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2007-8-31 17:35:50 |
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Eating a Mediterranean diet rich in fruit and vegetables may drastically reduce the risk of developing lung disease, a new study published in the journal Thorax suggests. The study found that those who ate a Mediterranean diet halves their chances of developing lung disease, known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). By contrast, Western diet featured by refined foods with a high glycemic diet, red meat and processed foods may contribute to progressive deterioration in lung function with age. Researchers believe that a range of antioxidants found in fruit and vegetables may be responsbile for the reduced risk of lung disease while high sugars and preservatives such as nitrites used in preserved meats promote inflammation, increasing the risk. COPD including bronchitis and emphysema is largely affected by smoking and is expected to become the third largest cause of death by 2020. This means that although eating a good diet helps, quitting smoking is more important with regard to the prevention of COPD. But although smoking is the major risk for lung disease, not all smokers develop the disease, a fact that prompted researchers to investigate the effects of environmental factors such as diet on the lung disease risk. For the study, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston Massachusetts had followed 43,000 men enrolled in the US health Professionals Follow-up Study for 12 years between 1986 and 1998 for their dietary practices. In the course of the study, 111 people were diagnosed with COPD. The researchers divided participants based on the content of their diets into two groups, one group eating a Mediterranean type of diet rich in fruit, vegetables, whole grains and fish and the other eating a diet rich in processed food, refined sugars, cured and or red meats - the typical Western diet. Then they did statistical analyses and found a correlation between the type of diet and the risk of lung disease. The men who ate the Mediterranean diet were 50 percent less likely to develop COPD. This held true even after other factors such as smoking and age were taken into account. Furthermore, the more closely the men followed a Mediterranean diet during the 12-year study, the lower the risk of the disease. By contrast, the more Western food they ate, the higher the risk, the study found. Nevertheless, the type of diet has no effect on the risk of adult-onset asthma. Dr Raphaelle Varraso and colleagues say in their paper that there is no clear correlation between one particular food and COPD probably because individual nutrient plays only a small role, which could not be detected. They speculate that it may be the cumulative effect of antioxidants found in a range of foods that protects against the lung disease. Diet has been known to have an effect on the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The role a diet plays in the risk of lung disease is relatively less known. Regardless, consumers should eat a healthy diet such as a Mediterranean diet to optimize their health. Western diet is known as a risk factor for many chronic conditions and or diseases. The current Dietary Guidelines suggests that Americans should eat about five servings of fruit and vegetables per day. Also consumers should remember that eating fruit and vegetables does not justify their eating unhealthy foods. |
