A diet high in apples and tomatoes could help to restore lung damage caused by smoking, a new US study has suggested.
Research carried out at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, found that adults who ate on average more than two tomatoes or more than three portions of fresh fruit a day had a slower decline in lung function compared to those who ate less than one tomato or less than one portion of fruit a day, respectively.
They tested other dietary sources but the protective effect was observed only in fresh fruit and vegetables.
The paper, which is part of the Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts (ALEC) study and is published in the December issue of the European Respiratory Journal, also found adults with the highest tomato consumption experienced a slower decline in lung function, regardless of whether they had ever smoked.
Lead author Dr Vanessa Garcia-Larsen, assistant professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of International Health, said: “The findings support the need for dietary recommendations, especially for people at risk of developing respiratory diseases such as COPD.”
Researchers assessed the diet and lung function of more than 650 adults from Germany, Norway and the UK in 2002, and then repeated lung function tests on the same group 10 years later. The participants were asked to complete questionnaires about their diets and all underwent spirometry.
Among former smokers, they found that those who ate a diet high in tomatoes and fruits had around 80ml slower decline in lung function over the ten-year period, suggesting that their diets helped to repair damage done by smoking.
Dr Garcia-Larsen said: “Lung function starts to decline at around age 30 at variable speed depending on the general and specific health of individuals.
“Our study suggests that eating more fruits on a regular basis can help attenuate the decline as people age, and might even help repair damage caused by smoking.
“Diet could become one way of combating rising diagnosis of COPD around the world.”
Garcia-Larsen V, Potts JF, Omenaas E, et al. Dietary antioxidants and 10-year lung function decline in adults from the ECRHS survey. Eur Respir J 21 December 2017; doi: 10.1183/ 13993003.02286-2016
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