Data suggests that Iran has a higher and faster asthma prevalence rate than the global average among adolescents aged 13 to 14. Wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness are not unusual symptoms of asthma.
According to previous studies, more than half of people with asthma replace their eating habits, with dairy products being the most commonly avoided.
However, the effects of epidemiological studies examining the relationship between dairy consumption and asthma in young people are inconsistent, and knowledge about Middle Eastern countries is limited.
For example, an organization of Iranian researchers attempted to elucidate the relationship between the intake of milk and other dairy products and asthma and its symptoms.
The cross-sectional study was conducted with children aged 6 to 7 years and adolescents aged 13 to 14 years. She is part of the Global Asthma Network (GAN), which took place in Yazd, central Iran, in early 2020.
A total of 7,667 participants were included in the study. Parents of the younger organization and older participants completed online questionnaires about asthma, symptoms, and threat factors.
Food intake in the past 12 months was assessed using a multiple-choice GAN questionnaire.
Participants answered questions about the frequency of intake (never or only occasionally; once or twice a week; maximum or each and every day of the week) of milk, other dairy products (yogurt, cheese, cream, quality milk, and kashk). ) and dairy products in general.
Although there is no relationship between intake of other dairy products and the likelihood of wheezing in the crude model, a significant inverse relationship is known between other dairy products (most or every day) and the threat of wheezing after adjusting for various confounders.
“The effects showed that intake of dairy products other than milk, such as cheese and yogurt, would possibly reduce the threat of wheezing in youth and adolescents,” the authors wrote.
Notably, 7. 5% of participants experienced wheezing in the past 12 months and did not have asthma diagnosed by a doctor. This may also simply be due to the onset of symptoms at an older age or the possibility that other people may increase wheezing after contracting it. a respiratory illness such as COVID-19 or influenza.
On the other hand, 83% of participants with physician-diagnosed asthma did not experience wheezing in the 12 months afterward, which could possibly be the result of misdiagnosis or effective treatment of the disease.
The relationship between asthma and nutritional nutrients has been explored through studies, with some noting that consuming dairy products, even a few times a week, had an inversely significant influence on asthma, compared to never consuming them.
The effect of milk and butter may simply be due to their fatty acid content, as well as the fact that the digestion of lactose is different from that of other carbohydrates.
“The prebiotic activity of dairy products is likely due to the stimulation of the expansion of bacteria in the gut, which can modulate immune responses and thus have a protective effect against asthma and allergies,” the authors said.
Milk proteins, along with lactalbumin, lactoglobulin, and immunoglobulins, whey proteins such as serum albumin, lactoferrin, and lactoperoxidase, as well as enzymes and cytokines found in dairy products, are thought to be to blame for this protective effect.
Many researchers have studied the preventive and curative effects of yogurt and lactic acid bacteria widely used in yogurt production.
In particular, attention has been drawn to the relationship between cytokine imbalance and symptoms.
Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is a cytokine that plays a role in inducing and modulating immune responses. Incomplete production of IFN-γ would predispose an individual to the progression of allergic disorders and asthma.
“Human studies have shown that prolonged intake of large amounts of yogurt (450 g per day) leads to an increase in IFN-γ production through separate lymphocytes and T cells.
“In addition, oral ingestion of Lactobacillus casei and other probiotic strains has been shown to decrease the production of immunoglobulin E (IgE). These findings suggest that yogurt intake would possibly decrease IgE-mediated diseases in addition to asthma.
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is probably the recommended direction in previous studies.
These compounds have a wide diversity of biological characteristics that can affect other people with asthma, adding up their effects on energy, lipid metabolism, inflammation, and immune function.
“The metabolic purposes of CLA, adding fat loss and adipokine regulation, would possibly be for respiratory mechanics and systemic inflammation, possibly applying to asthmatic airway inflammation. “
It should be noted that the study provided has several limitations, such as reliance exclusively on self-reported data, lack of data on other variables such as energy intake, physical activity, and nutritional behavior among other ethnicities, and inability to infer a causal association.
“In our study, the effects may be derived from dating between the frequency of dairy intake and wheezing over the past 12 months. However, wheezing can be caused by illnesses such as gastroesophageal reflux disease, recurrent viral infections of the respiratory tract, and persistent bacteria. bronchitis, among others.
“Therefore, it cannot be concluded that dairy intake necessarily leads to anti-asthma coverage. Future prospective cohort studies should firmly verify our findings.
Source: Frontiers in Nutrition
https://doi. org/10. 3389/fnut. 2024. 1298704
“Dairy Consumption in Association with Asthma Symptoms Among a Large Sample of Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study”
Authors: Mona Jamalvandi, et al.
Prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics will be a major topic at this year’s 2024 Asia Growth Summit. Join us in Singapore to receive more information from leading industry experts; Read more here.
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