Association Between the Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern and Incident Hypertension in the Korean Middle-Aged Adults

Background and Objectives: The Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern (EDIP) is a dietary index that quantifies the inflammatory potential of a diet by associating food group consumption with circulating inflammatory biomarker levels.This study aimed to examine the prospective association between the EDIP and incidence of hypertension (HTN) in the Korean adult population.Methods: EDIP scores were computed by summing the weighted intake values of 18 predefined food groups, with higher scores indicating a more pro-inflammatory diet.The analysis included 6,051 participants (2,779 men and 3,272 women) from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study.Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident HTN across quartiles of EDIP scores. Results:The mean EDIP score was 0.034±0.021,with a range from -0.212 to 0.131.Over a mean follow-up of 10.1 years, 2,370 participants developed HTN.Individuals in the highest quartile of EDIP scores had a 19% higher risk of developing HTN (HR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.05-1.34;p-trend=0.004)compared to those in the lowest quartile.The association was more pronounced among women and individuals with obesity.Conclusions: These findings suggest that a higher dietary inflammatory potential, as indicated by elevated EDIP scores, is associated with an increased risk of HTN in the Korean adult population.Dietary interventions that reduce inflammation may represent a promising strategy for managing HTN.