ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between the inflammatory potential of the diet measured by the energy-adjusted diet inflammatory index (E-DII) and inflammatory markers in adolescents. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted among 518 adolescents aged 18 and 19 years from São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil in 2016. A semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess dietary intake from which E-DII scores were calculated to determine the inflammatory potential of the diet. The associations between E-DII and inflammatory markers (hs-CRP, IL-6, IL-4, TNF-α, and IFNγ) were analyzed using multivariable linear regression. The variables included in the adjusted model were identified using the directed acyclic graph. RESULTS The diet of these adolescents was mostly pro-inflammatory; mean E-DII score was 1.71 and ranged from -2.44 to 5.58. Higher E-DII scores were positively associated with higher levels of IFNγ in the adjusted analysis (Adjusted Coef.: 1.19; 95%CI: 0.36-12.04). We observed no associations between E-DII and other inflammatory markers (hs-CRP, IL-6, IL-4, TNF-α). Study results indicate that E-DII is useful in evaluating the inflammatory potential of the diet of Brazilian adolescents. CONCLUSIONS Cross-sectionally E-DII scores were positively associated with IFNγ concentrations. Future research should examine the association between changes in E-DII scores and levels of inflammatory markers longitudinally.