Apple juice may protect against asthma in kids

A daily dose of apple juice could keep the wheeze away in children, according to a report from the UK

A large-scale study in the UK suggests that kids drinking a daily a serve of apple juice might be at lower risk of asthma.

Involving 2,640 children aged five to ten years, the study, by researchers including Dr Seif O Shaheen, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, analysed fruit intake and asthma symptoms.

While apples alone were not associated with lower asthma symptom incidence, apple juice – specifically made from concentrate – was a different matter. Those drinking apple juice daily were shown to have a 47 per cent lower risk of wheezing than those who only drank a serve less than once a month.

The researchers surmised that the antioxidants contained in fruit may ease inflammation, the trigger to asthma, and also counteract oxidative damage caused by toxins such as pollution.

As Shaheen stressed, though the results do not show a definite link between apple juice and lowered risk, the findings do reveal an association, which her team intend to further investigate through clinical trials.

(Source: Blackmore website)