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Abundant Asthma Benefits Found In Fruits and Vegetables

by Medindia Content Team on Mar 29 2006 2:42 PM

Australian researchers have suggested a simple and natural remedy for reducing the intensity of asthma attacks or even putting off an attack, by just eating more fruits and vegetables. They have enough evidence to show that diets deficient in antioxidants, are capable of accelerating and worsening an attack.

A small group of asthma sufferers were subjected to a diet low in antioxidants and their asthma was observed along with levels of antioxidants, like carotene and lycopene in their blood .It was observed that those who had low levels of antioxidants circulating in the blood, especially antioxidant lycopene, showed symptoms of asthma on the rise. Incidentally lycopene is found in abundance in tomatoes.

The study was conducted by Lisa Wood, a research fellow at the Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Unit at the Hunter Medical Research Institute in Newcastle. She said "There has been no evidence that if you take these foods out of the diet it will affect your asthma outcome. The thing that's most exciting is a proof of concept, that if you take antioxidants out of your diet it will be bad for you, and that hasn't been scientifically proven before."

Associate Professor John Wilson, chairman of the National Asthma Council, said “The study was highly significant and very important for our understanding of inflammatory mechanisms. The researchers will no doubt want to go on and explore the relationship in their findings to the usual diet of Australians, and how that might be improved to improve asthma outcomes."


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