Fatty Foods Bad for Asthmatics

Fast-food burgers and other fatty foods increase lung inflammation in people with asthma and obstruct the effect of their inhalers, researchers are warning.

Rates of asthma — the most common chronic respiratory disease in Canada— have increased dramatically in westernized societies in recent decades.

In Canada, 2.2 million people age 12 and over, and more than 485,000 children ages four to 11 have been diagnosed with asthma, according to the Canadian Lung Association. The increase in prevalence suggests environmental factors — including diet — may play a role, and “westernized diets are known to be relatively higher in fat than traditional diets,” says Lisa Wood, a research fellow of the University of Newcastle, in Australia.

Other studies have shown fat in the diet activates the body’s innate immune responses, unleashing an increase in blood markers of inflammation. As well as drawing a response from the body, the high-fat meal also seemed to have an effect on the inhalers asthmatics use to cope with their condition.

To the researchers’ surprise, the high-fat meal appeared to lower the effect of albuterol, a bronchodilator that relaxes muscles in the airways, increasing air flow to the lungs. Wood said it’s possible the fatty acids may be blocking the receptors in the muscles of the airways that the drug targets. “This is an important next step in our research.”

There were no differences in the responses of the obese versus the non-obese asthmatics to the high-fat food challenge.

The study was small, but if the results can be confirmed, the findings suggest lowering dietary fat intake may help in managing asthma, Wood said.