According to new research, eating a diet high in fibre such as plenty of fruit and vegetables protects against asthma…

During the study, Mice were fed a diet high in fibre and it was found that, they had less inflamed lungs when exposed to the house dust mites that trigger the condition than those given little of the healthy food.

The researchers said the findings published in Nature Medicine may apply to humans and underline how what we eat can influence immune cell development and disease outside of the gut.

According to one of the researchers- Dr Benjamin Marsland, of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, ‘Over recent decades, the incidence of allergic asthma has increased in developing countries, while the consumption of dietary fibre has decreased in these countries’.

He added that, ‘Taken together, our findings support the concept intervention strategies targeting diet are a valuable approach for not only intestinal diseases but also respiratory inflammatory diseases.’