A recent study found that following a healthy diet is associated with improvehd lung function, and this association may be even more pronounced in people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The study, published in the journal ERJ Open Research, showed that higher diet quality was associated with improved lung function indicators and, in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with a slower decline in lung function over time.
Arturo F. Martinez Rodriguez, from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and his colleagues analyzed data from adults participating in the Lifelines study, with the aim of determining the relationship between diet quality and lung function in people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The researchers used the Lifelines Dietary System Score (LLDS) to assess the quality of the participants' diets, then measured lung function at the start of the study and during two follow-up periods of approximately 10 years. Measurements included forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and the FEV1-to-FVC ratio.
included 83,460 participants and showed that higher diet quality was associated with higher FEV1 values and FEV1/FVC ratio in people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared to people without either disease.
In analyses that followed participants for years, involving 37,752 people, researchers found that a higher diet quality score was associated with a slower decline in lung function indicators in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared to those without.
The researchers noted that these findings support the possibility that diet is one of the modifiable lifestyle factors that can contribute to maintaining respiratory health, especially in those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The study does not prove that a healthy diet directly improves lung function, but it does suggest a link between diet quality and the maintenance of lung function, which calls for further research to understand the nature of this relationship.
