People having asthma are always concerned about their diet. They always try to find out whether certain food choices can improve or deteriorate their condition. There is no such evidence, which can show that a healthy diet reduces asthma or has some co-relation with the frequency of asthma attacks. However, a change in diet can help in improving the symptoms of asthma or enable a person to become physically strong enough to respond to such attacks.
If you are wondering how can I control my asthma, here are certain dos and don’ts while planning a healthy diet, especially if you are an asthma patient. You need to plan your eatables accordingly so that they benefit you and don’t end up degrading your health issues furthermore. Your diet can reduce asthma if you design it as per the following ways.
Certain things to be included in your diet:
Fatty fish:
Fatty fishes consist of certain fats that help in protecting from symptoms of asthma, heart diseases, strokes, and diabetes. Fishes like tuna, mackerel, and salmon contain omega-3s fatty acid, which plays a major role in combating bronchial inflammation with its anti-inflammatory properties. Bronchial inflammation is a symptom of asthma.
Therefore, although not directly, but including fatty fish in your diet surely help in keeping your asthma attacks under control. However, do not overdo the consumption of fish in your diet. Keep it to the bare minimum so that your healthy diet reduces asthma and does not worsen it.
Berries and leafy vegetables:
Berries and leafy vegetables are flooded with vitamin C, one of the major antioxidants found in naturally occurring fruits. Broadly speaking, the role of antioxidants is to fight back with free radicals that are the major cause of ageing and other health disorders. Also, these antioxidants can be taken in abundance in the body and they won’t adversely affect your health.
The fact that healthy diet reduces asthma is extremely true in this case. In layman terms, vitamin C helps build up stamina and strengthen your immunity to fight off diseases. A healthy immune system is very important for people suffering from asthma. These berries and vegetables help children with their wheezing problems. In addition to this, these green leafy vegetables contain vitamin A, which helps the lungs in carrying out its function smoothly.
Milk:
Milk contains tons of calcium and it must definitely be included in your diet. It not only contains calcium but also magnesium, which helps in fighting from asthma and its symptoms. Flax seeds are also considered rich in magnesium and are one of the best foods for asthma patients.
Many people are not aware of the fact that magnesium present in milk actually helps in relaxing the muscles of the bronchi. This clears the airway thus helping in breathing. Milk also contains vitamin D which helps in reducing the frequency of asthma attacks in children between 6 to 15 years of age.
Carrots:
Carrots contain an antioxidant named beta-carotene that is converted into vitamin A. This antioxidant, like vitamin C, helps in boosting the immune system. It is said that the amount of carotenoid present in the carrot depends upon the colour of the carrot. The darker the pigmentation, the more would be the amount of carotenoid present within the carrot.
Now that you know healthy diet reduces asthma, you also must know that you need to keep your carrot intake to just the bare minimum. Excess carotenoid means excess vitamin A, and our body cannot handle excess of vitamin A. In such a case, you may end up damaging your liver. Not only that, try consuming other citrus fruits too like pomegranate, sweet lime, orange, tangerine, lemon, and grape fruit.
Certain things to be excluded from your diet:
Fast food:
Fast food is dangerous for your overall health in general, and it does have an adverse effect on your lungs. Since it is quite possible that a healthy diet reduces asthma, a particular study was conducted in the British Medical Journal to understand the relationship between asthma and fast food. It proved that fast food could increase the risk of asthma by 39% in teens and 27% in children.
Wine, dried fruits, potatoes:
Wine, dried fruits, soups mixes, and potatoes contain a preservative known as sulphite, which leads to asthma attacks. Dried fruits contain a compound named salicylate, which is another important ingredient known to provoke asthma attacks. Even so, you can consume these foods in minimum amounts so that their ill effects don’t start defining themselves.
Cheese:
People who are allergic to mildew and moulds must avoid cheese and mushrooms. Other than cheese and mushrooms, eatables such as soy sauce, beer, and vinegar must be used only to a certain limit. These food items are oily and even contain unnaturally occurring fat content, which may just trigger asthmatic attacks.
In case you are looking for basic options as to how can I control my asthma, make sure you implement this. Remember that frequent consumption of these foods may just worsen your case of asthma in the long run. The best option is to consume theme sparingly and occasionally, and only in moderate amounts.
Conclusion:
In addition to the above mentioned possibilities of how a healthy diet reduces asthma, there are many naturally occurring food items which help in fighting off asthma. Also, it is important that you make certain lifestyle changes too which will go a long way in improving your donation. Exercising a little more, losing excess body fat, and cutting down on sugar and empty calories are only some of the few habits you can implement and you will see that initiating a few changes in your diet can reduce asthma.
Not only that, avoid vitamin D, sulphites, and allergy-triggering foods since they can pave way for new attacks. Currently speaking, many more studies in this regard are being conducted by researchers worldwide, and we hope to find better evidence of how diet pays a role in curbing asthma attacks, specifically. For now, it may not be clear if a healthy diet reduces asthma. However, a healthy diet consisting of the best foods for asthma patients can surely help in improving its symptoms and does play an important role in providing symptomatic relief in the long run.
