Can Diet Help My Asthma?

Asthma is an allergic condition. That means that certain things are triggers and set off the reaction, in this case inflammation of the airways, that leads to the symptoms – such as wheezing, coughing etc. Many allergic conditions are improved by diets, so is this the case with asthma?

The first point to make is that asthma is made worse by obesity. If you are seriously overweight then you should look at your diet carefully anyway as it is likely to be a factor in your asthma as well as affecting other areas of your health.

Secondly, there may be some foodstuffs which are triggers for your asthma. If you have a known food allergy then obviously you should avoid it. Royal Jelly products are also known as a possible asthma trigger so it may be a good idea to avoid them too.

There are a number of foods which are thought to make asthma symptoms worse. These include milk, eggs, fish and seafood, nuts, yeast products and some preservatives and food colorings. Try cutting these out one at a time and logging the results in an asthma diary.

Fourthly, there was some research done in the Netherlands which found that people who ate the highest quantities of fresh vegetables and fruit had the healthiest lung function. Vitamins C and E were very important here. Fresh produce seems to be far more effective than vitamin supplements although these can also be of some benefit. It is also important to keep your immune system as high as possible if you suffer from asthma. Vitamin C and Zinc are important for this but a well balanced diet, including all the vitamins and minerals you need, will make your system much stronger and more able to fight off colds and ‘flu which are major triggers of asthma attacks.

There has also been research done in the US that found that a reduced salt intake helped to increase lung function and reduce symptoms of asthma, and new research is constantly being carried out on links between diet and asthma.

Cutting out processed foods, unhealthy snacks and reducing your intake of dairy products can often reduce the severity and frequency of asthma attacks. It doesn’t need to be done overnight, if you start with small changes they are easier to achieve and you are more likely to reach any long-term diet change goals.

Copyright 2009