Fend off asthma with your knife and fork

About 23 million Americans have the wheezing and coughing of asthma — up 60% since the early 1980s.Experts say diet can help fight asthma’s inflammation.

Research-based Tips:

Mediterranean diet
It is a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, olive oil, whole grains and legumes, and low in meat.

A Portuguese study finds that adults who ate this way cut their risk of asthma by 78%. And a high-fruit diet slashed the odds of non-controlled asthma by 71%.

Kids who eat a Mediterranean diet, especially lots of oranges, apples, tomatoes and grapes, have less wheezing, allergic rhinitis and asthma, research shows.   In fact this Mediterranean-style diet was so effective that pregnant mothers who ate these foods passed on their asthma immunity to their babies.

Why does it work?  It’s probably the high levels of antioxidants found in their food.

Pregnant women should avoid nuts
A Dutch research shows that pregnant women who eat nuts or nut products like peanut butter every day up their children’s odds of developing asthma by nearly 50%.

Fish and whole grains linked to asthma protection
An increased consumption of whole grains and fish could reduce the risk of developing asthma by about 50 per cent, suggests a new study from The Netherlands.

The International Study on Allergy and Asthma in Childhood 2 looked at dietary intakes for a range of foods, including fish, fruits, vegetables, dairy and whole grain products, for 598 Dutch children aged between 8 and 13.

“Our findings suggest that a high intake of whole grain products and fish may have a protective effect against asthma in children,” wrote lead author Cora Tabak in the current issue of the journal Thorax.

Additional research is needed to further investigate the potential link between fish and whole grain intake, as well as the reason why no relationship between fruit and vegetable intake was observed, in contradiction to other studies.

(NOTE:  While the research is not conclusive, it can’t hurt you to eat more fish, whole grains, fruit, and vegetables.)

Specific food recommendations

Apples get an “A” for asthma relief.
Eating five or more every week may improve how well your lungs function.  Experts think a mix of antioxidants – especially quercetin – could protect your lungs from tissue damage.  And remember, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Avoid all commercial milk products
They are notorious for making asthma worse. If you consume milk at all, use only raw milk products from grass-fed cows, but even then be careful and take note of whether or not the raw milk is making your asthma better or worse.

Avoid omega-6 fatty acids.
Corn, cotton, and safflower oils, dressings, mayonnaise, margarine, and processed foods are all full of omega-6 fatty acids.  These can make inflammatory diseases and asthma worse.

Avoid salicylates.
Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs contain allergy-triggering salicylates.  Talk to your doctor about what over-the-counter medications you can safely take.

Avoid sulfites
Many alcoholic drinks, especially wine, contain sulfites and salicylates.  These chemical preservatives keep food and beverages from spoiling, but they can quickly trigger an asthma attack in sensitive people.  If you have a reaction like this to wine, other sulfite-containing foods, like shrimp and salad bar items, will probably affect your breathing as well.

Butterbur (Petasites hybridus).
This perennial shrub has been used since ancient times to treat a variety of conditions. As far back as the 17th century, butterbur was used to treat coughs, asthma, and skin wounds. Researchers have since identified the compounds in butterbur that help reduce symptoms in asthma by inhibiting leukotrienes and histamines, which are responsible for symptom aggravation in asthma.  In one study, 40 percent of patients taking a butterbur root extract were able to reduce their intake of traditional asthma medications

Consume coffee.
Surprise.  Regarding asthma, there no better way to start your morning than having a cup of coffee.  The chemical makeup of caffeine is similar to the commonly prescribed asthma drug theophylline.  That means caffeine can help expand your air passages and keep your respiratory muscles strong.  A couple cups of coffee can help you breathe better for up to four hours.

Drink plenty of liquids.
Drink plenty of fluids to beat exercise induced asthma (EIA).  Dehydrated asthmatics have more trouble with EIA than those who take in plenty of fluids.  For powerful asthma prevention, combine liquids with juicy fruits that contain lots of water and lycopene.  Watermelon, guava, and pink grapefruit are good choices.

Eat more “E”
Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that can help protect your body – including your lungs – from free radical damage.  Opt for natural sources of vitamin E such as sweet potatoes, fortified cereals and sunflower sOr take a supplement of not more than 400 international units (IU).  More can cause diarrhea, dizziness, and other side effects.  According to Dr. Mercola,  vitamin E intake has also been associated with lower serum IgE concentrations and a lower frequency of allergen sensitization.

Fish oil.
High doses of fish oil (5 g daily) helped prevent exercise-induced asthma symptoms in an Indiana U study.  See Omega-3 fatty acids for more on fish oil.

Forgo fast food
Maybe they should call it “fat food.”  The typical fast-food meal has too much saturated fat, too many calories and too little nutrition.  Eating too much of it is also linked to asthma and wheezing.

Licorice root
The ancient Greeks used licorice root for asthma symptoms, and it still works.  You can find licorice root tea at many health food stores.  For relief from mild asthma, drink one or two cups daily.  But don’t do too much of a good thing.  Large doses of licorice can cause high blood pressure in some people.

For information on licorice root, click on National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.  The site gives you lots of information on this plant and how to use it.  The site also includes side effects and cautions.  For example, use by pregnant women may lead to premature delivery.  It’s not for everyone.

Omega-3 fatty acids.
They are good for your lungs.  Good sources are leafy green vegetables, cold-water fish like salmon, mackerel, and tuna; and flaxseed oil, which you can buy at most health food stores.  Keep flax seed oil refrigerated or buy the seeds themselves, and grind them just before eating them.  For cooking oil, try canola, which has a good balance of omega-3 and omega-6 oils.

A major European study found that adults who ate fish at least once a week had fewer asthma symptoms. (Eating more fish did not reduce symptoms further.)  And those who never ate fish as children were more apt to develop asthma and at an earlier age.

Salt restriction won’t help
A new British study shows that subjects who restricted sodium intake for six weeks had just as many asthma symptoms as those on normal diets. Previous studies had suggested that low sodium might help.

Try tomatoes
The antioxidant lycopene, found in tomatoes, has received top billing as a cancer-fighter.  Now it looks like lycopene can also help defeat a kind of asthma that hits you when you’re exercising.  You can get 30 mg of lycopene from a cup of tomato juice, or half a cup of spaghetti sauce, or the same amount of salsa.  Add tomatoes to your salads and sandwiches and add ketchup to the latter.

Vitamin D as a supplement
Vitamin D May Help Asthma Suffers — A review of studies published between 1950 and 2009 suggests that deficiency of vitamin D may be linked to poor asthma control and decreased lung function. Researchers hypothesized that vitamin D supplementation may lead to improved asthma control.

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