Recently, special attention has been paid to the relationship between diet and inflammation in the body. A factor that influences both diet and inflammation is physical activity. The aim of this study was to assess the inflammatory potential of the diets of young people engaging in regular physical activity. The participants were physical education students (n = 141 men and n = 151 women). The measurements included basic anthropometric parameters and a 4-day nutritional history from which the dietary inflammatory index (DII) was calculated. The average DII for female students was 2.09 ± 1.52, and that for male students was 0.21 ± 1.69. Consumption of all macro- and micronutrients was significantly higher among women and men with the lowest DII value (corresponding to an anti-inflammatory diet). The female and male students consuming anti-inflammatory diets were characterized by greater lean body mass (LBM), and, for the male students, a lower body fat content, compared to those whose diets were pro-inflammatory. Young and regularly physically active people are also exposed to the pro-inflammatory nature of their diets, whose long-term effects may lead to health problems.
Keywords: DII; nutrition; physical activity; young adults.