Want Your Lungs To Hold Up Better? Start With This
You probably don't think much about your lung function until something makes you notice it. Maybe you get winded carrying groceries upstairs, or a hill that used to feel easy suddenly takes a little more effort.
Some decline is a normal part of aging, but smoking, air pollution, and genetics can speed it up. Diet may be another piece of the puzzle.
In a recent study of more than 83,000 adults in the Netherlands, researchers looked at whether the way people ate was connected to how well their lungs worked over time, including whether those links differed for people with asthma or COPD.
About the study
Researchers used data from the Lifelines cohort, a long-running health study in the Netherlands. Participants completed a 110-item food questionnaire at the beginning, which researchers used to calculate an overall diet quality score from 0 to 48.
The score rewarded diets higher in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish, unsaturated fats, unsweetened dairy, coffee, and tea.
It also gave higher scores to people who ate less red and processed meat, butter, hard margarines, and sugary drinks.
Researchers then compared those scores with spirometry results. Spirometry is a common breathing test that measures how much air you can force out of your lungs and how quickly you can do it.
The team was particularly interested in whether diet was linked to lung function differently in people with asthma or COPD.
COPD is a long-term lung condition that makes it harder to move air out of the lungs and can cause lung function to decline over time.
The lung benefit was strongest in people with COPD
Across all 83,460 adults, people with higher diet scores tended to have slightly better lung function. For every one-point increase in the diet score, they could force out about 5 mL more air in one second.
The association was stronger among people with COPD.
For this group, each additional point on the diet score was associated with about 8 mL more air compared with people without a lung condition. The connection was also seen in people with asthma, although it was smaller.
The longer-term results were more specific.
Among the 37,752 adults with follow-up data, people with COPD who had higher diet scores at the beginning tended to lose lung function more slowly over roughly 10 years.
This held across all three breathing measures the researchers tracked and was seen in both mild and moderate COPD.
For people with asthma, the same pattern didn't show up over time.
A few foods stood out
When researchers looked at individual food groups, vegetables and fruit were associated with better lung function among people with COPD or asthma. Tea was also linked to better lung function.
Butter and hard margarines went in the opposite direction.
Coffee was another interesting finding because higher coffee intake was associated with faster lung function decline across the full group, even though coffee counted toward a higher overall diet score.
These individual findings need some context. The study was observational, meaning researchers could identify patterns but couldn't determine whether a particular food caused better or worse lung function.
Diet was also measured only once, so the researchers couldn't account for changes in eating habits over the following decade.
RELATED READ: Is This The Best Supplement For Energy?
What this eating pattern looks like in real life
The overall pattern is less complicated than the scoring system makes it sound. It centers on plenty of plant foods, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish, and unsaturated fats, while limiting red and processed meat, butter, and sugary drinks.
That could look like:
- Build meals around produce: Add vegetables or fruit to most meals rather than treating them as an afterthought.
- Swap some fats: Try olive oil in place of margarine for a heart-healthy, anti-inflammatory meal.
- Work in more legumes and nuts: Add beans or lentils to soups, salads, and grain bowls, or keep nuts on hand for a snack.
- Keep sugary drinks in check: Water, sparkling water, or unsweetened tea can be easy alternatives.
- Try tea sometimes: It's a delicious way to stay hydrated that comes with numerous full-body health benefits.
If you have asthma or COPD, these dietary changes aren't a replacement for medication or other treatment. They are best viewed as one part of the bigger picture.
The takeaway
A healthier overall diet was associated with better lung function, with the clearest long-term link appearing among people with COPD.
While more research is needed to know whether diet can actually slow lung decline, the pattern fits with an eating style that already supports several aspects of long-term health.
