Exercise and Diet May Help Ease Asthma Symptoms

Asthma affects one in ten people in the West. A recent study suggests that people who have asthma but are not obese may be able to reduce their asthma symptoms and improve quality of live through diet and exercise.

Participants in the study included 149 people with asthma, 125 of whom completed the trial. The researchers asked all of the participants about their symptoms and quality of life. They also tested their fitness and the strength and output of their lungs.

They were then placed in one of four interventions, which lasted eight weeks:

1. a diet high in protein, with a low glycemic index, including at least six portions of fruits and vegetables daily;
2. high intensity exercise interspersed with lower intensity exercise three times per week at a hospital;
3. both the diet and the exercise;
4. no intervention, as a control.

At the conclusion of the study, participants who followed the exercise and diet intervention rated their asthma symptom score as 50% better compared to the control. Participants who followed only the exercise intervention or only the diet intervention reported an average 30% better score than the control group.

Researchers from Bispebejerg University Hospital in Denmark conducted the study. It was presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress 2017 the week of September 15, 2017.

Previous studies suggest that an inulin fiber supplement, black cumin oil, and vitamin D may also help ease asthma symptoms.