Dietary taboos for people with asthma: Watch out for these foods

There is no universal absolute fasting list for asthma patients. There is only one core principle of dietary taboos - avoid foods that are known to cause allergies/trigger wheezing attacks. As long as you are not allergic to other high-risk foods, you do not need to blindly avoid them. Instead, you must be wary of nutritional deficiencies caused by random taboos, which lower your immunity and in turn aggravate the frequency of asthma attacks.

I didn’t just say this casually. I just met a 12-year-old patient in the outpatient clinic last week. My mother heard from a patient that asthmatic children get sick when they touch seafood. She hasn’t let the child touch a bite of shrimp for two years. The result of the allergen test this time was negative for seafood. On the contrary, the mangoes he eats every day are severely allergenic. He went to the emergency room several times in the middle of the night because he ate mangoes the day before. It was like avoiding seafood for two years and stepping on his own allergy trap.

Some people may want to ask, then there are always some foods with higher risks, right? There are indeed, and the first to bear the brunt are processed foods with added sulfites and preservatives. Don’t underestimate these additives. They are added to many bulk preserves, cured meats, quick-frozen cooking kits, and even some prepackaged fruit juices to prevent corrosion and protect color. Sulfites have been clearly listed as high-risk factors for asthma induction by the WHO. There was a previous interaction The young man who is connected to the Internet usually has very good control. During the last team building, he ate two bags of loose plums bought on the roadside. He couldn't lie down that night. He had to be atomized in the emergency department before he recovered. The final investigation revealed that the sodium metabisulfite in the plums was too high, stimulating the airway and directly causing spasm.

As for the commonly mentioned tropical fruits such as seafood, nuts, eggs, milk, mango and pineapple, they are high allergenic risk foods, but it is really important to avoid them. In the past, old-school respiratory doctors may directly recommend that asthma patients avoid all foods, but now the mainstream view of allergy departments is that unless you have done an allergen test to confirm that you are allergic to a certain type of food, or you really get rashes, coughs, and chest tightness after eating it, there is no need to fast. On the contrary, long-term avoidance of high-quality protein will lead to a decrease in immunity and make it easier to induce asthma. I met an aunt in her 60s before. She was told that she should not eat eggs or milk because of asthma. She hadn’t done anything for five years. The last time she checked her albumin was as low as 32. She caught colds every now and then and wheezed when she caught a cold. Later, she found out that she was not allergic to eggs and milk. After going back, she slowly started to add more. After three months, her health improved a lot, and her attacks became less frequent.

There is also a type that is not allergies, but is purely physical stimulation, such as ice drinks that are so cold that your throat is piercing, super spicy hot pot that is so spicy that your throat smokes, high-strength liquor, etc. If you think about it, the airways of asthmatic patients are much more sensitive than ordinary people. They are already in a state of contracting easily at the touch of a touch. Suddenly pouring something iced or spicy is equivalent to brushing the fur of a cat that is blowing. You may not be able to stop coughing on the spot, or even induce wheezing. This kind of case is particularly common in summer. After playing ball, a young man drank a bottle of iced Coke. As soon as he unscrewed the cap and took two sips, he became breathless and couldn't stand. Doctors who often came to the emergency room were not surprised.

There are also some widely circulated taboos, such as not eating soy products, not eating mutton, and not eating seafood, which really have no scientific basis. There is currently no evidence-based medical evidence to prove that these foods can directly induce asthma. Unless you are really uncomfortable eating them, there is really no need to impose so many restrictions on yourself. There was a patient who didn't even dare to drink soy milk before, saying that his neighbors told him that drinking soy milk would cause asthma. After checking, he found nothing wrong. Now he drinks a cup every morning and he doesn't get sick.

Finally, I would like to say what I have learned from my many years of clinical practice. There is really no need for asthma patients to have a "minesweeper" diet. Don't just search for a fasting list and look at the cards one by one. Everyone's allergens are different, and someone else's honey may be your arsenic. If you are really unsure, get a specific IgE test, or keep a food diary. If you feel uncomfortable after eating something, write it down and avoid it next time. Live your life how you want, there is no need to harm your mouth and body for unwarranted taboos, right?