BACKGROUND: The associations between an anti-inflammatory diet and both all-cause and cause-specific mortality have been studied previously; however, the influence of an anti-inflammatory diet on survival time has not been investigated. Moreover, the potential modification of these associations by smoking status remains unclear.
OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to examine the associations between an anti-inflammatory diet index (AIDI) and all-cause and cause-specific mortality, to determine the association between the AIDI and differences in survival time and to assess effect modification by smoking status.
METHODS: The study population included 68 273 Swedish men and women (aged 45-83 years) at baseline. The anti-inflammatory potential of the diet was estimated using the validated AIDI, which includes 11 potential anti-inflammatory and five potential pro-inflammatory foods. Cox proportional hazards and Laplace regression were used to estimate hazard ratios and differences in survival time.
RESULTS: During 16 years of follow-up (1 057 959 person-years), 16 088 deaths [5980 due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 5252 due to cancer] were recorded. Participants in the highest versus lowest quartile of the AIDI had lower risks of all-cause (18% reduction, 95% CI: 14-22%), CVD (20%, 95% CI: 14-26%) and cancer (13%, 95% CI: 5-20%) mortality. The strongest inverse associations between the highest and lowest quartiles of AIDI and risk of mortality were observed in current smokers: 31%, 36% and 22% lower risks of all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality, respectively. The difference in survival time between current smokers in the lowest AIDI quartile and never smokers in the highest quartile was 4.6 years.
CONCLUSION: Adherence to a diet with high anti-inflammatory potential may reduce all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality and prolong survival time especially amongst smokers. 

El presente estudio evalúa la influencia de un patrón dietético anti-inflamatorio y el hábito tabáquico sobre la supervivencia y mortalidad. Durante 16 años se realizó un seguimiento a 68.273 individuos suecos y se determinó el potencial anti-inflamatorio de su patrón dietético.
Los resultados observados mostraron que los individuos con una dieta clasificada con perfil pro-inflamatorio bajo tenían un 18% menos de riesgo de fallecer por todas las causas estudiadas (-20% por enfermedades cardiovasculares y -13% por cáncer). Cuando se comparaba el riesgo de mortalidad de los fumadores, no fumadores y exfumadores, el riesgo de mortalidad general era superior entre los fumadores, y destacaba que el perfil inflamatorio de la dieta tenía una importante influencia en el riesgo de mortalidad. Una dieta más anti-inflamatoria reducía considerablemente el riesgo de muerte por todas las causas versus una dieta pro-inflamatoria. Sobre la esperanza de vida se observaba un patrón similar. Los fumadores con una dieta más pro-inflamatoria tenían una esperanza de vida 4,6 años menor que la de los no fumadores con la dieta más anti-inflamatoria, que incluye un consumo moderado de alcohol, este tipo de dieta incluye alimentos ricos en compuestos antioxidantes como el vino tinto y la cerveza.
Por lo que la adherencia a una dieta con un perfil más antioxidante parece relacionarse con un menor riesgo de mortalidad general, cardiovascular y por cáncer y con una mayor supervivencia. Siendo esta asociación de especial relevancia entre los fumadores.