Unhealthy eating habits can trigger chronic inflammation in organs and tissues, and subsequent cardiovascular risk. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the potential association of Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII™) score with cardiometabolic risk factors and a priori and a posteriori dietary patterns in adults and elderly Brazilians (42 ± 16 years) from a health care program. This cross-sectional study was carried out with 248 individuals (138 women and 110 men) from a Cardiovascular Health Care Program of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa (PROCARDIO-UFV, ReBEC ID number: RBR-5n4y2g). Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, lifestyle and anthropometric data were assessed by standardized protocols. DII scores were calculated from a 24 h-recall, and dietary patterns were determined by a posteriori method, as Principal Component Analysis (PAC), and a priori method, as Healthy Eating Index (HEI). The mean DII was 0.15 ± 0.84. The subjects included in the most pro-inflammatory category(3rd tertile) were more likely to be individuals with excessive body weight, increased waist-to-hip ratio and lower quality diet assessed by PAC and HEI. The most pro-inflammatory diet was associated with excessive body weight as well as other worse dietary patterns.