Association between Dietary Intake of Phytochemicals and hs-CRP in Healthy Women from Tehran: a Holistic Approach Using Dietary Phytochemical Index

Background and Objectives: Although the anti-inflammatory effects of phytochemicals have been supported by several in vitro studies, their biological actions from regular diets are mixed. This study aimed to use dietary phytochemical index (DPI), as a food-based framework to assess dietary phytochemical intake and to understand its association with hs-CRP in a sample of Iranian women. Evaluation of the relationship between hs-CRP and several anthropometric indexes were also assessed. Materials and Methods: A total of 170 visibly healthy premenopausal women with the mean age of 35.2 were selected from health centers of Tehran via multistage cluster random sampling. The usual dietary intakes were assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and dietary phytochemical intake was determined. General linear model was used to compare hs-CRP levels between tertile of DPI. Spearman correlation was used to assess the relationship between hs-CRP and the obesity indexes. Results: The mean of DPI was 28.54. Significant spearman correlation coefficients were found between hs-CRP and WC (0.43), BMI (0.35), Waist to hip ratio (0.30), visceral adiposity index (0.28) (spearman’s coefficient of correlation). No difference was found for hs-CRP concentration among different tertiles of dietary DPI, after adjustment for confounding factors including BMI, WC, and physical activity (P for trend= 0.964). Conclusions: The result of the present study showed that hs-CRP is associated with several central obesity indexes but no association was found between hs-CRP and dietary phytochemical index. Further studies using other biomarkers of inflammation and dietary assessment methods are needed to clarify the health effects of flavonoids in humans.