Pro-inflammatory diet tied to testosterone deficiency in men, Study says

According to previous literature, testosterone deficiency has been linked to decreased lean body mass, reduced bone mineral density and other chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, literature about the relationship among the inflammatory potential of diet, T level and TD is scarce.

Hence, Chichen Zhang and colleagues from the Department of Urology, Institute of Urology and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China carried out the present study to investigate the association between Dietary Inflammatory Index and sex hormones in a large, nationally representative adult male sample.

The authors included a total of 4,151 participants with males aged ≥20 years, all of whom provided a 24-hour dietary intake history and underwent serum sex hormone testing. Weighted proportions and multivariable analysis controlling for age, race, energy, smoking status, education level, body mass index and time of venipuncture were used to evaluate the associations between Dietary Inflammatory Index and sex hormones.

The study results were-

5. Dietary Inflammatory Index ranged from −5.05 to 5.48.
6. Mean±SD total testosterone was 419.30±176.27 ng/dl.
7. Mean±SD total testosterone was lower among men in the highest tertile compared with men in the lowest tertile group (410.42±171.97 vs 422.71±175.69, p <0.001).
8. A per unit increase in Dietary Inflammatory Index was related to 4.0% (95% CI 0.5–7.6) higher odds of testosterone deficiency.
9. In the fully adjusted multivariable model, males in Dietary Inflammatory Index tertile 3 (the most pro-inflammatory) had 29.6% (3.1–63.0) higher odds of testosterone deficiency than those in tertile 1 (p trend=0.025).
10. Interaction tests revealed no significant effect of body mass index on the association of Dietary Inflammatory Index with testosterone deficiency and all sex hormone parameters.

Therefore, the authors concluded that "men adhering to a more pro-inflammatory diet have a higher risk of TD, indicating the important role of inflammatory diet in male reproductive health."

Furthermore, large, well designed prospective research studies are warranted in the future to verify the causal relationship between DII and TD, they added.