Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 2000 Feb;55(2):102–108. doi: 10.1136/thorax.55.2.102

Diet, lung function, and lung function decline in a cohort of 2512 middle aged men

B Butland 1, A Fehily 1, P Elwood 1
PMCID: PMC1745677  PMID: 10639525

Abstract

BACKGROUND—A prospective cohort study of 2512 Welshmen aged 45-59 living in Caerphilly in 1979-1983 was used to investigate associations between diet and lung function.
METHODS—At baseline (phase I) and at five year follow up (phase II), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) was measured using a McDermott spirometer and dietary data were obtained using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire.
RESULTS—Good lung function, indicated by high maximum FEV1 given age and height, was associated with high intakes of vitamin C, vitamin E, β-carotene, citrus fruit, apples, and the frequent consumption of fruit juices/squashes. Lung function was inversely associated with magnesium intake but there was no evidence of an association with fatty fish. Following adjustment for confounders including body mass index, smoking history, social class, exercise, and total energy intake, only the associations with vitamin E and apples persisted, with lung function estimated to be 39 ml (95% confidence interval (CI) 9 to 69) higher for vitamin E intakes one standard deviation (SD) apart and 138 ml higher (95% CI 58to 218) for those eating five or more apples per week compared with non-consumers. Decline in lung function between phases was not significantly associated with the changing intakes of apples or vitamin E. An association between high average apple consumption and slow decline in lung function lost significance after adjustment for confounders.
CONCLUSIONS—A strong positive association is seen between lung function and the number of apples eaten per week cross sectionally, consistent with a protective effect of hard fruit rather than soft/citrus fruit. The recent suggestion that such effects are reversible was not supported by our longitudinal analysis.



Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (94.6 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson R., Theron A. J., Ras G. J. Regulation by the antioxidants ascorbate, cysteine, and dapsone of the increased extracellular and intracellular generation of reactive oxidants by activated phagocytes from cigarette smokers. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1987 May;135(5):1027–1032. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1987.135.5.1027. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arm J. P., Horton C. E., Mencia-Huerta J. M., House F., Eiser N. M., Clark T. J., Spur B. W., Lee T. H. Effect of dietary supplementation with fish oil lipids on mild asthma. Thorax. 1988 Feb;43(2):84–92. doi: 10.1136/thx.43.2.84. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Black P. N., Sharpe S. Dietary fat and asthma: is there a connection? Eur Respir J. 1997 Jan;10(1):6–12. doi: 10.1183/09031936.97.10010006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bland J. M., Altman D. G. Multiple significance tests: the Bonferroni method. BMJ. 1995 Jan 21;310(6973):170–170. doi: 10.1136/bmj.310.6973.170. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Britton J. R., Pavord I. D., Richards K. A., Knox A. J., Wisniewski A. F., Lewis S. A., Tattersfield A. E., Weiss S. T. Dietary antioxidant vitamin intake and lung function in the general population. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1995 May;151(5):1383–1387. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.151.5.7735589. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Britton J., Pavord I., Richards K., Wisniewski A., Knox A., Lewis S., Tattersfield A., Weiss S. Dietary magnesium, lung function, wheezing, and airway hyperreactivity in a random adult population sample. Lancet. 1994 Aug 6;344(8919):357–362. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(94)91399-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Carey I. M., Strachan D. P., Cook D. G. Effects of changes in fresh fruit consumption on ventilatory function in healthy British adults. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1998 Sep;158(3):728–733. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.158.3.9712065. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chatham M. D., Eppler J. H., Jr, Sauder L. R., Green D., Kulle T. J. Evaluation of the effects of vitamin C on ozone-induced bronchoconstriction in normal subjects. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1987;498:269–279. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1987.tb23767.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Chuwers P., Barnhart S., Blanc P., Brodkin C. A., Cullen M., Kelly T., Keogh J., Omenn G., Williams J., Balmes J. R. The protective effect of beta-carotene and retinol on ventilatory function in an asbestos-exposed cohort. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1997 Mar;155(3):1066–1071. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.155.3.9116988. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Cook D. G., Carey I. M., Whincup P. H., Papacosta O., Chirico S., Bruckdorfer K. R., Walker M. Effect of fresh fruit consumption on lung function and wheeze in children. Thorax. 1997 Jul;52(7):628–633. doi: 10.1136/thx.52.7.628. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Dow L., Tracey M., Villar A., Coggon D., Margetts B. M., Campbell M. J., Holgate S. T. Does dietary intake of vitamins C and E influence lung function in older people? Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1996 Nov;154(5):1401–1404. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.154.5.8912755. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Freudenheim J. L., Johnson N. E., Wardrop R. L. Nutrient misclassification: bias in the odds ratio and loss of power in the Mantel test for trend. Int J Epidemiol. 1989 Mar;18(1):232–238. doi: 10.1093/ije/18.1.232. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Gross M., Pfeiffer M., Martini M., Campbell D., Slavin J., Potter J. The quantitation of metabolites of quercetin flavonols in human urine. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1996 Sep;5(9):711–720. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hertog M. G., Bueno-de-Mesquita H. B., Fehily A. M., Sweetnam P. M., Elwood P. C., Kromhout D. Fruit and vegetable consumption and cancer mortality in the Caerphilly Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1996 Sep;5(9):673–677. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hill J. M., Britton J. Effect of intravenous magnesium sulphate on airway calibre and airway reactivity to histamine in asthmatic subjects. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1996 Nov;42(5):629–631. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1996.tb00119.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hodge L., Salome C. M., Peat J. K., Haby M. M., Xuan W., Woolcock A. J. Consumption of oily fish and childhood asthma risk. Med J Aust. 1996 Feb 5;164(3):137–140. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1996.tb122010.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hu G., Zhang X., Chen J., Peto R., Campbell T. C., Cassano P. A. Dietary vitamin C intake and lung function in rural China. Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Sep 15;148(6):594–599. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009685. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kirsch C. M., Payan D. G., Wong M. Y., Dohlman J. G., Blake V. A., Petri M. A., Offenberger J., Goetzl E. J., Gold W. M. Effect of eicosapentaenoic acid in asthma. Clin Allergy. 1988 Mar;18(2):177–187. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1988.tb02857.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Miedema I., Feskens E. J., Heederik D., Kromhout D. Dietary determinants of long-term incidence of chronic nonspecific lung diseases. The Zutphen Study. Am J Epidemiol. 1993 Jul 1;138(1):37–45. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116775. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Mohsenin V. Effect of vitamin C on NO2-induced airway hyperresponsiveness in normal subjects. A randomized double-blind experiment. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1987 Dec;136(6):1408–1411. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/136.6.1408. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Ness A. R., Khaw K. T., Bingham S., Day N. E. Vitamin C status and respiratory function. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1996 Sep;50(9):573–579. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Peat J. K., Salome C. M., Woolcock A. J. Factors associated with bronchial hyperresponsiveness in Australian adults and children. Eur Respir J. 1992 Sep;5(8):921–929. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Schwartz J., Weiss S. T. Dietary factors and their relation to respiratory symptoms. The Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am J Epidemiol. 1990 Jul;132(1):67–76. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115644. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Schwartz J., Weiss S. T. Relationship between dietary vitamin C intake and pulmonary function in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I). Am J Clin Nutr. 1994 Jan;59(1):110–114. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/59.1.110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Seaton A., Godden D. J., Brown K. Increase in asthma: a more toxic environment or a more susceptible population? Thorax. 1994 Feb;49(2):171–174. doi: 10.1136/thx.49.2.171. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Strachan D. P., Cox B. D., Erzinclioglu S. W., Walters D. E., Whichelow M. J. Ventilatory function and winter fresh fruit consumption in a random sample of British adults. Thorax. 1991 Sep;46(9):624–629. doi: 10.1136/thx.46.9.624. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Thien F. C., Mencia-Huerta J. M., Lee T. H. Dietary fish oil effects on seasonal hay fever and asthma in pollen-sensitive subjects. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1993 May;147(5):1138–1143. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/147.5.1138. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Troisi R. J., Willett W. C., Weiss S. T., Trichopoulos D., Rosner B., Speizer F. E. A prospective study of diet and adult-onset asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1995 May;151(5):1401–1408. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.151.5.7735592. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Yarnell J. W., Fehily A. M., Milbank J. E., Sweetnam P. M., Walker C. L. A short dietary questionnaire for use in an epidemiological survey: comparison with weighed dietary records. Hum Nutr Appl Nutr. 1983 Apr;37(2):103–112. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES