Reduced medication use and improved pulmonary function with supplements containing vegetable and fruit concentrate, fish oil and probiotics in asthmatic school children: a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Dietary pattern changes may be one of the key factors associated with increasing asthma prevalence. Observational studies have found negative associations between fruit, vegetable and fish consumption and risk of asthma. Experimental studies have also shown that probiotics can modulate the immune system. However, each dietary component exhibits a modest effect. The objective of the present study was to investigate the joint effect of multiple beneficial dietary components on asthma. We designed a 16-week school-based double-blind placebo-controlled randomised trial. The supplement group received fruit plus vegetable concentrate, fish oil and probiotics (FVFP supplement), while the control group received placebos. A total of 192 asthmatic children aged 10-12 years were recruited from elementary schools in metropolitan Taipei. Pulmonary function, medication usage, Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ) score and the Childhood Asthma Control Test score were evaluated at baseline, and at weeks 8 and 16. Compared with the placebo group, the supplement group showed significant improvement in pulmonary function parameters (91 v. 178 ml for forced vital capacity (FVC), 40 v. 107 ml for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) and 1·6 v. 4·8 % for FEV 1 :FVC ratio; all P values , 0·01) and had a significantly reduced proportion of those using short-acting inhaled bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids. However, the PAQLQ score and the Childhood Asthma Control Test score were not significantly different between the two groups, possibly because the majority of the children were treated routinely. FVFP supplements reduced medication use and improved pulmonary function in asthmatic children. The present study supports an adjuvant intervention with a combination of fruit, vegetable, fish and probiotic foods.

Effects of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption on Risk of Asthma, Wheezing and Immune Responses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Cross-sectional design was most commonly used (Table 1) with 8 case-control studies (Table 2), 13 cohort studies (Table 3) and 7 clinical trials (Table 4). The majority of studies were conducted in UK ( n = 8) [1,18,22,23,24,25,26,27], but also in Australia ( n = 5) [28,29,30,31,32], Greece ( n = 5) [13,33,34,35,36], Spain ( n = 4) [37,38,39,40], Italy ( n = 4) [9,41,42,43], Brazil ( n = 3) [44,45,46], Netherlands ( n = 3) [21,47,48], USA ( n = 3) [9,49,50], Canada ( n = 2) [20,51], Finland ( n = 2) [52,53], India ( n = 2) [54,55], Japan ( n = 2) [56,57], Mexico ( n = 2) [19,58] Sweden ( n = 2) [17,59], Taiwan [60,61] ( n = 2), Albania [62], China [63], Colombia [64], Germany [7], Ireland [65], Norway [66], Portugal [67…”

“…Forty-one studies including nine cohort [21,33,37,41,47,48,53,56,65], six case-control [19,20,44,45,49,68], 22 cross-sectional studies [1,7,9,13,17,26,27,34,35,36,39,40,43,46,50,51,54,61,63,64,66,70], and four experimental trials [24,25,38,60] assessed the effects of fruit and vegetable intake on asthma or asthma-related symptoms in children and adolescents. An inverse association of fruit and vegetable intake and asthma or wheeze was reported in 22 studies [1,9,13,19,21,26,33,35,38,39,41,43,45,49,50,54,60,63,65,66,70,71], while seven studies […”

“…An inverse association of fruit and vegetable intake and asthma or wheeze was reported in 22 studies [1,9,13,19,21,26,33,35,38,39,41,43,45,49,50,54,60,63,65,66,70,71], while seven studies [7,24,27,34,36,53,56] did not observe any significant association. Twelve studies [17,20,37,40,44,46,47,48,51,61,64,68] found mixed results.…”

“…Lee et al [60] described a 16-week trial of 192 children with asthma who received fruit and vegetable capsules + fish oil + probiotic vs. placebo and reported the supplement group had a significantly higher increase in FEV 1 , FVC and FEV 1 :FVC ratio compared to placebo. The proportion of children using inhaled glucocorticoids decreased following the supplementation, though increased in the placebo group.…”

Lifestyle and Sarcopenia – Etiology, Prevention and Treatment

“…Also, the elderly, in comparison to the young, may require a greater amount of protein to achieve an anabolic response to resistance training. Yang et al53 have reported that muscle protein synthesis in older adults is increased with ingestion of 40 g of whey protein, whereas in younger adults post-exercise rates of muscle protein synthesis are saturated with only 20 g of protein.…”