Mediterraan
dieet tegen COPD.*
Een mediterraan dieet met veel groenten, fruit, volle granen, vis, olijfolie en noten kan de kans op COPD (chronisch obstructieve longziekte zoals chronische bronchitis en longemfyseem) met de helft verminderen. 95% van de COPD-patiënten zijn rokers of ex-rokers. Dat schrijven onderzoekers van de Harvard School of Public Health in het vakblad Thorax als resultaat van een onderzoek onder bijna 43.000 mensen. Omgekeerd lopen mensen met een typisch westers dieet, met veel rood vlees en veel dierlijke vetten, tot vier keer meer kans op COPD.
Mediterranean
Diet Halves Risk Of Progressive Lung Disease (COPD)
A
Mediterranean diet halves the chances of developing progressive inflammatory
lung disease (COPD), reveals a large study, published ahead of print in Thorax.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is an umbrella term for chronic
progressive lung disease, such as emphysema and bronchitis. It is expected to
become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020, with cigarette
smoking the primary factor in its development.
The researchers tracked the health of almost 43,000 men, who were already part
of the US Health Professionals Follow up Study. This began in 1986 and involved
more than 50,000 US health care professionals aged between 40 and 75, who were
surveyed every two years.
They were asked questions about lifestyle, including smoking and exercise, diet
and medical history. Dietary intake was assessed in detail every four years.
Eating patterns fell into two distinct categories: those who ate a diet rich in
fruit, vegetables, whole grains and fish (Mediterranean diet); and those who ate
a diet rich in processed foods, refined sugars, and cured and red meats (Western
diet).
Between 1986 and 1998, 111 cases of COPD were newly diagnosed.
The Mediterranean diet was associated with a 50% lower risk of developing COPD
than the Western diet, even after adjusting for age, smoking, and other risk
factors.
And men who ate a predominantly Western diet were more than four times as likely
to develop COPD, even after taking account of other influential factors.
The higher the compliance with a Mediterranean diet, the lower was the risk of
developing COPD over the 12 year period.
Conversely, the higher the compliance with the Western diet, the higher was the
risk of developing COPD.
THORAX
"Prospective study of dietary patterns and chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease among US men Online"
First Thorax 2007; doi: 10.1136/thx.2006.074534 (Juni 2007)