Medical expert of the article
New publications
Foods that can help stop an asthma attack have been named
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Almost all asthmatics know the products that should be avoided because they can provoke an attack of the disease, but recently American scientists have found that there are substances that can have the opposite effect. Researchers from US universities (Massachusetts) reported that bitter-tasting products can prevent an attack of bronchial asthma.
Read also: Relieving an asthma attack
This effect is due to the fact that when bitter foods are consumed, the taste buds in the airways are stimulated, which relaxes the smooth muscles and stabilizes the air flow. In addition, natural bitter foods such as bitter melon or Thai cabbage can cause the cells in the airways to expand and relieve an asthma attack.
Pharmacists from the USA believe that this discovery will help in developing new drugs for asthmatics. New generations of drugs created taking into account the influence of bitter products will have a more lasting effect and a minimum number of negative side effects. The effect that bitter food has on the human respiratory tract is called bronchodilation in modern medicine, that is, the expansion of the respiratory tract.
During studies on the effect of food with a certain taste on human health, scientists discovered that taste receptors can be located not only on the tongue, as was previously established, but also in the cells of the pharynx and smooth muscle tissue of the respiratory tract. During evolution, taste receptors in humans "learned" to react to unpleasant bitterness, thereby warning the body of a possible danger in the form of a spoiled or poisonous product that has gotten on the tongue. Some time ago, doctors believed that such taste receptors in humans can only be located on the surface of the tongue, but recent studies have shown that even the surface of the respiratory system can be covered with receptors that recognize taste.
When bitter foods are consumed (it does not matter whether the bitter taste is natural or artificially created), the cells of the respiratory organs (smooth muscles) relax under the influence of the bitter taste. Thus, if this process (relaxation of the cells of the respiratory tract) occurs in a person suffering from an asthma attack, the attack is weakened. Attacks of bronchial asthma are associated with frequent contractions of smooth muscle cells on the surface of the respiratory tract, and muscle relaxation with the help of the bitter taste of foods can alleviate the patient's condition. Pharmacists are already saying that new anti-asthma drugs will be developed taking into account the body's reaction to bitter foods. The absence of possible negative side effects will be an undeniable advantage of new-generation drugs.
Let us recall that among the products that can exacerbate an asthma attack, doctors highlight alcoholic and carbonated drinks, fast food products and canned products with a high content of salicylic acid.
[