Another Reason to Eat Your Veggies

Recently my asthma has been flaring.  The Doctors are not sure if it is something in the air, extra stress, viral infections or what-- and after 2+ rounds of steroids I feel crazy, frustrated and just plain yucky.  I am willing to do almost anything, eliminate anything from my life, just to get this under control.  So I started searching the web for asthma diets.  I came across a fascinating article at Parents.com focusing on preventing childhood asthma.

The article claimed that recent research points away from alergens and dust mites as the main culprets of asthma and more toward food related issues.

"Our research suggests that it's a combination of dietary factors, rather than a single nutrient or food, that protects children from asthma or puts them at increased risk," says Anthony Seaton, M.D., a professor of environmental medicine at Aberdeen University Medical School in Scotland."

Check out this study of children in Saudi Arabia:

"Several years ago, Dr. Seaton traveled with his colleagues to Saudi Arabia to compare asthma and allergy rates of city-dwelling kids -- who tend to eat a produce-poor American-style diet -- and rural children of similar heritage who continue to follow the traditional Arab diet, which is rich in fruits and vegetables.

"The upshot: Even after controlling for pollution and other major risk factors, asthma was three times more prevalent in city kids. "You can't blame diet for the entire increase, but it appeared to account for a substantial part of it," says Dr. Seaton, who is now studying how eating habits during pregnancy affect a child's chance of developing asthma.

"In fact, city or rural kids who consumed the least vegetables and milk were two to three times more likely to develop asthma or allergies than kids who ate the most."

Photo By A.W. Sheffield

I'm going to go munch on some carrots!

Source Cited 
"The Anti-Asthma Diet," Colleen Peirre, RN, Parents, http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/health/asthma/anti-asthma-diet, pp 1-7