High fat diet may lessen allergic response

Monday, 16 March 2009 20:53

A study conducted at the Edinburgh University in collaboration with researchers at the University of Newcastle in Australia has looked at the impact of a high-fat diet on non-obese mice models with mild to moderate allergic asthma and discovered that dietary saturated fat may help reduce allergic airway inflammation.

The authors of the study, that has been published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy, suggest that if people eat a high-fat diet they may have fewer allergy symptoms.  However, it could also be indicative of an immune system that is not working properly and more research is needed to determine the mechanism by which a high-fat diet alters the immune response.

Reference: de Vries et al. Clinical and Experimental Allergy 2009 Jan 22 [Epub ahead of print]