Abstract

The steep increase in asthma prevalence, observed worldwide in recent decades, has created an urgent need to search for effective methods of its prevention. Among other environmental factors, changes in diet habits and the potential influence of individual food components on immunological processes have been extensively studied as a potential method of intervention in primary prevention of asthma. The preventive role of some nutrients has been confirmed: unpasteurized milk reduced the risk of asthma in epidemiological studies, vitamin D supplementation was effective in preventing the transient forms of wheezing in small children and high maternal intake of fish oil reduced the risk of persistent wheeze and asthma in children. However, not all studies provided consistent results, and many food ingredients are still pending for defining their role in asthma development. Moreover, a novel approach looking not only at single food ingredients, but the whole dietary patterns and diversity has recently been proposed. In this paper, we discuss the current role of nutrients in asthma primary prevention and the reasons for inconsistencies in the study results. We look at single diet components, but also the whole dietary patterns. We describe the proposed mechanisms of action at different stages of life, identify the role of modifiers and delineate future perspectives on the application of nutrients in targeting strategies for asthma primary prevention.

Highlights

  • Asthma is a complex disease with a genetic and environmental background

  • Drinking unpasteurized milk reduced the risk of asthma, vitamin D supplementation was effective in preventing the transient forms of wheezing in small children and high maternal intake of fish oil reduced the risk of persistent wheeze and asthma in children [2,3,4]

  • In the Vitamin D Antenatal Asthma Reduction Trial (VDAART), the incidence of asthma and wheezing in children at age 3 years was lower in offspring of mothers supplemented with vitamin D in pregnancy [3]

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Summary

Introduction

Asthma is a complex disease with a genetic and environmental background. Its definition, mainly based on symptoms description, does not differentiate various underlying pathologies. They are focused on avoiding the environmental risk factors (cigarette smoking, air pollution, molds, dampness or obesity) or on identifying protective factors (farm living, diverse environmental microbiota exposure). Drinking unpasteurized milk reduced the risk of asthma, vitamin D supplementation was effective in preventing the transient forms of wheezing in small children and high maternal intake of fish oil reduced the risk of persistent wheeze and asthma in children [2,3,4] These and other recent findings regarding the role of nutrients in the prevention of asthma opened a new prospect of possibilities. Nutritional factors possible impact onprimary the primary prevention of asthma

Breastfeeding and Infant Milk
Unpasteurized Milk
Probiotics and Prebiotics
Fatty Acids
Vitamin D
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Food Allergens
Diet Diversity and Dietary Patterns
10. Conclusions and Future Perspectives
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