By stevebond on January 12th, 2012

Asthma: The Food in Question

Many athletes suffer from asthma. However, recent studies have demonstrated the link between the consumption of certain foods, including alcohol, and the occurrence of crises.

Histamine and asthma manifestations

The temptation is great for athletes to celebrate a victory by a pot with friends. However, many people with asthma will tell you, some beverages containing alcohol can trigger asthma attacks or aggravate the symptoms. According to epidemiological data, it would even be the case for about 30 to 35% of people with asthma. Should we then blame the alcohol? For Asian populations, alcohol does pose problems. Due to poor equipment enzyme degrade Asian people very badly indeed ethanol (scientific name for alcohol) and earn a by-product (acetaldehyde) responsible for a host of unpleasant symptoms known as of “hangover”. In other latitudes, the problem is different and requires some rather incriminating substances in the drink. Two families are mainly targeted: histamine and sulfites.La first molecule is a relatively trivial and also present in chocolate, cheese and fish. In individuals immune to intolerance, the degradation of this molecule occurs very easily with the calling of certain enzymes (the “amine oxidase”). Some people, unfortunately, come with a very low level of degradation. Histamine can then accumulate, which is enough to trigger events suggestive of asthma.
Sulphites culprit in asthma attacks

Sulfites also are problematic. This class of molecules found in the nine foods most commonly associated with allergies (*). And again, there was a disproportionate representation of people with asthma in the population of susceptible individuals. Sulfites cause asthma attacks in about 5% of them. Unfortunately, they are found everywhere, especially in wine (especially white) but also pasta, chips, nuts, or pickles. Sometimes in some jams and jellies. In case of poisoning, symptoms may manifest itself in different ways: coughing, sneezing, stiff neck, stomach cramps, diarrhea. In some cases, sulfites and sulfides are converted to lead to ulcerative colitis. To avoid problems or at least limit the symptoms when an asthma attack, asthma should be advised to opt for products from organic farming.