HYDERABAD, OCTOBER 06, 2026: A study by researchers from the ICMR–National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN), Hyderabad and collaborating institutions has found that adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) had less diverse diets, poorer micronutrient adequacy and diets with greater inflammatory potential compared with healthy adults.
The study, titled “Associations of Dietary Inflammatory Potential, Dietary Diversity, and Micronutrient Adequacy with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Case-Control Study from India,” has been published in the international peer-reviewed journal Nutrients. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues, particularly the joints.
While genetic and environmental factors are known to influence the disease, the role of overall dietary patterns in the Indian context remains relatively underexplored. This study included 615 adults aged 18– 55 years from Hyderabad, comprising 301 newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis cases and 314 healthy controls. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated 131-item food frequency questionnaire. Researchers evaluated three aspects of dietary quality – dietary inflammatory potential, using the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII); dietary diversity, using the Dietary Diversity Score (DDS); and micronutrient adequacy, using the Mean Probability of Adequacy (MPA). The findings showed clear differences in dietary quality between the two groups.
Participants with rheumatoid arthritis had a higher median dietary inflammatory index score (2.18 versus 0.37), indicating a greater inflammatory potential of their diets. Only 50.2% of those with rheumatoid arthritis had a high dietary diversity score compared with 74.2% of healthy controls. Overall micronutrient adequacy was also substantially lower among cases, with a median MPA of 18.9% compared with 32.9% among controls. After adjustment for age, sex and body mass index, the researchers found that each one-unit increase in the Dietary Inflammatory Index was associated with 17% higher odds of rheumatoid arthritis. Every one-unit increase in Dietary Diversity Score was associated with 27% lower odds of rheumatoid arthritis. And every 10-percentage-point increase in Mean Probability of Micronutrient Adequacy was associated with 12% lower odds of rheumatoid arthritis. “The findings point towards the importance of looking at overall dietary quality rather than individual nutrients in understanding chronic inflammatory conditions. Dietary diversity and adequate intake of essential micronutrients are important components of a healthy diet, and their potential relationship with inflammatory diseases warrants further investigation,” said Dr Devraj J. Parasannanavar, Scientist-E, ICMR-NIN, who supervised the study.
“This study adds to the emerging evidence on the relationship between diet and chronic inflammatory conditions in the Indian population. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. A diverse and nutritionally adequate diet is already an important component of healthy eating, but whether improving diet can prevent or modify rheumatoid arthritis needs to be established through prospective and intervention studies,” said Dr Bharati Kulkarni, Director, ICMR-NIN. The researchers emphasized that the study was based on a case-control design and therefore establishes an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship.
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