Foods that help reduce symptoms of asthma

Symptoms of asthma like wheezing, difficulty breathing, chest pain and shortness of breath can be unpleasant and dangerous, but the unpleasant symptoms may be avoided in some cases. While changing your diet is by no means a replacement for traditional asthma treatments and medications, some foods may help reduce asthmatic symptoms.

While too much caffeine can make it difficult for you to relax or sleep at night, ingesting low levels of caffeine appears to improve asthma symptoms for up to four hours, according to a review published in 2012 in PubMed Health.  Authors of this review suggest that consuming five milligrammes of caffeine per kilogramme of body weight daily may help reduce symptoms of asthma.

Black coffee and unsweetened tea are good choices for reducing asthmatic symptoms in people who would like to avoid the calories of sugar.

A study published in 2010 in the journal Thorax reports that the increased prevalence of asthma may be related to diet, particularly low fruit and vegetables intakes. Researchers who conducted this study found that increased fruit and green vegetable intakes are associated with a lower prevalence of wheezing in people with asthma.

Canada's Food Guide suggests that women eat seven to eight servings of fruits and vegetables daily, while men should consume seven to 10 servings of fruits and veggies each day.

Eating fish, especially fatty fish, and taking fish oil supplements may help relieve asthmatic symptoms. The 2010 study published in Thorax reports that fish intake is associated with a lower lifetime prevalence of asthma and wheezing in children.

A study published in 2006 in the journal Chest found that fish oil supplements help decrease exercise-induced breathing difficulties in study subjects with asthma. Participants in this study took fish oil capsules containing two grammes of docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, and 3.2 grammes of eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA, each day for three weeks.

Because high doses of fish oil can boost bleeding risks and interact with certain medications, always check with your doctor before taking fish oil supplements.

Ingesting perilla seed oil, a plant-based oil rich in an omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA, also shows promise for reducing unpleasant side effects associated with asthma. A review published in 2011 in Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine found that perilla seed oil helps improve lung function and breathing in people with asthma.