Asthma and Dairy

[Kayakqueen83]

I''ve had asthma all my life. It comes and goes now and I normally only have about 1 or 2 attacks a year. It can be exercise induced, stress educed, weather or illness related.

Last winter I went to Colorado to ski. I traveled from Miami at about 10 feet above sea level to Winter Park, Co at about 9,000 feet above sea level. While taking a ski class I started having trouble breathing and I''m not sure if it was asthma or the altitude... in any case I had to get tobogganed down the mountain after blacking out! (not fun!) During my stay at the ski infirmary, I was told that I should think about giving up milk and dairy products to help with my asthma. I love milk and I love, love, LOVE cheese. But that more that I think of it, the more I think it may be a good idea to try. Do any of you have any knowledge in this area?

I bring this up now because I just started a fitness boot camp for 6 weeks (Yea!) and I''m noticing asthma symptoms while doing the exercises. I always have my inhaler with me, but it sure would be nice to not feel the tightness in my chest!

Anyone with a similar situation? I''d love to hear the pros and cons of a non-dairy diet.

 

[Po10472]

Hi K. Like you I''ve had asthma all my life and and can be brought on through stress, illness, weather, exercise, laughing, dust, smells such as paint, air freshners etc. I don''t particularly like dairy, I don''t eat butter or margarine and only take a splash of milk in my tea and I limit my intake of cheese to the minimum because of the fat content however I was advised several years ago to cut it down because dairy can increase mucous production which makes it hard to breathe. I do find when eating ice-cream that my throat often feels tight once the ''frozen'' feeling is away so ice-cream is a once in a while treat for me and again I can only take certain types as cheaper versions often make my windpipe feel coated.

What you should do is cut it out of your diet and then slowly re-introduce it and keep a diary of how you''re feeling and see if it affects you or not. I did this and it really helps and if you can remove anything else that triggers an attack its worth making the adjustment.

Sadly I had a chest infection in April which means I''m going to have a bad asthma winter. I can go for a year or two without a serious bout then get a chest infection and struggle for months, picking up everything that goes about. Need to get my flu jab earlier this year I think.

Let me know how you get on?

 

[Linda W]

I also have asthma and suffer the same triggers as the both of you. I have never heard of dairy triggers. I am going give them up for awhile and see what happens.

Thank you so much KQ, for starting this thread.


Linda