietary pattern may be related to suppression of inflammation.
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