The internet is full of lists. Foods that cause inflammation. Foods that fight it. Eat this, avoid that. The lists are not always wrong — but they are rarely explained. And without the explanation, they are hard to use.
This post looks at what the research actually shows about the relationship between food and inflammation. Not individual superfoods or demonised ingredients, but the broader patterns that have been studied in clinical trials and big observational studies, and what the consistent findings mean for you.
Why this research is harder than it looks
Measuring inflammation means looking at biological markers in the blood — proteins like C-reactive protein (CRP) and signalling molecules called cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). You cannot feel these. They require lab tests, repeated measurements, and carefully designed studies to draw reliable conclusions from [1].
Dietary research has its own challenges. People eat patterns of food over lifetimes, not isolated ingredients in controlled doses. A clinical trial can put people on a specific diet for several weeks or months and measure changes in their inflammatory markers — that gives the most reliable evidence. Longer-term observational studies can track what people habitually eat and see how it lines up with health outcomes — but they are harder to control for other factors. Most of what we know comes from putting both types of evidence together [1].
The honest summary: consistent signals exist, especially around dietary patterns rather than individual foods. The signals are strongest for the Mediterranean dietary pattern, which we cover in Part 3. But the broader picture of what drives and dampens inflammation through diet is already useful.
What is consistently linked to higher inflammation
Across the research, several dietary patterns are consistently associated with higher levels of inflammatory markers in the blood.
Diets high in refined carbohydrates — white bread, white rice, sugary drinks, processed snacks — are linked to higher CRP and other markers. The mechanism is partly through blood sugar swings, which trigger inflammatory signalling, and partly through effects on gut bacteria, which are starved of the fibre they need to produce anti-inflammatory compounds [2].
Diets high in saturated and trans fats — found in processed meats, fried foods, and many commercially produced baked goods — are linked to raised inflammatory markers in multiple studies. Saturated fats appear to activate receptors on immune cells called toll-like receptors — the same system that normally detects bacterial threats — setting off an inflammatory response as if an infection were present [2].
Low fibre intake is one of the strongest and most consistent dietary predictors of higher inflammation. Fibre feeds gut bacteria that make short-chain fatty acids — particularly butyrate — which help maintain the gut lining and have direct anti-inflammatory effects on immune cells. Diets consistently low in fibre are linked to a less diverse gut microbiome, a more permeable gut lining, and higher systemic inflammation [3].
What is consistently linked to lower inflammation
The other side of the picture is equally consistent.
High vegetable and fruit intake is linked to lower inflammatory markers across a wide range of studies. The likely reasons include the fibre feeding beneficial gut bacteria, and the polyphenols — plant compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties — found in colourful plant foods. In a review of 75 dietary intervention studies measuring cytokine levels, fruit and vegetable consumption was linked to a reduction in inflammatory markers in 80% of studies that measured it [4].
Oily fish is linked to lower inflammatory markers in multiple types of study. The omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish — particularly EPA (Eicosapentaemoic Acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) — suppress the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and compete with pro-inflammatory pathways in immune cells. The evidence for fish and inflammation is among the most consistent in the dietary literature [4].
Legumes, nuts, whole grains, and olive oil appear repeatedly as linked to lower inflammation, both individually and as parts of broader dietary patterns. Their mechanisms overlap: fibre, polyphenols, healthy fats, and gut microbiome effects [3].
The pattern matters more than any single food
One of the clearest findings from this research is that no single food is meaningfully "anti-inflammatory" or "pro-inflammatory" on its own. What matters is the whole pattern of what you eat, consistently, over time, in combination. A generous portion of oily fish alongside a diet that is otherwise low in fibre and high in processed ingredients will not produce the same effect as oily fish eaten as part of a broadly varied, plant-rich diet [1].
This is important for you as a consumer. If you see claims about a single ingredient being "anti-inflammatory", treat them with caution. The science supports patterns, not magic bullets. And if you are managing a condition that involves inflammation — coeliac disease, Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, or food allergy itself — understanding that the overall pattern of your diet affects your inflammatory state is more useful than chasing individual foods.
What the research cannot tell you
The links between dietary patterns and inflammatory markers are solid. Whether reducing chronic inflammation through diet reliably translates into reduced rates of specific diseases is stronger for some conditions than others, and the effect sizes are modest compared with medications and other major lifestyle factors [1].
The "anti-inflammatory diet" does not have a single agreed definition, a specific prescription, or a guaranteed outcome. What the evidence supports is a consistent direction: diverse, plant-rich, fibre-rich, minimally processed dietary patterns are linked to lower inflammatory markers and lower long-term disease risk. The further a diet drifts from that — toward processed ingredients, low fibre, high refined sugar and saturated fat — the higher the inflammatory signal tends to be [3].
The next post looks at the Mediterranean diet specifically — the best-evidenced dietary pattern in this space.
Coming in Part 3: the Mediterranean diet — what the evidence says and what it means for you.
References
Koelman L, Egea Rodrigues C, Aleksandrova K. Effects of dietary patterns on biomarkers of inflammation and immune responses: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Adv Nutr. 2022;13(1):101–115. DOI: 10.1093/advances/nmab086
Scheiber A, Mank V. Anti-Inflammatory Diets. StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK597377/
Reyneke GL, Lambert K, Beck EJ. Dietary patterns associated with anti-inflammatory effects: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Nutr Rev. 2025;nuaf104. DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nuaf104
D'Antonio V, Ramal-Sanchez M, Bravo-Trippetta C, Corvaglia E, Serafini M, Angelino D. Unraveling the role of foods on chronic anti- and pro-inflammatory cytokines: a systematic review of chronic dietary intervention trials in humans. Nutrients. 2025;17(17):2834. DOI: 10.3390/nu17172834
