Mediterranean diet 'can help beat asthma' - Asthma

A Mediterranean-style diet can significantly reduce the risk of asthma attacks, a study shows.

Asthmatics who eat lots of fish, grains and fruit are up to 78 per cent less likely to suffer a worsening in their condition than those who don't, researchers found.

Five million people in the UK suffer from the condition. Yet in parts of the Mediterranean the disease is rare.

In Crete, for example, where fruit, vegetables and nuts are consumed daily, very few children have asthma or hay fever.

A team of scientists at the University of Porto in Portugal studied 174 asthmatics and monitored their conditions to see if they were well-controlled, so rarely suffered flare-ups, or poorly-controlled, enduring frequent bouts of wheezing.

Each volunteer was then quizzed on dietary habits.

Those who suffered less ate much larger quantities of Mediterranean foods and drank less alcohol than those who had regular attacks.

The report, published in the journal Allergy, said: 'High adherence to a Mediterranean diet reduced by 78 per cent the risk of uncontrolled asthma.

Food for thought: A Mediterranean diet, with ingredients such as spring onions, tagliatelle, tomatoes and fresh basil, has been found to reduce the risk of asthma and hay fever