Mediterranean Diet protects against Asthma, Allergies

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Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and nuts may help protect children from allergies and asthma, according to a newly-released study conducted by UK, Greek and Spanish researchers to assess the benefits of a "Mediterranean" diet.

A Mediterranean-style diet loaded with fruits, vegetables and olive oil can help reduce childhood respiratory allergies and asthma, researchers reported Thursday, suggesting a Mediterranean diet may have health benefits for youngsters as well as adults.

The Mediterranean diet containing high amounts of cereals, wine, fruits, nuts, legumes and whole grains, fish and olive oil, has already been recommended to prevent heart disease, strokes, cancer, and now the researchers suggest that it can also protect against allergic rhinitis and asthma symptoms.

In a study of Greek youngsters published in the journal “Thorax”, researchers concluded that children who consumed an average Mediterranean diet were 30 percent less likely to have running noses and itchy eyes than those who didn't, while children who ate a high level of those foods were 66 percent less likely to have allergies and Asthma symptoms.

To reach their conclusion, Dr. Paul Cullinan of Britain's Royal Brompton Hospital and National Heart and Lung Institute, and colleagues in Greece and Spain, conducted a cross-sectional survey of 690 children aged between seven and 18 on the Greek island of Crete.

They assessed the dietary habits, respiratory symptoms, and allergic reactions of the study participants living in four rural areas on Crete where skin allergies are common but respiratory ones like asthma and allergic rhinitis are relatively rare.

Parents answered detailed questionnaires on their children's eating habits and respiratory and allergy conditions, and the kids were tested for 10 common causes of allergies, including grass and olive blossoms. Whether the study subjects consumed a "Mediterranean" diet was measured against a set of twelve foodstuffs, including fruits, vegetables, whole-grains, legumes, nuts, and olive oil.

In their cross-sectional survey, the researchers found that high consumption of nuts, grapes, oranges and tomatoes was associated with 50, 81, 70, and 68 per cent reductions in wheezing, respectively.

Fresh tomatoes, oranges, apples and grapes, the main local products in Crete, showed no defence against skin allergies but children who consumed more of them were less likely to have wheezing or running noses, the researchers found. Grapes in particular seemed to defence against current and previous wheezing and allergic rhinitis (sneezing and runny nose).

Eighty percent children ate fresh fruit, and over two thirds of them ate fresh vegetables, at least twice a day. Children who ate nuts at least three times a week were less likely to wheeze, while high consumption of margarine increased the risk of both wheeze and allergic rhinitis, the researchers reported. In addition, a daily diet of oranges, apples, and tomatoes also protected against wheezing and allergic rhinitis.

“Our findings indicate that a high dietary intake of commonly consumed fruits and vegetables and nuts may have a protective role on the prevalence of asthma-like symptoms and hay fever,” Dr. Cullinan said. "A diet high in antioxidants may prevent the expression of allergic disease in this population," he added.

The authors of new study said grapes had never before been shown to protect against allergies. Red grape skin contains high levels of antioxidants as well as resveratrol, a potent polyphenol, known to check inflammatory activity. These antioxidant substances may be responsible to make grapes affordable to protect against allergies, they said.