Foods That Cure Asthma and Allergies

Outbreaks of asthma and allergies have increased considerably since the early 1980s.  Asthma statistics outline a jump of 74% for children between the ages of 5-14 years and 160% for children under four years old, according to the National Institutes of Health.  Additionally, one of every four children in the U.S. also suffers from some type of allergy.  With annual costs in the billions, researchers offer a glimpse of hope for a natural cure.

Earlier this month, published findings in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology from a seven-year study of 460 Spanish children concluded that a definitive link exists between symptom-free children and a diet rich in "fruity vegetables" and fish.  Fruity vegetables are those that grow from a blossom in the plant that comes from seed; such veggies include tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, green beans, cucumbers and butternut squash, among others.

Scientists explain that the protective effects of this type of diet were irrefutable, and were very specific to this kind of vegetables.  Researchers tested different types of foods such as diary, meats and vegetables, but only fruity vegetables and fish were beneficial to these conditions.

Although this is not the first study that links a benefit of a diet rich in fish and vegetables to health improvement, the findings here are quite powerful as the researchers followed the children from the womb until age six, taking the mother's dietary habits into consideration among other factors.  Incidents of asthma and allergies were reduced significantly in children consuming more than 2 oz of fish and 1½ oz of fruity vegetables a day.