Consuming too much processed meat might worsen asthma symptoms, researchers say. Eating as much as four portions a week puts asthma patients at risk, according to the study of close to 1,000 French people.
The research says a preservative called nitrite used in foods like sausages, salami and ham aggravates the airways in people with asthma. However, they admit that a direct link has not yet been proven and there should be further investigations into the matter.
Scientists say that the maximum consumption of one person should be not more than 70 grams a day of both red and processed meats to stay in good health, the BBC reports.
The researchers surveyed around a thousand French participants from 2003 to 2013 on topics regarding food and health. Around half of them had asthma, and the rest had no history of the condition. They looked specifically at asthma symptoms, such as loss of breath, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, and each person’s meat intake.
Among those with asthma, higher meat consumption was linked to worsening lung problems.
Those who ate more than four portions weekly, like four sausages, had the biggest increase in asthma risk at the end of the study. The researchers also attempted to control for obvious factors such as obesity, but the link remained.
Dr. Erika Kennington, head of research at Asthma UK, says, “Although certain foods can be triggers for allergies in some people, there is no specific dietary advice to manage asthma symptoms generally. For most people with asthma, healthy eating advice is exactly the same as it is for everyone else: follow a balanced diet that includes plenty of fresh and unprocessed food and is low in sugar, salt and saturated fat.”
Processed meats have already been linked to cancer, so the researchers and experts alike recommend that people stop focusing on just one kind of food and look instead into maintaining a healthy diet.
The study was published in the journal Thorax.
