Selenium May Lower Asthma Risk

[Guest guest]

Selenium May Lower Asthma Risk

 

December 17, 2001

07:13:43 AM PST, Reuters

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new UK study links intake of apples

and the mineral selenium to a lower risk of asthma, suggesting that

certain antioxidants may protect the lungs from disease.

 

Antioxidants help neutralize damaging forms of oxygen that arise

from normal metabolism. These free radicals are unstable compounds

that can damage cells and are thought to contribute to chronic

disease.

 

Researchers have speculated that antioxidants may protect lung

health, including lowering the risk of asthma. Not much is known

about antioxidants, plant compounds called flavonoids and trace

minerals like selenium, according to Dr. Seif O. Shaheen and

colleagues.

 

To see how dietary antioxidants affect asthma risk and severity,

Shaheen's team surveyed nearly 1,500 UK adults about their eating

habits during the previous year.

 

They focused particularly on intakes of fruits and vegetables,

flavonoid-rich foods like apples, onions, tea and red wine,

antioxidant vitamins, and trace elements that act as antioxidant

enzymes--such as selenium, zinc and copper.

 

The investigators found that people who ate at least two apples per

week faced a 22%- to 32% lower asthma risk than those who ate fewer.

 

And as selenium intake increased, asthma risk declined,

according to findings published in a recent issue of the American

Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

 

Participants with the highest intakes--54 to 90 micrograms a day--

were only about half as likely to have asthma as those who consumed

the least selenium, about 23 to 30 micrograms daily. The US

recommended daily intake for selenium is 55 micrograms.

 

Red wine intake was associated with a reduction in the severity of

asthma, according to Shaheen and colleagues from King's College in

London and the University of Southampton.

 

" The associations between apple and red wine consumption and asthma

may indicate a protective effect of flavonoids, " the researchers

write.

 

They speculate that certain subtypes of flavonoids may be key in

this protection since other flavonoid-containing foods did not

affect asthma risk or severity.

Or, in the case of apples, different compounds altogether may be at

work.

 

" The association (of asthma risk) with apples suggests that we need

a better understanding of how flavonoids, or other constituents of

apples, influence respiratory health, " Shaheen's team concludes.

 

As for selenium, they suggest that part of the blame for the UK's

rising asthma rates may rest in the nation's declining selenium

intake.

 

The researchers note that selenium may protect against asthma by

suppressing airway inflammation.

 

Selenium is found in foods such as organic eggs and whole grains,

Brazil nuts and walnuts, no-sodium tuna and organic beef.

 

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Melanoma.html