Burgers and Fries Clog More Than Airways
According to a report released today on Fox News, burgers and fries were found to worsen asthma. Researchers found that patients with asthma who ate a high-fat meal had increased inflammation in their airways soon afterward, and did not respond as well to treatment as those who ate a low-fat meal.
The report went on to say,
results provide more evidence that environmental
factors, such as diet, can influence the development of asthma, which has increased dramatically in recent years in westernized countries where high-fat diets are common. In 2007, about 34.1 million Americans had asthma, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. From 1980 through 1994, the prevalence of asthma increased 75 percent. While the results are preliminary, they suggest cutting down on fat might be one way to help control asthma.
Asthma is a condition in which inflammation in the airways can lead to breathlessness, wheezing and coughing. Symptoms can irritated through a number of things from pet dander to air pollution. Currently, symptoms can be managed with prescription medication such as Accolate, Advair, Proventil, and Flovent, just to name a few.
The study had 40 asthmatic patients eat either a high-fat meal, consisting of burgers and hash browns, or a low-fat meal of yogurt. The high-fat meal was 1,000 calories (52 percent of calories from fat), and the low-fat meal was 200 calories (13 percent from fat).
The results showed that those who had eaten the burger meal had an increased number of immune cells called neutrophils in their airways. Neutrophils are a major factor in triggering inflammation.
The high-fat diet patients also showed less improvement in their lung function in response to the asthma medication Ventolin (generically known as albuterol) three to four hours after the meal.
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