Table 2.

Selected epidemiologic studies relating dietary factors with lung function or airway hyperresponsiveness

Author	Cohort or Country	Population and Study design	Dietary assessment method	Association
Antioxidant vitamins, carotenoids, and minerals
Schwartz & Weiss125	NHANES I, US	2526 adults/cross-sectional	FFQ and 24-hour recall	Positive association between dietary vitamin C intake and FEV1; no association between vitamin C-rich vegetables and lung function
Chuwers et al126	CARET, US	816 adult men with asbestos exposure/cross-sectional	FFQ; serum β-carotene and retinol	Positive association between serum β-carotene and both FEV1 and FVC; weak positive association between serum retinol and both FEV1 and FVC; no association between intakes of these nutrients from FFQ and lung function
Hu & Cassano127	NHANES III, US	18,162 adults/cross-sectional	24-hour recall; Serum vitamins C, E, β-carotene and selenium	Positive associations between dietary and serum antioxidants and FEV1
Hu et al128	69 counties from rural China	3085 adults/cross-sectional	3-day weighed records; plasma vitamin C from pooled samples	Positive associations between dietary vitamin C and both FEV1 and FVC; pooled plasma vitamin C levels were positively associated with county mean FEV1
Britton et al129	Nottingham, UK	2633 adults/cross-sectional	FFQ	Positive associations between vitamin C and vitamin E and both FEV1 and FVC; intakes of vitamin C and E were correlated and there was no effect of vitamin E independent of vitamin C
Dow et al130	Southampton, UK	178 elderly men and women/cross-sectional	FFQ	Positive associations between vitamin E and both FEV1 and FVC; no association for vitamin C and lung function
Butland et al131	Wales, UK	2512 men/cross-sectional	FFQ	In multivariable models, positive association between vitamin E and FEV1; no associations between intakes of vitamin C, magnesium, and β-carotene with FEV1; Positive association between intake of apples and FEV1
Ness et al132	East Anglia	835 men & 1025 women/cross-sectional	Plasma vitamin C	Positive associations between plasma vitamin C and both FEV1 and FVC in men only
Grievnik et al133	MORGEN Study, Netherlands	6555 adults/cross-sectional	FFQ	Positive associations between dietary vitamin C & β-carotene and both FEV1 & FVC; no associations for dietary vitamin E and lung function; Vitamin E associated with productive cough; β-carotene associated with wheeze
Tabak et al134	Finland, Italy, & Netherlands	middle aged men from Finland (n=1248), Italy (n=1386) and Netherlands (n=691)/cross-sectional	Diet history	Positive associations between vitamin C & β-carotene and both FEV1 & FVC; positive association between vitamin E and FEV1 in Finnish men only
Carey et al39	Health and Lifestyle Survey, UK	2171 British adults/longitude nal (7 years follow-up)	FFQ	Subjects who decreased their fruit consumption had greatest FEV1 decline over 7 years
Britton et al79	Nottingham, UK	2415 adults	FFQ	Subjects with higher magnesium intake had decreased airway responsiveness
McKeever et al41	Nottingham, UK	2633 subjects/cross-sectional and longitudinal (follow-up on 1346 subjects after 9 yrs)	FFQ	Positive cross-sectional associations between vitamin C and magnesium intakes and FEV1; Higher vitamin C intake was associated with slower FEV1 decline; No associations between vitamin A or vitamin E and lung function
Cook et al135	England and Wales	2650 children/cross-sectional	Plasma vitamin C	No association of vitamin C levels with lung function
Vitamin D
Black & Scragg61	NHANES III, US	14,091 adults aged ≥20 yrs	Serum 25(OH)D	Positive associations for 25(OH)D levels and both FEV1 and FVC
Minerals
Burney et al64	Hampshire, England	138 men/cross-sectional	24-hour urinary Na excretion	Increased odds for having PD20 ≤ 8 µmol in subjects with greater Na excretion
Pistelli et al66	Latium region, Italy	2593 subjects aged 9-16yrs/cross-sectional	Dietary questionnaire; urinary sodium and potassium levels	Positive association with table salt use and symptoms but not with airway responsiveness; higher urinary potassium but not urinary sodium was associated with airway responsiveness in boys
Devereux et al65	Northern England	234 male shipyard workers exposed to welding fumes; 121 male rural and 111 male urban dwellers/cross-sectional	24-hour urinary Na excretion	Increased odds for methacholine airways responsiveness with greater sodium excretion among male urban dwellers only
Sparrow et al67	Normative Aging Study, US	273 middle aged to older men/cross-sectional	24-hour urinary Na and K excretion	Positive relationship between potassium excretion and methacholine airway responsiveness; no association of sodium excretion and airway responsiveness
Gilliland et al80	Children’s Health Study, US	2566 children aged 11–19 yrs/cross-sectional	FFQ	Children with lower magnesium and potassium intakes had lower lung function indices; No effect of sodium intake
Fatty acids
McKeever et al88	MORGEN-EPIC Study, Netherlands	13,820 adults/cross-sectional	FFQ	No association between n-3 fatty acids and FEV1. Inverse association between some n-6 fatty acids and FEV1
Schwartz & Weiss84	NHANES I, US	2526 adults/cross-sectional	24-hour diet recall	Small but significant effect of fish intake on FEV1; effect was stronger in non-smokers; did not distinguish effects of different types of fish
Sharp et al85	Honolulu Heart Program, Hawaii, US	6346 men/cross-sectional	FFQ	Interaction between fish intake and smoking; lower decrements of FEV1 due to smoking among high fish intake
Butland et al131	Wales, UK	2512 smen/cross-sectional	FFQ	No effect of fish intake on lung function

NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

CARET: Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial

MORGEN: Monitoring Project on Risk factors for Chronic Diseases

EPIC: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Study