Abstract: Inflammation is an underlying pathophysiological process in chronic diseases, such as
obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. In fact, a number of systematic reviews
have shown the association between inflammatory biomarkers, such as CRP, IL-1 , IL-6, TNF- ,
IL-4, or IL-10, and cardio-metabolic diseases. Diet is one of the main lifestyle-related factors which
modulates the inflammatory process. Different individual foods and dietary patterns can have
a beneficial health effect associated with their anti-inflammatory properties. The dietary inflammatory
index (DII) was recently developed to estimate the inflammatory potential of overall diet. The aim of
this review is to examine the findings of recent papers that have investigated the association between
the DII, cardio-metabolic risk factors and cardiovascular disease. The relevance of the DII score in the
association between inflammation and cardio-metabolic diseases is critically appraised, as well as its
role in the context of healthy dietary patterns. We conclude that the DII score seems to be a useful tool
to appraise the inflammatory capacity of the diet and to better understand the relationships between
diet, inflammation, and cardio-metabolic diseases