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Vitamine C voor gezonde longen.*
Hoge inname’s van vitamine C zorgen voor minimale achteruitgang in longfuncties bij het ouder worden en zo kan COPD voorkomen worden. Dit blijkt uit een studie onder 2600 volwassenen over een periode van 9 jaar. Het advies is dan ook minimaal 2-4 stuks fruit en 3-5 porties groente per dag.
An orange a day may help keep lung disease away, new research from the UK suggests. In the study, researchers confirmed that people who consume high levels of vitamin C and magnesium tend to have healthier lungs. And for the first time, the research showed that people with high levels of vitamin C intake experience less decline in lung function over time. By minimizing the decline in lung function as time passes, a diet containing lots of foods rich in vitamin C may lower the odds of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the study's authors report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Mounting evidence suggests that vitamin C and other antioxidant vitamins and minerals may be involved in asthma and COPD, a group of illnesses that includes bronchitis and emphysema. Exactly how antioxidants keep lungs healthy is uncertain, though they are known to neutralize DNA-ravaging compounds called free radicals that contribute to aging and disease. Previously, Tricia M. McKeever and colleagues at the University of Nottingham found in a study of more than 2,600 adults that high levels of vitamin C and magnesium both corresponded with healthier lungs based on a measure of lung function called forced expiratory volume 1, or FEV1. Nine years later, when the researchers were able to follow up with a little more than half of the original study participants, they confirmed these findings. "High vitamin C and magnesium intake are associated with higher levels of lung function," McKeever told Reuters Health. "Over a period of 9 years, those with higher levels of intake of vitamin C experienced less severe decline in lung function than those with lower levels of intake," she added. "A diet rich in food supplying these nutrients appears to be beneficial to lung health," McKeever said. She recommended getting enough vitamin C and other potentially lung-boosting nutrients by eating a healthy diet containing the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables. US guidelines recommend 2 to 4 servings of fruit and 3 to 5 servings of vegetables each day. The study did not show any effect of magnesium, vitamin E or vitamin A on the decline of lung function over time. An important area of future research, the authors point out, will be to see how soon in life the benefits of vitamin C and other nutrients begin, as well as to see whether dietary changes can improve lung health once lung function has already started to decline. SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 2002;165:1299-1303. (mei 2002)