If you search the Internet today for stories on obesity, you'll find several stories from the U.K. about recent research that found a link between obesity and asthma, like this one in the Daily Mail. Coincidentally, one of the stories in the July-September 2007 issue of UC ANR's California Agriculture journal also addresses the link.
The U.K. researchers examined immune system cells known to be responsible for the lung inflammation behind many of the symptoms of asthma, according to the Daily Mail. The study showed that these cells also make a protein which can "trick" the brain into transferring hunger messages to the body.
The story in California Agriculture, by Alexandra Kazaks and Judith Stern of UC Davis, compared people with asthma to healthy controls and showed that total body magnesium stores decreased with increasing weight.
"Among the dietary variables associated with an increased risk of asthma is the low consumption of vegetables, milk and minerals, including magnesium," the article says.
Perhaps not coincidentally, dietary sources of magnesium are similar to the foods dieticians commonly recommend for overall good health: whole grains, green leafy vegetables, legumes and nuts.
