A clinical study conducted by the University of La Trobe, showed that eating fish — salmon, trout and sardines — as part of a healthful diet may reduce asthma symptoms in children. During the international study found that children with asthma who adhered to a healthy Mediterranean diet rich in oily fish, lung function improved after six months. The study’s lead author Maria Papadaki from La Trobe said that these data reinforce the growing belief that a healthy diet can be a potential treatment for pediatric asthma.
“We already knew that a diet rich in fat, sugar and salt can affect the development and progression of asthma in children, but now we have proof that asthma symptoms can be mitigated with a healthy diet,” she says.
Fish will help in the fight against asthma
“Oily fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have anti-inflammatory properties. Our study has shown that eating fish just twice a week can significantly reduce lung inflammation in children with asthma.”
“Adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet, rich in plant foods and fatty fish, can be simple, easy and effective method of reducing asthma symptoms in children,” say the researchers.
Asthma is one of the most common respiratory diseases in young people, as well as one of the main reasons for urgent hospitalization of children. The main symptoms of asthma are breathlessness, wheezing, cough and congestion in the chest. Essential onset of symptoms after contact with the allergen, seasonal variability of symptoms and the presence of relatives with asthma. When combined with rhinitis asthma symptoms can either appear only at certain times of the year, or be present constantly with seasonal worsening.
The results of the study were published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.
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