Fatty Foods: A No-No For Asthma Patients
Reported May 17, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Those with asthma should stay away from fatty foods, new research shows. Not only do they restrict a patient’s airway, but they can also make their medications less effective.
The study at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom, involved 40 patients with asthma who were randomly assigned to eat a 1,000-calorie meal of fast food burgers and hash browns, or a 200-calorie meal of reduced fat yogurt.
Those who ate the high-fat meal experienced increased airway restriction and activated expression of TLR4 mRNA genes. The activation of the genes caused cells to react to fatty acids as an invading pathogen, prompting the release of inflammatory mediators.
In addition, the fatty meal also impeded the bronchodilator response of the medication Ventolin (albuterol).
“This is the first study to show that a high fat meal increases airway inflammation, so this is a very important finding,” Lisa Wood, Ph.D., a research fellow of the University of Newcastle, was quoted as saying. “The observation that a high fat meal changes the asthmatic response to albuterol was unexpected as we hadn’t considered the possibility that this would occur.”
High dietary fat intake has been previously show to activate an immune response that triggers inflammation.
Source: ATS 2010 International Conference, New Orleans, May 14-19, 2010