There are 18 million American adult citizens who currently live with asthma. If you are one of them, you might want to know which kind of food triggers asthma. You may be wondering why the symptoms of asthma worsen after consuming some food. You agree that after consuming food like milk, you experience symptoms like shortness of breaths, chest pains, and sleeping problems. If you have asthma, you need to learn about foods that you should avoid.

The following are the top five food that triggers and worsen the asthma symptoms:

1. Milk
Milk is thought to increase the production of mucus in the lungs which worsens the asthma condition. Does this mean that you should never take milk? Absolutely no! While excess milk can worsen asthma conditions, studies have shown that moderate consumption does not have any effect. Dairy products offer many health benefits. Therefore, instead of avoiding it completely, you would rather limit its intake.

2. Fatty foods
Consuming French fries and fatty foods frequently can cause inflammation, which worsens asthma conditions. If you have a chronic disease like asthma, you need to maintain a healthy weight. Fatty foods like French fries can make you overweight, which makes your lungs work harder, worsening asthma symptoms. Am I supposed to avoid all fatty food? Not at all! Research found that some fatty food like fish, avocados, olive oil among others, are beneficial to people living with asthma. While you should completely avoid French fries, consult with your doctor for fatty food that you should avoid.

3. Vegetable oil
Vegetable oils contain a preservative known as benzoate. Several studies show that consuming benzoate leads to inflammation, which worsens asthma conditions. Therefore, you should avoid vegetable oil or any food cooked using it, such as salad dressings and cakes. Also, cooking with vegetable oil at high temperature releases toxins in the air that affects breathing, causing an asthma patient to have shortness of breath. If you have to use it, avoid using it in extremely high temperatures.

4. Eggs
Eggs cause allergy to most people. Healthy people who frequently consume eggs usually get skin reactions such as hives. However, the case can be different if you are suffering from chronic diseases such as asthma. Eggs produce toxins that attack lungs interfering with breathing. Therefore, you should completely avoid eggs if you suffer from asthma as it will not cause hives, but will instead lead to asthma attack.

5. Salt
One of the common symptoms of asthma is difficulty breathing. But what contributes to this? It is believed that asthma infections cause throat inflammation, which tightens the air path making the patient suffer symptoms such as shortness of breaths. Salt can contribute and worsen these symptoms as well. It encourages the retention of fluid at the throat, increasing inflammation. Consider reducing the daily salt intake if you have asthma.

Overall, various varieties of food are known to cause an asthma attack. As discussed above, most of the food that triggers an allergic reaction to your body has also been shown to trigger asthmatic reactions. However, some food might cause an asthmatic reaction to your body even if they don’t cause allergy. It is therefore advisable to seek your doctor’s advice when choosing the kind of food to eat if you have asthma. Overall, you should avoid food such as milk, vegetable oils, fatty food, and eggs. You now know the food to avoid. You can manage the asthmatic reaction better!